Critique my set-up! What would you do?

[Wiksta]

I am seeking advice to see if I should make any changes to my current set-up. This is my first drilled tank. I bought it about a year ago used and made a bunch of changes. Currently the tank is down because there is a spot of white joint so I'm taking precautions. I figure this is a great time to make any changes or upgrades needed. The tank is 180 gallons, acrylic, with a center overflow. 60"x24"x22"tall. I set up a Herbie overflow using a gate valve. I have a wet/dry sump. 1350 gph little giant pump. Finnex heater laying across bottom of return reservoir in the sump. I have a powerhead on the left wall in the tank. There is a bubble wand along the back right wall. I am using pool filter sand for a sand bottom. I have a large piece of driftwood in the center of the tank. I have 2 juvenile oscars (1 albino, 1 tiger), 7 adult silver dollars, 1 common pleco. I plan to get one more fish, likely a blue acara. I feed them frozen food, spirulina flakes and make food from organic spirulina. I use Prime for water dechlorination. I do water changes every 1-2 weeks.

I have some questions/concerns... Mostly around the sump filtration.

• I think I have an issue with not enough mechanical filtration... There are 2 square and flat sponges, about 1" thick x12"x12", that lay flat on a tray with holes throughout, causing the water to run through most of the sponge. Underneath there are 5 gallons of bioballs and in the reservoir at the bottom i have 5 large sponges and some lava rock. In the middle chamber i have 2 layers of the same 1" thick foam. In the right reservoir i made a platform from egg crate so i could lay the heater across the bottom and on top of the eggcrate put biomedia. I have 4 bags with ceramic rings, bio balls, biorocks, and a small bag of carbon. Problem is the biomedia in the right side constantly get very dirty. Also on the left side the sponges and rocks are covered with a sludge. Is this good? Should I use other types of media? Should i clean this part of the sump? I clean the 2 flat sponges but not the bioballs or the sponges and rocks in the bottom left side. I do clean the sponges i put in the middle chamber. I rinse out the dirt from the bio media on the right side and try to keep that side relatively clean. Am I doing things right?....
• Someone told me it's better to have the gph slower so the water is in contact with the biomedia longer. Should I turn down my pump?
• Would you suggest I use a different type of bio media?
• Would you do something different? Can i do something better? Cooler?

I would love to hear everyone suggestions! I will post pictures and please ask questions if you need me to clarify anything or i can take additional pictures. Thanks in advance!!

 

[celebrist]

Beautiful tank, if you want more mechanical put some filter socks in. Or you can add a polisher.I have an Fx6 for that, just fill it with floss

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

I'm pretty sure a 180 is 72x24x24.

 

[millerkid519]

I think that tank is a 140 or 150 not a 180

 

[Wiksta]

I think that tank is a 140 or 150 not a 180

You are both correct. I was confusing my old 180 tank. The correct dimensions are 32Wx64Lx21.5H. Which would make it roughly 180g. I don't believe it's a standard size.

 

[carbene]

you need more bio filter. maybe get about a cubic feet of pot scrubbers. if you want to change your sump, id recommend using a larger sump baffless and fill it up with bio with filtersocks as mechanical.

 

[ragin_cajun]

I would add more flow, I think that'd help with mech filtration. If the tank water is kinda dirty, you see more stuff floating around in the display than you'd like--get a bigger pump, moving more water through your overflows and mech filtration in the sump.

If the problem is the sump is dirty, lots of sludge in the sump, then you're getting stuff past your wet/dry. It probably stays in the sump, so the tank is clean, it just doesn't stay where you want it to in the sump. I'd say go with filter socks. They aren't a whole lot better than any other kinda mech filtration, but they keep everything in the socks--so your sump stays clean.

The bio-media getting dirty is not good--gunk gets past your mechanical filtration. go with filter socks. The more filter socks you add, the longer you can go before you have to change them/wash them.

 

[pacu mom]

If he has good water parameters, he does not need more biological filtration. Some people don't worry about mulm
https://northernaquaponics.wordpres...topped-worrying-and-learned-to-love-the-mulm/

 

[Wiksta]

you need more bio filter. maybe get about a cubic feet of pot scrubbers. if you want to change your sump, id recommend using a larger sump baffless and fill it up with bio with filtersocks as mechanical.

Really? I thought i had a lot of bio... I have not had one issue when testing the levels.

If he has good water parameters, he does not need more biological filtration. Some people don't worry about mulm
https://northernaquaponics.wordpres...topped-worrying-and-learned-to-love-the-mulm/

Good read. But I don't have aquatic plants so i'm not sure if this still applies as much.

Beautiful tank, if you want more mechanical put some filter socks in. Or you can add a polisher.I have an Fx6 for that, just fill it with floss

Thanks! The issue is that the room for the filters is only a few inches tall but its very wide. Maybe i can still fit a filter sock on it.. or maybe remove the foam i have in there now and just replace with socks. I don't know why i didn't consider just laying more sponges across the bio balls... The tank is acrylic and has cut-out holes on the top so running the lines would be tough...Maybe use pvc... I have a canister that's rated for 100g, so it could help, but its not a FX5!

Thanks for the input everyone!

 

[pacu mom]

Thanks! The issue is that the room for the filters is only a few inches tall but its very wide. Maybe i can still fit a filter sock on it.. or maybe remove the foam i have in there now and just replace with socks. I don't know why i didn't consider just laying more sponges across the bio balls... The tank is acrylic and has cut-out holes on the top so running the lines would be tough...Maybe use pvc... I have a canister that's rated for 100g, so it could help, but its not a FX5!

Thanks for the input everyone!

Don't you have room for a couple of holes on the top of the tank?
We drilled quite a few extra holes in the top of our tank. The first hole past the overflow box is the return line to an FX-5/40 Watt UV sterilizer. The uptake line is shoved in a hole near the middle of the tank.

We used bulkheads on the uptakes for our mechanical filtration (our poopsuckers), but our rascal fish have broken three of them. The last poopsucker repair pipe was jerry rigged and the PVC goes straight through the hole into the tank. It can move a little and seems to withstand the fish ramming into it better than the ones that were rigidly in place with bulkheads.

We had our big tank drilled with 11 holes like these across the top of the tank. I wish I hadn't planned on using builkheads with our uptake and return pipes. Coming straight down through the hole without using a bulkhead would work better for us.