770 Gallon Filtration

[DB junkie]

This thread makes me sad.

Someone willing to show off something besides the typical overstocked 125 with an FX5 and it's getting nothing but picked apart, and for no friggin reason besides maybe jealousy.

That sump is more then adequate for what he has. I imagine if he runs into trouble and the tank reaches a stock level that can overpower the filter it wouldn't take anything more then a creative afternoon to modify the sump so it would be good for a few more years then it will likely be good for now.

All of us start somewhere. This is a start worthy of hateraid...... And it sounds like there is plenty of it. Must be doing something right.... Keep up the good work!!!!

 

[DIDYSIS]

+1 Ya. Filter socks are great and you change them when they get filled up near the top. Stuff in the bottom of the sump at this point is because he is feeding fish in the sump. Mine also with my 120 gets dirty with a bunch of fry and guppies. Food poop everything is hard to go through the tank and into the pump to go back into the tank and then filter out. My sump for my 600 does have such good flow though that the sump sucks any and all junk out but I am not keeping fish in the sump and only got a little gunk when I Bio seeded the sump by just poring all my fx5 filter gunk into the sump. I personally think the media and Bio balls are doing just what they should be going. Growing Bio algae. One last thing about monster fish his tank he can keep what he wants. More and more I look at tanks the overstocked tanks looks worse and worse and the more room and less fish looks better and better all the time. I enjoy my 50ish fish in my 600 and they can breed like crazy as you can see he is doing well. Means fish are most comfortable which is great. Show me bass breeding in this tank with even 10 fish in it. Not going to happen.

This thread makes me sad.

Someone willing to show off something besides the typical overstocked 125 with an FX5 and it's getting nothing but picked apart, and for no friggin reason besides maybe jealousy.

That sump is more then adequate for what he has. I imagine if he runs into trouble and the tank reaches a stock level that can overpower the filter it wouldn't take anything more then a creative afternoon to modify the sump so it would be good for a few more years then it will likely be good for now.

All of us start somewhere. This is a start worthy of hateraid...... And it sounds like there is plenty of it. Must be doing something right.... Keep up the good work!!!!

Sent from my DROIDX using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[aldiaz33]

I laughed. I disagree with you about the sump (it may not be the most efficient use of space, but it's plenty adequate) and think this is a juvenile comment (not the least because I keep some of the same fish), but I still laughed.

It takes a real man to admit he's a girly fish keeper...

This thread makes me sad.

Someone willing to show off something besides the typical overstocked 125 with an FX5 and it's getting nothing but picked apart, and for no friggin reason besides maybe jealousy.

That sump is more then adequate for what he has. I imagine if he runs into trouble and the tank reaches a stock level that can overpower the filter it wouldn't take anything more then a creative afternoon to modify the sump so it would be good for a few more years then it will likely be good for now.

All of us start somewhere. This is a start worthy of hateraid...... And it sounds like there is plenty of it. Must be doing something right.... Keep up the good work!!!!

Thanks man. For a good laugh, check out the filtration of those who are talking the most trash.

I am open to hearing suggestions that would improve the sump, but so far the suggestions haven't made any sense.

+1 Ya. Filter socks are great and you change them when they get filled up near the top. Stuff in the bottom of the sump at this point is because he is feeding fish in the sump. Mine also with my 120 gets dirty with a bunch of fry and guppies. Food poop everything is hard to go through the tank and into the pump to go back into the tank and then filter out. My sump for my 600 does have such good flow though that the sump sucks any and all junk out but I am not keeping fish in the sump and only got a little gunk when I Bio seeded the sump by just poring all my fx5 filter gunk into the sump. I personally think the media and Bio balls are doing just what they should be going. Growing Bio algae. One last thing about monster fish his tank he can keep what he wants. More and more I look at tanks the overstocked tanks looks worse and worse and the more room and less fish looks better and better all the time. I enjoy my 50ish fish in my 600 and they can breed like crazy as you can see he is doing well. Means fish are most comfortable which is great. Show me bass breeding in this tank with even 10 fish in it. Not going to happen.

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Yeah, I think breeding is a pretty good indication of fish health. My goldfish had fry, my Barbs had fry and my texas keeps laying eggs (no male to fertilize them though).

I think the only thing that can help is adding plants to bring my nitrates down even further, but I am happy with stable 0 Ammo, 0 nitrites 10 nitrates.

 

[Aquarium 3]

Hi I don't want to upset you at all just want to say, think you have some good and bad bits with your sump. I'm not a fan of the wire holding up your hoses or your socks. You can get nice holders for them that will match your sump and try to get them up as high as you can but still keep them easy to get out. As your fish are not putting much of a load on your filter yet, they will as some of them get bigger. I would put a divider in from the socks to your bio balls and fill it up with noodles or something like that. As for your heaters, if it works it works leave them all in one spot. I would only even them out over that one section so they don't sit on top of each other. Most of what I'm saying is it looks like you got it going and didn't get back to finish it off. I only say this cause you put it on show to see and have high standards on attention to detail.


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[aldiaz33]

Hi I don't want to upset you at all just want to say, think you have some good and bad bits with your sump. I'm not a fan of the wire holding up your hoses or your socks. You can get nice holders for them that will match your sump and try to get them up as high as you can but still keep them easy to get out. As your fish are not putting much of a load on your filter yet, they will as some of them get bigger. I would put a divider in from the socks to your bio balls and fill it up with noodles or something like that. As for your heaters, if it works it works leave them all in one spot. I would only even them out over that one section so they don't sit on top of each other. Most of what I'm saying is it looks like you got it going and didn't get back to finish it off. I only say this cause you put it on show to see and have high standards on attention to detail.


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First post on MFK? That's interesting. In any case, welcome...you are going to fit right in.

You are right...I haven't come back to make any changes since I initially set it up. The tank has been a work in progress. Some of your recommendations are aesthetic and would make the sump look nicer. I do like things to look nice so I will take those suggestions into consideration.

Few questions for you:

1. Do you realize that 20 Liters of Pond Matrix has enough surface area to handle the bio-load of 4 full grown (36") koi?
2. Did you see that I am running 20 Liters of Pond Matrix?
3. Do you think my stock will EVER create as much of a burden on a system as 4 full grown koi?

In addition to the Matrix, I have:
- 6 sheets of Matala which add 1,217 sq ft of surface area
- 40 gallons of bio-balls, even if they are submerged, add 860 sq ft of additionial surface area
- 300lbs of gravel (surface area unknown)

Any one of the three types of bio I have in my sump would provide enough surface area for all of my fish. The three combined provide a very solid safety factor.

Let me explain why there can be "too much of a good thing" when it comes to bio:

When you have compartment after compartment of Matrix, bio-spheres, Cermic media, "noodles", etc you are actually just creating places for detritus to settle and essentially turning your bio media into mechanical media. These guys that run extremely excessive amounts of bio media are creating the perfect conditions for a nitrate factory. All that trapped waste sitting within the bio-media is hurting your water quality, not helping it. This is actually the reason that most salt water/Reef guys are moving away from using wet/dry for bio. If you don't believe me, do a little research and find out for yourself.

Please post pictures of your sump and your stock as an example of what I should aim for if you still feel my filter will at any point be insufficient.

I'm starting to realize why some of the people with larger setups on here don't share or post pix...

It's so that they don't have to deal with the

 

[jcardona1]

Good God I can't believe the ignorance of some people that have posted here. Amazing how some can't grasp the basics of biological filtration and sump operation. Not all sumps need to be wet/dry trickle filters. That is almost as archaic as under gravel filters. They're messy, noisy and a waste of space. Fully submerged media is a much better approach. If the floating bio balls bother you that much, just act like they're not even there. Think of it as decoration. Bacteria will grow on any surface in your sump whether it be bio balls or hair curlers.

With the pond mats and ceramic media there's MORE than enough bio media to support his fish load and then some. He could overstock this tank with huge monster fish and I'm confident it would still be fine. Pond mat and Matrix are used in koi ponds to support massive amounts of bioload from big giant poop machines.

The other thing I see people stupidly complain about is the sump design and how there's empty space where the water passes over the media. Again, a baseless argument. If the water passed through the sump just once maybe you'd have a point. But with the high turnover the water is repeatedly being cycled through the sump. I've ran this type of setup in all my recent tanks. From 400g down to a 57g tank. It works perfectly. The water quality speaks for itself. But I guess that's not good enough these days *sigh*

Just because you don't understand how something works doesn't make it wrong

 

[hulk181]

This thread makes me sad.

Someone willing to show off something besides the typical overstocked 125 with an FX5 and it's getting nothing but picked apart, and for no friggin reason besides maybe jealousy.

That sump is more then adequate for what he has. I imagine if he runs into trouble and the tank reaches a stock level that can overpower the filter it wouldn't take anything more then a creative afternoon to modify the sump so it would be good for a few more years then it will likely be good for now.

All of us start somewhere. This is a start worthy of hateraid...... And it sounds like there is plenty of it. Must be doing something right.... Keep up the good work!!!!

Why can't someone offer suggestions and critque someone else's sump on this thread? Why should it always be praise and "your sump is so awesome" type comments? No one learns anything that way. Even the best guys could improve their setups with suggestions. No one ever learns how to make their sump better if everyone just posts smiley faces and rainbows when a guy shows pics of his sump.

I don't think it's hate. It's helpful to get a different opinion so people can point out the good and the bad about a setup. Personally, I think the sump is OK, but if I made one like that and people told me I could improve it by doing X, I would listen to those suggestions instead of telling those people they don't know what they're talking about and don't know anything about sumps.

 

[jcardona1]

And I have essentially the same setup on my 190g tank with a 40g sump. Water enters on one side via a filter sock, passer thru (or over) ceramic media with heater/pumps at the opposite end. I have just 1 heater laying on the floor of the tank. The water passes all above it, but my temp is always stable. The heater does it's job perfectly. Some act like hanging a heater on the back wall of your tank is any better

And note that my sump water level is a lot higher than shown in this pic. I keep it 2" from the top. Been running this current setup for a while now. No ammonia. No nitrite. Must be some kind of conspiracy since my sump is designed 'wrong'

 

[jcardona1]

Why can't someone offer suggestions and critque someone else's sump on this thread?

How can a person with no knowledge on a given subject critique and offer suggestions? That's all I've seen so far.

 

[Michiba54]

Nice, thanks for sharing.

I donno why some people are getting their panties in a twist though. If it works it works...

Is that filter sock that looks brown full of turds? Or do they just turn brown like felt pads do?



P.S. someone needs to do a sump full of barbie doll heads... that would be hilarious.