If you could do it over again

[Rizzobitz]

BTW.....your sump looks just fine! The only thing I would suggest is a couple little pieces of pvc pipe cut to act as legs to support the bio-ball platform. As far as the stuff collecting in the bottom....it's not in the main tank. If it bothers you, buy a little circulation pump with a sponge filter on the intake or discharge to filter that part of the sumps dead space. The sump looks pretty normal to me. If you need more mechanical filtration, consider replacing the bio-balls with submerged media and use the extra space for mechanical filter media...poret foam or batting/pillow stuffing.. (yes, pillow stuffing from the cloth/craft store)...or remove some of the bio-balls and make a polishing pillow...a mesh pillow case stuffed with batting...vecro closure to open and replace polyfil...the mesh can be made from the material they make wedding veils out of.
Anyway, work with what you have. No need to get crazy and start tearing things apart and start over. Feel free to side bar me with questions. (PM)

Thank you. It's not visible in the picture but we do have a 2.25'' pvc x in the middle to prevent the bioball platform from collapsing under the weight. It could definitely use more x's to prevent the bowing. Right now my setup forces me to shut down and remove the pipes to access anything in bioball section. I think the easiest thing to do would be removing the lid and tray and matala mats then add some of my favorite polishing pads and have Advanced Acrylics make me a new lid that opens so I can easily change out the mats.

 

[boldtogether]

What's that cast iron pot green in color ? A slow cooker ? Lol

That is an Eheim 2250 with the pump in the sump and the discharge going to the bio-balls in the tall pvc tube in the center.
The canister is full with a bout 3 1/2 gallons of effisubstrate pro.

 

[Rizzobitz]

+1, agree with bold.

FWIW, I have filter socks and also have detritus in my sump. I think primarily because my socks could be raised higher limit detritus flowing back out to the next chamber. I too have evolved my sump and it's not the same filter wise as it was a year ago. I may be bias, but your sump is perfectly fine. As mentioned, you could experiment:

You could remove some bio-balls so that you have more vertical space (also puts less pressure on your bottom bio-ball tray) and use any combination of the blue filter pads and/or felt. You could also use a combination of the sponge in combination with the pads for additional mechanical filtration in your tray.




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Thank you.

I think I found a simple solution for now, just cut off 6 inches of the lid on the left side so I can get my hands into the tray and add a polishing filter. What I want most is to get a polishing filter into the bioballs side. There's room in the top tray if I could access it.

 

[markstrimaran]

I pulled out half my submerged bioballs, then packed in plastic coke bottles. Too fill the void. I left the necks open and drilled holes thru them. A micro refugium sort of.