Maich;2940544; said:
how big is your discus tank / sump...
and also what type of pump is that... how many gph?
The sump is a 50 breeder but it's only about half full and the tank is a 90 gallon that my husband drilled.
I'm pretty sure the pump is 500gph, I can't remember which pump I put on there but I'm pretty certain. Brand is Danner.
Looks very nice and efficient but could you possibly give some details on what do to so i might be able to build it?
Sorry, I thought it was pretty self explanatory but I'm looking at it from the view of someone that already understands wet dry and sump systems.
It's a really easy setup, nothing special at all.
There are 3 small milk crates (got them for a dollar at dollar tree) and they lock together on top of each other.
The top crate has solid sides unlike the bottom 2 and there are various filter pads to catch debris. The filter pads are actually the same that come with the Rena canister filters, they're really good at catching fine particles. I rinse them every day to prevent nitrates from building up, when they are no longer rinsable I'll simply replace them.
The top crate has holes drilled in the bottom which acts as a drip plate. Water from my overflow pipe in my main tank drips down through the filter pads which cleans the water of any debris or detritus then drips through the holes and cascades down over the biomedia (scrubbies).
Filtered water is then pumped back into the main tank.
Not sure how more detailed to explain it. I'll take a picture and try to point out all the components.
You don't need a setup exactly like mine I just posted it to give you an idea of how a true wet dry works and that it doesn't have to be complicated or expensive.
The main components of a good wet dry are:
1/2-2/3 of the media should be out of the water. Do make sure all the media is getting water cascading over it though. If you don't have a high enough flow rate or your drip plate isn't drilled evenly or with enough holes some of your media might remain dry which is a waste.
You want your polishing media BEFORE the biomedia because you don't want your biomedia trapping fish waste in it which will lead to high nitrates. (Polishing media can be as simple as a filter sock)
For sumps in general (this goes for any design) you want the make sure you have enough room to handle all the water that comes out of your main tank during a power outage.
That was actually a concern of mine when looking at your design, the water level is running high enough, is your sump going to overflow when the power shuts off? Though I wasn't sure because you didn't mention the size of your tank and sump. (Wasn't sure whether 55g referred to the size of sump or size of tank)
Hope this helps.
