I was reading they are better than lava rock because lava rock can get clogged with gunk and possibly raise PH. What type of ceramics do you use?
Help with sump set-up
- Thread starter GoldFinger
- Start date
It could be debated as to whether the heater belong in the media chamber or the pump chamber. Personally, I'm on the fence depending on flow rate.
This is one of the nice things about scrubbies... if they need a cleaning, you just give them a squeeze and let the junk flow down to the next stage. This should be rare unless your socks are overflowing. I have scrubbies in a tank right now with wood-eating plecos and I've about had it with that... way too much waste accumulation in that situation.
The pot scrubs are ghetto for sure. I don't notice them anymore, but anyone that comes into the fishroom is like WTF. The main benefit I see in them is 1) the are good at growing bacteria and 2) they kinda float. Their slight buoyancy means I can grab them easily, that they are in a high oxygen area of the tank all time (near the surface) and that the fish I like to keep (CA/SA cichlids) like to have floating material above them... it checks all the boxes for me.
I buy the unbranded ceramic from cll pet supplies online. Never had any issues with lava rock. What I've found with submerged media is the best stuff is whatever gives you peace of mind, they all seem to work. I've heard of all kinds of crazy stuff being used with success.
Another decision is how fine you want the socks to be. Most use 200 micron me included. I was going to use 100 micron on the newer sump but accidently ordered 50 micron at1st i was unhappy with having to swap them out more frequently but i really like how clean the sump is being that the socks are trapping more debis. Its a trade off
What do you mean give them a squeeze and let the junk flow to next stage? Unless you have a few good stages of filtration afterwards, wouldn't that junk get thrown into the tank by the pumps?
Beneficial bacteria are aerobic, and live on surfaces as biofilm.
If you don't occasionally get rid of the gunk the biofilm can become covered, and the area can become anoxic (even anaerobic).
One of the reasons fluidized beds work so well, is with motion, the gunk doesn't get a chance to build up and become anoxic. Old less robust bacteria are washed away leaving room for newer healthier biofilm.
Shaking off gunk in some water change water regularely helps biomedia stay aerobic and the bacteria robust.
Never cleaning biomedia, (such as is normally done routines in canister filters) defects its purpose.
Media such as lava rock doesn't clog any faster than any other media, unless that other media is fluidized.
Below one of my fluidized creator chambers, its about 4ft tall, and 8" in diameter.
It uses aragonite sand as media, which also buffers pH beside the beneficial component
The flow empties into a 50 barrel as a sump.
If you don't occasionally get rid of the gunk the biofilm can become covered, and the area can become anoxic (even anaerobic).
One of the reasons fluidized beds work so well, is with motion, the gunk doesn't get a chance to build up and become anoxic. Old less robust bacteria are washed away leaving room for newer healthier biofilm.
Shaking off gunk in some water change water regularely helps biomedia stay aerobic and the bacteria robust.
Never cleaning biomedia, (such as is normally done routines in canister filters) defects its purpose.
Media such as lava rock doesn't clog any faster than any other media, unless that other media is fluidized.
Below one of my fluidized creator chambers, its about 4ft tall, and 8" in diameter.
It uses aragonite sand as media, which also buffers pH beside the beneficial component
The flow empties into a 50 barrel as a sump.
Depends on how you setup your sump! If I had to do this in our sump, I'd shutdown the sump, clean the scrubbies (with a squeeze) in the sump chamber, and vac the chamber when I'm done before turning the sump back on.
Perhaps this is a new thread all together but I'm going to ask you knowledgeable folk. 1) do you run both heaters at the same time and temp or is there a device to make the back up kick on if the primary fails. 2) do you run both pumps to both returns or do you just tee off the primary return to feed both and have the back up kick on if the primary fails somehow? 3) what do you do and are you aware of any emergency back up systems to keep my system running during a power outage? I know you can get battery powered bubblers to assist in aeration
The reason to run two heaters is more for if a heater sticks on. If you run on heater and it sticks on, it will cook your fish. I've had many heaters malfunction over the years, and usually they stick on, not just quit, although that happens too. I set both (or 3 or 4!) to the same temp. If on sticks, the other will stay off. If one quits, the other will at least give you some heat. A generator is the best back-up in case of power failure
