770 Gallon Filtration

[Redearsunfish]

Looks great!!

 

[00rollins]

Awesome setup, I just picked up the same temp controller.....

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[DIDYSIS]

I don't know in my sump the pump sucks so much water through it so fast my sump always has a constant flow. For example if I shut it down remove the filter socks and a little gunk is left on the bottom if the sump. When the pump is turned back on all the stuff goes shooting across the bottom of the sump and through everything. I think the bioballs will still do allot this way.

i personally feel that those bio balls just sittig there arent doing much of anything. Also all the heaters in one spot like that are making them real inefficient. maybe half on one side of the sump and the other half on the other side.

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[DIDYSIS]

So I have 4 heaters and no controller at all in my sump. Tank stays at 80.1 degrees and the heaters turn on and off just like a normal tank would. You need to remember we have tons of flow going through the sump mine is about 4000gph going in and out. The water all gets evenly heated without anything issues. Overall we all have our different ways of doing stuff but it all can and does work. And if you don't like my way do it your way.

im well aware of how heater controllers work. I have one myself. it controls 2- 500 watt titanium heaters. I have them on opposite sides of the tank. The sensor is then placed in the middle of the tank. That way, the sensor will know when to activate the heaters, and because they are on opposite sides they will EVENLY heat the tank quicker and more efficiently. Since you have yours in the sump, im guessing your sensor is in the tank? your tank is not evenly heating up. Very inefficient. Or if your sensor is in your sump, Now the heaters will have to heat the tank, and sump before turning off. ALSO very inefficient.

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[aldiaz33]

im well aware of how heater controllers work. I have one myself. it controls 2- 500 watt titanium heaters. I have them on opposite sides of the tank. The sensor is then placed in the middle of the tank. That way, the sensor will know when to activate the heaters, and because they are on opposite sides they will EVENLY heat the tank quicker and more efficiently. Since you have yours in the sump, im guessing your sensor is in the tank? your tank is not evenly heating up. Very inefficient. Or if your sensor is in your sump, Now the heaters will have to heat the tank, and sump before turning off. ALSO very inefficient.

What you are saying makes sense if I had the heaters placed in the tank AND I was not running a sump, but that's not the case.

Contrary to what you are saying, the sump and the display tank are not two separate bodies of water. There is 2,100GPH circulating through my sump every hour. When the sensor (placed in the area prior to where my heater and return pump are located, within my sump) reads below 80F, it turns my heaters on until the water flowing back into the sump from the display tank reads 81F. In other words, the heaters warm the water running past them and the pump pushes heated water up into both ends of my display tank (I have returns on each end of the tank). Once 81F is achieved, the sensor will detect that the water draining into the sump from the display tank has achieved it's set point and the controller shuts the heaters down.

I agree with what you are saying if I was not running a sump, but I am, so your point is off base. I believe I have my heaters and the sensor placed in ideal locations, but if you can present a logical argument as to why that's not the case, I am all ears (no offense, but so far you haven't presented a convincing argument).

How so? I've run heaters in sumps for years and never had a problem with uneven heating, so long as you have adequate circulation. I can see how having a sump/trickle in an uninsulated cabinet/room could increase the heating bill, but to me physics says that it wil take X watts to heat 500g of water to 28C regardless of where the heaters are placed.

Agreed.

Huh?

Heating through the sump works just fine. If it's good enough for reef tanks, its good enough for me.

+1

Looks great!!

Thank you.

Awesome setup, I just picked up the same temp controller.....

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Thanks. I'm sure you'll like the controller.

I don't know in my sump the pump sucks so much water through it so fast my sump always has a constant flow. For example if I shut it down remove the filter socks and a little gunk is left on the bottom if the sump. When the pump is turned back on all the stuff goes shooting across the bottom of the sump and through everything. I think the bioballs will still do allot this way.

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Yeah, the bio-balls are just extra surface area...a little added insurance.

So I have 4 heaters and no controller at all in my sump. Tank stays at 80.1 degrees and the heaters turn on and off just like a normal tank would. You need to remember we have tons of flow going through the sump mine is about 4000gph going in and out. The water all gets evenly heated without anything issues. Overall we all have our different ways of doing stuff but it all can and does work. And if you don't like my way do it your way.


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Exactly. The heaters are basically 100% efficient. All that wattage/energy is going into the water.

My filter socks are 200 micron. They are fairly big at 50cm (20inches) long, though 3' long would be massive and a lot better. Filter socks aren't that easy to find in Australia. Will see if I can find some bigger ones but doubt it.
I don't think I can do two socks at a time in my system.
Also I agree with you about cichla, some look amazing but my tank goes from 2.5 feet to 4 feet wide (wedge shaped tank) and worried about having enough width for them, as they deserve a wide tank.


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It's nice to see someone else on here who thinks fish deserve some room to swim. I checked out your build thread...it's awesome!

Plumbing will be run thru the wall and the sump will be in the garage behind the tank.

Enough distraction! I take it you're happy with the Laguna pump? I've had a couple and have always been been impressed with them, TBH I think they're quieter and better than the Eheim Compact+ 5000 I'm currently running, will certainly be getting another for the next big tank.

No distraction at all...I like to hear about other people's setups. I'm jealous...I wish I had a separate filtration room/area. Crawling under the stand to change socks is a major PITA.

The Laguna is awesome...I'm very happy with it. I've never had an eheim pump (unless you count the pump in my canister filter- Eheim 2073 G90), but have heard good things about them too.

Really like your filtration have the space for more media if needed.
Filter socks are very simple to change but been looking lots of sumps with matala mesh as mechanical filtration any input?

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I thought about using the extra space by adding a moving bed filter with some K1 Kaldness, but my water parameters have never been an issue and I may need an extra pump to get enough movement from the K1...the last thing I want is to add to my electric bill. It isn't broken, so I probably won't be making any changes.

I use the matala mats more for bio filtration and to keep some larger particulates from getting near my pump, but I did just clean the area at the base of the mats, and was surprised at how much detritus I sucked out. I really don't think I would be happy with my water clarity if I the matala mats were the only mechanical filtration I was running- it's pretty porous...even the grey mat which is the most tightly woven would still let some fairly large particulates through. It wouldn't capture anywhere near as fine of particles as the filter socks.

 

[David R]

Another question about the pump; how deep is the water level in your sump, and how shallow can you get away with before the pump starts sucking in air?

 

[jcardona1]

That tank is too purtty to be a sump

Looks great! Love the setup. I've recently switch to using 10 micron socks in my 190g. Keeps the water extra crispy. I change them out every week or so.

And you're right about bio media. As long as your ammonia/nitrite is at 0, who cares if you're using floating plastic barbie doll heads or highly porous ceramic media. People say bio balls need to be in a trickle system because their surface area SUCKS compared to other media. But you have enough bio media in there to support a fish hatchery, so you're good

 

[aldiaz33]

Another question about the pump; how deep is the water level in your sump, and how shallow can you get away with before the pump starts sucking in air?

The water level in my sump is about 10" to 12" on average (sump is 20" tall). I have never let it get low enough as to where my pump was sucking air (I've let it get down to about 9" and air being pulled in was not an isssue at that height). Next time I do a water change I will see if I can test it out...it's probably something I should know...great question!

When I was running the Reeflo Hammerhead Gold, it was a different story. That pump moved about twice as much water (~4,500GPH) and it would create a little whirlpool that would suck air into the intake when the water level got down to about 9". The bulkhead is 2" and it sits about an inch off from the bottom of the tank, so the space between the top of the bulkhead opening and the surface of the water was about 6". That pump was a beast!

That tank is too purtty to be a sump

Looks great! Love the setup. I've recently switch to using 10 micron socks in my 190g. Keeps the water extra crispy. I change them out every week or so.

And you're right about bio media. As long as your ammonia/nitrite is at 0, who cares if you're using floating plastic barbie doll heads or highly porous ceramic media. People say bio balls need to be in a trickle system because their surface area SUCKS compared to other media. But you have enough bio media in there to support a fish hatchery, so you're good

Thanks for the kudos. I've got some work to do before I can even hold a candle to your setups.

10 micron? Damn! I bet it's crispy. I have some 25 micron socks...they last me about 4 to 5 days before they get clogged, so I jumped up 100 (I'm too lazy to clean them out every 5 days)

I don't think I ever acknowledged my source, but I based my sump on your design (running the submerged media in the laundry bags). People can freak out all day long about those bio-balls being submerged in my sump...I'll just point to the scoreboard: 0, 0, 10. lol

 

[David R]

Thanks! Thats good news for me trying to work out how big to make the sump for my tank, with the top of the tank being so low I only have limited height to play with and want to keep the water level in the sump as low as possible. It looks like the pump has a small cover (maybe with a small piece of sponge in it?) over the intake, and I guess that would help prevent the whirlpool effect (which was a problem I had with a Laguna 7500 I was running on my old 210g).

I'm looking into the Pond Matrix too to see if I can get it locally or if I have to get it sent over, this thread has been a big help reminding me that sometimes the simplest solutions are best!

 

[aldiaz33]

Thanks! Thats good news for me trying to work out how big to make the sump for my tank, with the top of the tank being so low I only have limited height to play with and want to keep the water level in the sump as low as possible. It looks like the pump has a small cover (maybe with a small piece of sponge in it?) over the intake, and I guess that would help prevent the whirlpool effect (which was a problem I had with a Laguna 7500 I was running on my old 210g).

I'm looking into the Pond Matrix too to see if I can get it locally or if I have to get it sent over, this thread has been a big help reminding me that sometimes the simplest solutions are best!

From what I understand the 4200GPH model (also known as the 16,000LPH) is the only model that comes with the optional smaller cage (see pic below- I removed the larger cage and am using the smaller cover). I suppose you can put some sponge material in there to try to break that little whirlpool effect. I would probably be a little nervous about the sponge getting sucked into the impellar chamber and jamming it up. Perhaps placing a sheet of Matala Mat (which is made of rigid plastic) on the water's surface over the pump would be enough to break the whirlpool effect? Or you can remove the cage and run a 45 elbow off of the intake so that it's pulling water from floor of the sump. I did this with my old 240G setup and it worked well.