Sump and Plumbing for my 535. Need help

[mrrobxc]

I would not use poret foam as mechanical. You can get filter socks that go well below the 100 micron level I believe, but most folks stick to over 100 micron otherwise you are changing them too often.

I have only used poret foam for a HMF filter. If you want it to stand up by itself, you will have to go with 4in thick poret which is going to be incredibly expensive you are planning on using it as a wall in your diagram. I think it will cost you like $300-350 for just the foam.

Second, poret foam is very dense and holds a ton of water. If you are planning to use as mechanical it is going to be insanely heavy and difficult to clean out a 24in x 24in x 4in block of poret because of how heavy it is. You will not want to be doing this often.

If you really want your tank water to be crystal clear you would be better off going with a smaller micron sock and then changing them very frequently as they will get blocked. I think some folks go with up to 4 large filter socks.

Thank you. I appreciate all the info.

I am really looking for crystal clear water and the idea of having to change out filter socks often due to them clogging quickly with a smaller micron is not something I would prefer if I can avoid it. If I used light diffuser panels as walls separating and holding up 2” sheets of Poret, do you think that could work? I can’t see much online as far as how to setup filters using Poret Foam other than the diagram I posted above.

 

[nzafi]

My guess is that even if you cut down to 2in it is still going to be insanely heavy because of the size of poret and how dense they are. Building something like you mentioned would help with keeping it upright.

I would ask some of the sump specialists. When I was planning a sump (never had one) I was thinking of building a tower of sponges with fine filter floss at the bottom. I would then just toss the filter floss every week because its cheap. You can then periodically squeeze out the filter floss.

At the end when you want to have extremely clear water you need to get rid of that debris somehow. Ultimately, I just want to be able to see the tank end to end with it being clear, and I don't want to deal with all this cleaning. Hence the reason I went to HMF which requires minimal cleaning (will keep water clean but will not get to the same level as other filters) or with Ultima (instead of cleaning sponges/filter socks you are doing backwashing that does the water change for you and cleans the filter at the same time).

Also this planning is stressful and it feels like these days we have too many options with no clear winner

 

[Woefulrelic]

Right now your first baffle acts as an area to trap particulate that gets past filter socks. The opening at the top allows water to pass through if the poret foam (in green) were to get clogged. The second baffle acts to allows an additional area to trap particulate before it gets to the pump, but also prevents the pumps from completely emptying the sump if the water level were to drop too low. This is great for preventing fish in the sump and bacteria on media from going dry. The left side would be for as many filter socks as you can fit to cut down maintenance and a heater controller probe if you have one, the middle for as much media as you can safely pack below the water line at the baffle level and I would put heaters in here personally, and the final would be for the pumps exclusively. DC pumps are nice here cause they should turn off before they burn if they go dry, and that's a risk of this set up. I would let filter socks handle the brunt of the mech and set up poret as shown, otherwise you'll end up flushing gunk out your bio media a lot. You can skip the second one if you were worried about it getting clogged enough to let the pumps go dry.

 

[mrrobxc]

Right now your first baffle acts as an area to trap particulate that gets past filter socks. The opening at the top allows water to pass through if the poret foam (in green) were to get clogged. The second baffle acts to allows an additional area to trap particulate before it gets to the pump, but also prevents the pumps from completely emptying the sump if the water level were to drop too low. This is great for preventing fish in the sump and bacteria on media from going dry. The left side would be for as many filter socks as you can fit to cut down maintenance and a heater controller probe if you have one, the middle for as much media as you can safely pack below the water line at the baffle level and I would put heaters in here personally, and the final would be for the pumps exclusively. DC pumps are nice here cause they should turn off before they burn if they go dry, and that's a risk of this set up. I would let filter socks handle the brunt of the mech and set up poret as shown, otherwise you'll end up flushing gunk out your bio media a lot. You can skip the second one if you were worried about it getting clogged enough to let the pumps go dry.

Thank you for all this Richard. Your diagram helped make a lot of sense out of this for me. It’s a bit of a relief that I can use this sump as it is. Do you have a recommendation for a filter sock holder that I can attach to the rim of this sump? It’s a glass 125 gallon.

 

[Woefulrelic]

Thank you for all this Richard. Your diagram helped make a lot of sense out of this for me. It’s a bit of a relief that I can use this sump as it is. Do you have a recommendation for a filter sock holder that I can attach to the rim of this sump? It’s a glass 125 gallon.

I have straps tied to my stand that they can attach on to. I know some people use egg crate to make holders. If you could make something that fully contains them and can hold like 30 lbs of water weight that you could just remove it would probably make life easier, they can be messy if you don't have a lot of clearance to remove them. More socks = less frequent changes too, you could Y split the drains into 2 socks a piece. I'm not sure how socks work at this level of flow, I know the more flow the more socks you are supposed to double up. kendragon might be able to help you with this since I never properly researched it. You can stack the socks inside of eachother, like a 200micron sock inside of a 100 micron sock, so the 200 catches anything it can and the 100 doesn't catch anything larger than it needs to.

 

[DN328]

Thank you for all this Richard. Your diagram helped make a lot of sense out of this for me. It’s a bit of a relief that I can use this sump as it is. Do you have a recommendation for a filter sock holder that I can attach to the rim of this sump? It’s a glass 125 gallon.

As suggested you can make the sock holders as many have on this forum. They're not inexpensive and I've not used them, but many good acrylic sock holders on BRS or Amazon. For function and looks I think they're worth the one time purchase.

EDIT: I use 200micron socks and threw in a couple blocks of 4" poret for additional help keeping detritus that the socks don't catch. I spray with a hose once in awhile.

 

[thangvu07]

You sell Altum angelfish?

 

[mrrobxc]

I have straps tied to my stand that they can attach on to. I know some people use egg crate to make holders. If you could make something that fully contains them and can hold like 30 lbs of water weight that you could just remove it would probably make life easier, they can be messy if you don't have a lot of clearance to remove them. More socks = less frequent changes too, you could Y split the drains into 2 socks a piece. I'm not sure how socks work at this level of flow, I know the more flow the more socks you are supposed to double up. kendragon might be able to help you with this since I never properly researched it. You can stack the socks inside of eachother, like a 200micron sock inside of a 100 micron sock, so the 200 catches anything it can and the 100 doesn't catch anything larger than it needs to.

As suggested you can make the sock holders as many have on this forum. They're not inexpensive and I've not used them, but many good acrylic sock holders on BRS or Amazon. For function and looks I think they're worth the one time purchase.

EDIT: I use 200micron socks and threw in a couple blocks of 4" poret for additional help keeping detritus that the socks don't catch. I spray with a hose once in awhile.

View attachment 1298044 View attachment 1298045

Thank you guys. I like the suggestions and will reach out to the different vendors to take a look at my options. I like the idea of buying a ready-made one and hope I find some that can attach easily to the glass sump.

 

[mrrobxc]

You sell Altum angelfish?

No

 

[Dragon Hunter]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/US-STOCK-f...092007?hash=item4b36a15d27:g:m5UAAOSwXf1aby0k