The sump is new I just moved it to the basement a few months ago. I have it set up so one is a segment tank and I can clean it out. I know I am very heavily stocked but I agree this should not be that hard. De filter seems like work you have to take it apart once a month. The sand filter I can just back wash.
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I have a 180g tank with a composite dirt bottom capped with gravel. I.e. Miracle Grow Organic potting soil, Clay, Powdered Charcoal, etc. The Hayward EC40 is the only mechanical filtration I am currently running. I need to redo my overflow at which time I will add some pre-filtration to remove large sentiment before it makes it to the EC40. When I brought up this tank it took about 3 hours for the water to go from mud puddle to perfectly clear. That initial charge when bringing up the tank lasted about a month before I had to change it out.
I just had to change out the DE in the EC40 a couple days ago after running the charge of DE for 3 months. This is without any pre-filtering and doing a fair amount of landscaping which kicks up the fine clay particles into the water stream.
The EC40 is made to filter pools of many thousands of gallons (It is rated for pools up to 19,200g). My recollection is the screen area of the EC40 is 40 sq ft . Once the screens are coated with DE the actual surface area of the DE is many times that which is the advantage of the unique properties of Diatomaceous Earth. My best educated guess is that the EC40 would handle your 1100g tank/sump pair without issue and my best guess is that you should be able to easily get 3 months out of a charge of DE since you aren't running a dirt bottom (I believe?).
I have used this EC40 with pumps as small as a Quiet One 4000 on a 35g hex tank to as large as my current Jeboa 20,000 on my current 180g. They all have worked very well for me.
Here is an old picture from when I was setting up the tank:
The output of the EC40 goes through a shutoff valve, one way valve to a 2 output T valve. When I recharge the DE I switch the T valve to by pass the tank and dump the output of the EC40 directly back into the sump. Once the EC40 has been charged and the water coming from it is clear (less than 5 minutes) I switch the T valve to push the water output from EC40 into the main tank via bottom returns.
I know there are a lot of pages in the thread linked to in my signature, I have been running the EC40 for 10 years now.
I believe you can setup the EC40 so you can backwash the DE out of the filter instead of taking it apart but I have never tried it in this configuration.
I just had to change out the DE in the EC40 a couple days ago after running the charge of DE for 3 months. This is without any pre-filtering and doing a fair amount of landscaping which kicks up the fine clay particles into the water stream.
The EC40 is made to filter pools of many thousands of gallons (It is rated for pools up to 19,200g). My recollection is the screen area of the EC40 is 40 sq ft . Once the screens are coated with DE the actual surface area of the DE is many times that which is the advantage of the unique properties of Diatomaceous Earth. My best educated guess is that the EC40 would handle your 1100g tank/sump pair without issue and my best guess is that you should be able to easily get 3 months out of a charge of DE since you aren't running a dirt bottom (I believe?).
I have used this EC40 with pumps as small as a Quiet One 4000 on a 35g hex tank to as large as my current Jeboa 20,000 on my current 180g. They all have worked very well for me.
Here is an old picture from when I was setting up the tank:
The output of the EC40 goes through a shutoff valve, one way valve to a 2 output T valve. When I recharge the DE I switch the T valve to by pass the tank and dump the output of the EC40 directly back into the sump. Once the EC40 has been charged and the water coming from it is clear (less than 5 minutes) I switch the T valve to push the water output from EC40 into the main tank via bottom returns.
I know there are a lot of pages in the thread linked to in my signature, I have been running the EC40 for 10 years now.
I believe you can setup the EC40 so you can backwash the DE out of the filter instead of taking it apart but I have never tried it in this configuration.
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Ok I just bought a filter. Do you recommend and de powder or are they all about the same?
I have always used swimming pool DE powder. In the winter I have had to order it off of Amazon. I saw several bags at Home Depot in the swimming pool section the other day. I should pick up a bag to have a spare. When I fist started using the EC40 I sweated over which DE powder, now, not so much. I am about 3/4 of the way through my first 25lb bag... after 10 years.
What pump are you using? (just out of curiosity)
I would appreciate your feed back on how it works for you? Please feel free to post on the Monster DE thread. http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...434493-Monster-Diatomaceous-Earth-(DE)-filter
One warning: DE is silicone based. It is best to wear a filter mask when handling it. Once it is wet and the filter is charged there is no more possibility of the dust flying around in the air so the DE is completely inert and perfectly safe.
Either a reeflo hammerhead or a a sear 11000gph Obviously not at full. Those are the 2 pumps I have laying around. I will post after I get it set up. I hope it works. I saw that one at HD too. That was what I am going to buy. It was the best price. When you backwash it and have to load new DE in do you just open the filter and throw it in.
I might also do a sand filter with glass beads. If I need it
Have you ever seen this filter. Seems to good to be true. More Surface area for less money. But it only takes 3 pounds of DE and the hayward takes 4. That's what I don't get how can one be 20 sqft and take 4 pounds and one be 100 sqft and take 4? Because of the turnover rate I need I want the most Surface area
Diatom filters are very effective. But have you checked if this is bacteria bloom? The foggyness looks like my tank when I built the new filter.
It is not bacteria I can see the particles in the water. Also I would have cleared up by now. I have been fighting this problem for awhile.
There is a pinch ring that holds the top of the filter to the bottom of the filter. When I have to recharge the filter I remove 2 nuts from the pinch ring and separate the top of the filter from the bottom of the filter. I then put the filter in my garden and blast the filter with a garden hose which does a nice job of washing all the old DE off the screens. I then put the pinch ring back on with the 2 nuts and reinstall the filter.
To recharge the filter I connect it back up to the sump. I switch the 2 way valve so the exhaust water from the EC40 goes directly back into the sump. I turn on the sump pump. Then I slowly dump two "Big Gulp" cup full of DE into the last compartment of my sump. The last chamber in my sump turns white with the suspended DE powder and some of the DE powder makes it through the EC40 and is directed back to the sump. After about a minute (let's just say 5 minutes to be safe) the water coming out of the EC40 is clear and I redirect the water coming from the EC40 into the main tank instead of the sump. That is about it. A complete clean out of the EC40 takes about a half hour.
