Need help with water perimeters

[ShanerBock888]

What everyone said. To start do a big wc, maybe 2 days in a row, reduce stock asap, increase biomedia asap. In the meantime reduced feeding and use prime. I know SD's eat very aggressively and therefore produce a ton of waste, so getting rid of them will definitely make a difference.

 

[Polyaddict86]

Insufficient bio media, turnover, both or cycle crashed. You have some pretty toxic water there. It'd be easier to start with a huge water change so you can observe the cycle more easily.

Are you saying you have 24+ ft of fish in there?

Yes, i just sold 8 fish today

 

[Polyaddict86]

Thank you! That helps. If you can manage to get a pic of the pump we can help let you know what it is and the flow rate. How long has the tank been running? You water perams appear to me a week or two away from finishing the cycling process.

Been running the tank almost a year now, i used to do twice a week WC with no issue, but having a new baby i only get to do once a week.

 

[JK47]

Been running the tank almost a year now, i used to do twice a week WC with no issue, but having a new baby i only get to do once a week.

Gotcha. Then you are on the right track thinning out the stocking levels. The other alternative if you do t have time to change water is to set up a drip system.

 

[Polyaddict86]

Here is the sump,

 

[JK47]

A couple pieces of advice:
1) The water level is way too high. Water follows the path of least resistance. It will go over and around the media. Try to force the flow through the media
2) the pump is a powerhead. That is very under sized for a tank that size.
3) I would recommend you buy a Laguna or Jaebo submersible pump. Aim for 2k GPH or higher.
4) you may need to increase the diameter of the plumbing in order to run a larger pump. The second bulkhead fitting that is currently capped looks like it could be opened up as another stand pipe. That would be the easiest route

The easiest thing to do would be add a canister or two. What you have now is a bit less than an FX5. Adding two more canisters if you can't change your sump/pump design will serve the same purpose.

 

[jaws7777]

Good point about that 1 inch drain. Now may be the time to consider either adding a can or redoing the plumbing.

Adding a can would be the quickest.

 

[Polyaddict86]

That was my plan this summer, to open the second pipe for drain and buy a jabeo dct12000 as pump. Will canister and sump be a good combination? Or close the sump and run two fx6 canister will be better?

 

[JK47]

Good point about that 1 inch drain. Now may be the time to consider either adding a can or redoing the plumbing.

Adding a can and new pump woukd be the quickest.

Agreed 100%. My concern is if the OP adds a larger pump the overflow can't take the flow. The current stand pipe is actually a return. In fact that might be a 3/4" pipe. The one behind it needs be opened up if a new pump is added. A couple cans can easily solve this without messing with the sump.

The sump isn't doing much as is so if it is going to continue to be used, some upgrades are in order.

 

[JK47]

That was my plan this summer, to open the second pipe for drain and buy a jabeo dct12000 as pump. Will canister and sump be a good combination? Or close the sump and run two fx6 canister will be better?

Great plan man. I would do the same if it were mine. I would recommend this:
Cans first (two FX6 should run the tank alone).
Once those are cycled and handling the bioload, tear down the sump so it's not the only filtration.
Use that time to redesign it.

I like running cans and sumps. You can move the can to another or new tank easily. A great thing to have in this hobby. The sump is great as sole filtration if setup correctly. That is a challenge with used tanks sometimes.