Sand in bottom of sump

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nfored

nfored

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Apr 4, 2008
2,597
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68
Missouri
I was thinking about dumping about 7 inches of sand in my sump, any one see any problems with this? I know I would have to raise the water level 7 inches so that my pump and part of my media is still under water.

I was going to put the sand down, then put a 12" by 12" sheet of glass down over top of the sand and place the pump on top of that.

If this sounds like a good Idea what type of sand should I use? If it sounds dumb I am ok with that to.
 
OK - I'll start off the replies...

What's the goal you're looking to accomplish by doing this?
 
Was thinking it would help cut down nitrate, I have already started to build a 24h drip to help combat the evil nitrates
 
Then I'd skip it completely if I were you and focus on the 24/7 drip changer if you're looking to lower nitrates (not to mention the other benefits of constant water changes). Unless of course your water supply has high levels of nitrates coming in - then you've got other things to think about.

I can't imagine there being anything but headaches with that much sand in a sump.
 
You should put a micron sock or some other coarse mechanical filtration first- you don't want to clean that sand when it clogs. If you're looking for surface area, there are many other things that would be more effective- pot scrubbies looks like the popular one these days, i use lava rock.
 
Not surface area, I hear the bottom of the sand has almost zero oxygen, which is what is needed inorder to get BB that will eat nitrates. OK i will scrap the sand, thanks.
 
Some time ago, I was over at reefcentral and someone mentioned that ozone will help with the nitrates. Being broke and unemployed (still...) I set out to design and build a system with junk I had around the house. The end result is in the thread that is linked at the end of this post. In my trial run, I used a container that I hold old tank water in and added uneaten fish (left to rot). The nitrates reached 80 ppm and the dissolved organics were through the roof (the water was really yellow). In 24 hours, the nitrates were at zero and the water was perfectly clear. I moved the system to my saltwater tank because I have problems with dissolved organics there too. I didn't test the nitrates but I assume they were at a minimum of 40 ppm. 24 hours later the water was clear, and the nitrates were zero.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=149898
 
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