MY TRICK TO A CLEAN SUMP :)

[West1]

Okay, its not a trick but I like to think so
I have a 20gl sump for my 150 and I noticed I have to put more and more attention to my sump cause its getting dirty. I'm sure like everyone else I don't like to clean my sump. So I bought a canister (mag350) and ran that for about 3 weeks. The mag did not live up to its name being that it was in a 20gl tank (I was expecting to see a clean 20gl with in 3 weeks. NOT). I decided to get rid of it and go with a powerhead.
Yesterday I received my powerhead (I traded my mag for 2 powerheads with an MFKer) and slapped in a 650gph powerhead in the sump to watched the water go crazy! Along with the water moving really fast, it made all the little particles and stuff in the sump move around. When I woke up this morning to go to work I opened the door to my stand to check on the sump... I was so surprised to see that the water in my sump was crystal clear. All the water is now being pushed threw my U/V and in to my tank were my fish are now getting better water quality. I do 40% H2o changes every 4 days to keep my fish in good health and just thought I'd post another idea that seems successful for me to keep my fish in a happy environment

 

[Danh]

I may be wrong but.... It really seems like you're making your water quality worse. You should do what you can to get that crap OUT of the water. Stirring it up just causes it to break down and dirty your water. Your water may be clear, but it's not necessarily cleaner, meaning you didn't necessarily better your water quality. You should try having that powerhead go through a submerged filter sock and clean it daily. Get the crap out of the tank before it has time to completely break down. Just my thoughts..

 

[West1]

Well I was simply just trying to give an idea. Today I do my water change, so thats why I put the powerhead on last night. What you said is true up until today at around 3:30pacific when I get home from work and do my water change.
Starting tomorrow I will continue the water changes as noted, keep the powerheads as positioned, and continue to clean the pooh daily (I also posted a thread on how I clean my fish pooh everyday). So I think that I am doing everything I can to keep my fish in good health without spending to much so I can save for my custom tank.
But I agree with what you said

 

[Danh]

Ok. I do it in my main tank so it looks better, but I try to mechanically remove it from the sump..
Doing the water change will of course help. Especially if you can suck out the poo (which I didnt see the thread for, sorry), but if the solid poo has broken down more quickly due to the current in the sump, then you may have higher nitrates than you would have without it. Therefore doing the same size water change you'll end with higher nitrates than you would have without the powerhead. Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about... I'm just thinking. And I doubt it makes a huge difference... and I'm definitely not saying you're not doing what you can to keep your fish in good health

 

[West1]

I don't think your coming close to down talking my though. I like the feed back, thats why I posted .
I just think that by having a 700pgh powerhead in my 150 along with a RenaX4 and a 20gl sump with a 25watt U/V is a good setup for my fish. I am trying to think of diff ways to help the water cycling (for less build up) and shortcuts to keep the pooh out of my tank as much as possible.
Here is a link to the pooh thread
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=106486

 

[basslover34]

Hey West1, I have to agree that your sump may look cleaner... the problem is that your prob just breaking the dirt into smaller particles and really not cleaning it at all.. you might be getting 1 or 2% cleaner but over all it's not worth the electricity at this point... Try adding a finer media into your sump to help take out the larger peices you are seeing in there... or as Danh suggested .. use the powerhead with a filter sock on it... I admire your willingness to try to come up with a way of creating a maintanance free poop cleaner and will keep an eye on your threads for the solution that you come up with LOL (As I'm sure alot of people will) personally I have a rediculusly over filtered tank and simply turn the filtration up to full blast for an hour ever 3 days and like magic the poop just floats up off the bottom of the tank and gets sucked up into the Filters Works great for me and the fish get a work out ... they get pushed all over the tank LOL

 

[West1]

Just thinking out loud, but isnt that kind of like the samething that I'm doing just on a constant current?

 

[KABB44423]

Hey West1, I have to agree that your sump may look cleaner... the problem is that your prob just breaking the dirt into smaller particles and really not cleaning it at all.. you might be getting 1 or 2% cleaner but over all it's not worth the electricity at this point... Try adding a finer media into your sump to help take out the larger peices you are seeing in there... or as Danh suggested .. use the powerhead with a filter sock on it... I admire your willingness to try to come up with a way of creating a maintanance free poop cleaner and will keep an eye on your threads for the solution that you come up with LOL (As I'm sure alot of people will) personally I have a rediculusly over filtered tank and simply turn the filtration up to full blast for an hour ever 3 days and like magic the poop just floats up off the bottom of the tank and gets sucked up into the Filters Works great for me and the fish get a work out ... they get pushed all over the tank LOL

show a pic of that

 

[Dr Joe]

Don't You have a pre-filter on the sump? Sumps should only need cleaning every 6-12mo.

Got a pic of the sump?

What is the bio-media?

Dr Joe

.

 

[basslover34]

show a pic of that

Of what? ... The Poop floating? LOL