DIY Sump/WD - suggestions

[aeri]

Just redid my whole filtration setup as I picked up two 4 foot tanks for cheap from a fish store that closed down.

built myself a wood stand and had the two stacked and connected.

the main tank is drilled and pours water behind the wall into the first tank, which I keep as a tank for fry and whomever needs to be separated. This tank is also drilled and overflows to the bottom tank.

1st chamber is thick filter floss.
2nd chamber is more filter floss + dish washer scrub things + prefilter ceramic rings.
3rd chamber black sponge foam
4th is drip plate into bioballs supported by a sponge, with scrubbies and course ceramic rings under
5th channels through more black sponge then to the heater + 1200gph pump

sorry about the angled pics, it's squished back there and that's the best I can do.

please provide comments/suggestions on anything i can do to improve the setup...except for my really ugly silicone job

first pic is water pouring in from behind wall
second pic is same tank, theres a divider in the middle
third is it going into bottom tank

 

[Jgray152]

I first want to say congrats on attempting a good sump.

Unfortunatly there are a few things I see that should be looked at.

1. The order of mechanical filtration is not correct
2. Lots of space that could be utilized better
3. Bio compartment is very small for the size sump.
4. Silicone is not good on acrylic. It peels right off. I would find some acrylic cement.

The FIRST bay seems like its not doing anything. Looks like its just a spot to fill up with water and then spill over into mech filtration area. The filter pads on the bottom I can't see doing any good.

So now for my suggestions,
Your first bay seem ok for "area" but could you give me the dimensions of the entire sump? This will help me better to figure out everything. Use the first bay for all your mechanical filtration and have the water flow UNDER the first piece of glass/acrylic. Then place a piece of glass/acrylic 1" away from the first piece which water flow under and adhere it on the side and the bottom. Allow space above this last piece so water can spill over onto a drip plate to fill the bio compartment. Which will be much larger than what you have at the moment.

For the mechanical filtration department. Use black coarse sponge first, then filter wool, then micron filter pads. No need for those green scrubbes and pre filter.

The bio media department, all the bio balls to extend to the bottom of the sump, don't have them held up. Use some egg crate below that last piece of glass/acrylic to keep the bio balls in.

 

[aeri]

3. Bio compartment is very small for the size sump.

forgot to mention...there's a built in divider right in the middle of the tank. instead of cutting it out i decided to use it as a baffle.

4. Silicone is not good on acrylic. It peels right off. I would find some acrylic cement.

i know about that but i made do with everything i had on hand without having to buy anything extra. plus i'm still not 100% sure if i want to keep this as a sump forever, so silicone seemed easier to peel off if i ever decided to later.

The FIRST bay seems like its not doing anything. Looks like its just a spot to fill up with water and then spill over into mech filtration area. The filter pads on the bottom I can't see doing any good.

that's what i was wondering too. i made a thread before wondering why some choose to pour into the 1st chamber which then overflows from the top, whereas some have it so that it pours under the baffle...didn't get much of a response though.

Your first bay seem ok for "area" but could you give me the dimensions of the entire sump?

the dimensions are 48lx16hx13d

Use the first bay for all your mechanical filtration and have the water flow UNDER the first piece of glass/acrylic. Then place a piece of glass/acrylic 1" away from the first piece which water flow under and adhere it on the side and the bottom.

what does that do in terms of water flow?

For the mechanical filtration department. Use black coarse sponge first, then filter wool, then micron filter pads. No need for those green scrubbes and pre filter.

okay. does the black course sponge serve as mechanical or bio? i read different views about this...and i thought filter wool is usually the first stage?

The bio media department, all the bio balls to extend to the bottom of the sump, don't have them held up. Use some egg crate below that last piece of glass/acrylic to keep the bio balls in.

i also read that bioballs do significantly better when not submerged...?

i appreciate the advise, thanks!

 

[Jgray152]

Hi Bud.

That tank divider really gets in the way eh? haha. Is there room above it for water to flow? It looks like thats how its working but I can't be sure.

I understand about the silicone, I did the same process when modifying my Fx5 just incase I wan'ted to revert back to the original design.

I see wet/drys all the time that have a small compartment for the water to pour into and then once it fills up, it spills onto the media. This is good and bad. First the good, it will reduce the "splashing" caused by the incoming water hitting the media, but since you have a cover, I don't see this being an issue. The bad, your reducing the amount of mechanical filtration which you could have. You could make that first bay smaller, only about 2" wide if you really wanted to keep it.

The glass arangment will allow the water to flow down through the mechanical filtration, and then back up above the bio media which then it will spill onto a drip plate, and you know the rest

The black coarse sponge. First, I really hate it when people suggest to use the mechanical filtration sponge, as bio media. First, you have media specifically for the biological part. Second, your filter wool is going to clog up much faster with big debris that the coarse sponge could have taken out.

I am not saying you can't use the sponge for bio media, you can, but when you already area using another type of media for bio filtration, it doesn't make sence.

I think any biological media works better when its not submerged. The thing about this is that your only submerging "additional" media in the water. Canisters work just fine with submerged media. I don't know where the thought of specifically bio balls needed to be out of the water came from, but they will work under the water as well.

So basically, you can fill that bio compartment from the very bottom, to the height you have it at now. You will just have additional media, which is good.

That first bay seem like its 13"x8"? If you can get that bay so its about 13x12, you will have 144 sq/in of area. Which is very good. It will increase the amount of gunk your filter can hold and increase the time between maintenance cycles. This will also ensure that you can run a high flow rate without the media compartment flowing over into the next bay. You must allow this to be a possibility in your design for saftey, if not, water could overflow the sump and never reach the pump if the media clogs up.

So the large the area, the better.

How large is the tank this is going on? Have you calculated how much water will siphon out of the main tank into the sump when the pump shuts down or tried it?

Now get to work! haha.

 

[aeri]

yeah the tank divider was pretty annoying...ontop of that there's a lid/brace at the top that makes it damn difficult to do any work inside. which is why my silicone job is so damn ugly

i opened up a 3/4 inch gap for the water to pour through. as it is now there's still 1/4 inch of air so it doesn't look like it will get clogged.

makes sense, since my first compartment feels as if it's not doing anything. i was thinking of turning it into a moving bed filter chamber using honeycomb media or straws like this:

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=zxpBOGXkGls&feature=channel_page

okay. i'll switch up the black sponge with teh filter wool. i was thinking of putting ontop of the drip plate as well but was afraid it might clog. i'll also pick up some pot scrubbies soon. bioballs seem to be raising in price lately.

the tank is 135g, which then flows into the 45g, then into the 45 g below. when the babies are large enough to go into my other tank i plan to turn one of the top halves full of black foam. with the same sideways layout such as this:
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=203236

i've tested out turning off the pump and the water level gives enough room after the draining/backsiphoning is done..!

 

[aeri]

bump

 

[Jgray152]

I was just thinking of something. As I am not there to take measurements, will your sump have enough volume for you main tank's siphon volume when the pump is shut off? did I already ask this? Show how lazy I am, I dont want to scroll up to find out. I will scroll through topics after posting this though.

 

[aeri]

yah i've already tested it out, the tank holds water after the pump has turned off and water drained/backsiphoned

 

[aeri]

bump