Sump Concept and assistance

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M

majorhavok

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 7, 2012
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Left Coast
Ok, so I am going to be building my own sump and am really excited to try something I haven't seen done here at all. Basically it's like a sock prefilter, but unlike still flowing water through the sock and breaking down the solids into smaller sizes and leeching out chemicals etc I just want to immediately remove the bulk of excess food and fish poo from the process. The flow will be aimed "up hill" so that it can cover a large surface area. Anything smaller than 150 microns will pass through and anything larger rolls down into the collection area and doesn't remain in the flow, or at least that's the intent.

I will be utilizing this filter material for the pre-filter which is .006" or about 150 microns:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#92315T101


The concept for the lower level media is what I would really like input on. I plan to routinely remove waste from the accumulation/collection areas and hope by removing most of the issue causing material immediately, reduce my sump maintenance. Also some other clean-up crew like cherry and ghost shrimp and maybe some other plants.

The main questions I have are these:

  • What type of filtering media to put in the three media trays
  • Whether some/all/none of them should be below the water line i.e. submerged
  • Other general considerations

sump.png

Thanks!

sump.png
 
joe jaskot said:
How does the water flow uphill?
Click to expand...

The water will have a certain pressure from flowing down from the tank above. The plan is to have the flat nozzle(s) pointed up a slope where it will stall at some point and pool, flow through the mesh or come back down the slope. All of which is perforated filter material. I have tested this with the filter screen and 1/2 inch silicone tubing. with the "appropriate" angle up the slope the water creates a variable diameter spray up the mesh and solids are pushed outward and separated from the water flow. The size variable being from the unknown flow rate of overflow from the primary tank.
 
The collection area will get wet, but the main flow will pass through the prefilter. All areas on that top section will be water permeable so there will be drainage everywhere including the collection areas. Check out the link to the screen.

Any ideas for the three media trays and where they should be in relation to the water line?

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What size of pump? How much water is going to be running through this thing? I still think multiple socks would be best to catch the most material. But I'm game to think of a new idea. Pond matrix would be a good Bio type media and its fine wet.

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DIDYSIS said:
What size of pump? How much water is going to be running through this thing? I still think multiple socks would be best to catch the most material. But I'm game to think of a new idea. Pond matrix would be a good Bio type media and its fine wet.

Sent from my DROIDX using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
Click to expand...

I might use the Pond Matrix in media tray 3 for bio. I like the idea of the pot scrubbies for a second layer under maybe a moderately coarse filter floss sheets.

I do like the filter socks, but I'm hoping to improve on that. With the socks I have seen they are either submerged or at least all the flow is still going through all of the solid waste. Inevitably the material inside gets broken down into smaller pieces and is still leeching out crud into the water. I'm hoping the screens will function as an immediate fluid/liquid separator.

Basic principle is super simple:

Untitled.png 3.JPG

I will make a video demo this weekend to show it in action and I think it will be clear to everyone (Including me) how and if this will work.

Untitled.png

3.JPG
 
I probably don't understand this.

But, it's basically a screen conveyor system, using the water as the conveyor. The only issue I see is that the particles are still in suspension and will require water to be conveyed to the collection areas (the red boxes, assuming they are red). If that box has no drainage, the material will back flush up the ramp as the water collects. If instead it has limited drainage (e.g., 5 microns), it will indeed collect debris, but that debris will decompose and still drain materials back into the water column via the 5 micron passage.

It's a clever design which is quite interesting, although I'm not sure if it solves the problem you are trying to solve. If filter socks are in fact losing material due to pressure or particle disintegration, this might reduce that. The collection areas seem like they'd have very minimal flow pressure. By the same token, this area could become septic really fast with limited flow and a nearly stagnant pool of food / poo, etc.

What was your expected cleaning regimen for this or do you see that as an issue?

Nevertheless, at first blush, it's interesting.
 
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