looking for mechanical filtration ideas to replace filter socks.

[jjohnwm]

i wonder if i could get some acrylic cylinders 4" diameter and make tubes that i can place the porrett foam into. so i can retain the look and functionality of the rest of the sump.

I'm sure you could ... but I very much doubt that you should. If the entire flow is lengthwise through one or a couple of 4-inch tubes, you have very little frontal surface area and it would clog very quickly.

Removing the entire support structure for socks would allow much more foam and much more frontal area; I don't think it would affect the function of the rest of the sump? Welded on? It's plastic; grab a saw.

As far as the "look" of the sump...I've never even considered that. Function and efficiency are all that matters in a sump, IMHO; how it looks doesn't concern me any more than the "look" of my lawnmower's underside or my compost heap behind the barn. Even if your tank is a display in your living room...the stand's second most important function, after supporting the tank properly, is to hide all that other stuff underneath.

Poret foam is sold in various PPI grades...Pores Per Inch. If I were limited to just one, my most-useful size would be 30ppm, but I will use 20 and even 10ppm for prefilters, etc.

If I am reading this correctly, and the compartment for foam is only 1 inch deep...I can't see that working out at all. My mech chamber contains at least a couple of 2-inch thick foam slabs and a single 1-inch coarser one...plus has several more inches of free space above those. I think that you need to either completely re-work the sump...or just forget the whole idea and stick with socks.

 

[duanes]

I agree with jjohmwm, I would toss the tray, and use the foam (as I did) as a wall.
I don't like shallow, low water content sumps. If something gets clogged it's easy to burn out a pump.
I run sumps "almost" full and use an emergency overflow to send water (in case of a power outage) somewhere else, an extra tank, a bucket, or in my case, directly to the garden.
We had a monsoon last night, and the rain entering the the tank, overflowed to almost the rim of the sump.

The emergency overflow wa still dripping hours after the rain stopped.
This Emergency Overflow also works automatically if one gets distracted during a refill, after a water change (something I've done many more times than just once)
I take advantage of any free, no sweat water changes, I can get. And sometimes during the rainy season, I get daily or even twice daily rain water water changes.

 

[Iwhoopedbatman]

I replaced my socks with jars. The socks were way too loud. Plus I immediately noticed the jars did a better job. I use 2 regular sponges, polyfil quilt batting layer over that then another sponge layer on top. Once or twice a week I rinse the top sponge and change out the polyfil.