Sump help - what pump to buy? Jebao? Waveline?

[Lusus_Naturae]

Finally, here's the sump. I numbered things on the photo for easier reference. I also included an up close of the mini bio balls spinning in their section. I've considered replacing them with some K1 but I already have them in there. Please let me know what you think, I used a lot of ideas from sumps I've seen on MFK to come up with this design. I already have some ideas for a revision but I'm not messing with it until summer at least. Also, not all of the media in there is staying in there, some is just in there until everything new is seeded.

1. Running both the normal and emergency drain into a 25 micron sock with a 7" lip. I used d-rings, zip ties, and carabiners at the sock itself to suspend the sock under the stand. I'm also able to reach the sock easily from the side to change it out. I'm running each sock about 3 days right now.

2. I used gutter foam to make a wedge on the top of the divider to keep the bio balls in the compartment I have them in yet still allow water to flow into the area when the power goes out. The foam is cut to straddle the divider so it doesn't move.

3. Up flow. I used the pool hose to give it some flex at the bottom. The hose does drip a little under the water pressure but it's completely in the tank so no harm.

4. Some mixed brand ceramic rings that were in the canister. I did buy them a new laundry bag to stay in.

5. On the bottom I have two triangle wedges of gutter foam to keep the bio balls in this compartment. The bio balls above float and spin with the water current coming over the divider. When the sump is off they can float all the way back into the left compartments but when the water flows again they will get pulled through the divider back into this area after awhile. These are Marineland mini bio balls I found at Petco.

6. In the far back of the sump I have two more laundry bags holding 4-6 liters of Eheim Substrat Pro I was running in the canisters.

In the front, the big white thing the the camera washed out, is a 8x8x4 block of MarinePure by Cermedia. For those who may remember from the late 90's into early 2000's, there was a product known as Cell-Pore. I spoke with Cermedia awhile back and Cell-Pore was sold and bought a few times under different names but is now their product. In the late 90's I helped design the E cartridge of Cell-Pore for the Emperor 400, and after this block arrived, I will say it looks exactly like the Cell-Pore I used to work with. It's new and very white, as it breaks in it will turn tan.

On top of the block is a bag of carbon and Purigen I threw in today to pull some medication out.

The blue sponge will be coming out later on, it's an old Aquaclear 110 sponge I had in my modified Emperor 400.

7. The heater is suction cupped to the bottom of the tank here. I keep the tank heated to the mid 60's for the plecos.

8. The Jebao pump sitting on top of some foam to keep the slight hum away. It's running on level 2 out of 6.

The normal and max lines are marked on the tank now too. It's takes a gallon of water to go from normal to max. Max is not really the max either, I could add another gallon easily, but I don't want anyone else knowing that here.

 

[DN328]

Thanks for the updates. I thought you had a waveline? Do you think there would be any benefits to have a separate sock for the emergency drain (assuming with a trickle of water)?

Now the most important question is do you feel you're in a better position to support this set-up and not rely on others which was your original goal?

 

[Oscarum monstruoso]

You could have just gone with an eheim 2260 and mounted it on a stool or riser, easy maintenance and none of this heavy labor. But if this way is easier than that, congrats on a tough job well done.

 

[Lusus_Naturae]

Thanks for the updates. I thought you had a waveline? Do you think there would be any benefits to have a separate sock for the emergency drain (assuming with a trickle of water)?

Now the most important question is do you feel you're in a better position to support this set-up and not rely on others which was your original goal?

I was deciding between the Jebao and Waveline because they were both DC, but mainly because they seemed to be the same pump under different names more or less. I decided to try to Jebao with the cost savings.

I am running my emergency drain dry - but I do have the end of it tucked into the same sock as the normal drain line so if it ever gets used it will drain into the sock. If I had more height under the sump I would have run the emergency line to a sock in the back, and the constant line to a sock in front where I'd have easier access to it to change. I just didn't have the height to do that unless I ran a 90* elbow to extend it to the front of the sump and I didn't want to slow the flow down any.

Now to the second part of your post, I'm not sure. I do believe it will be easier for me in general, I built the stand taller so the tank is taller, now I must use a chair or small ladder to reach in from the top, but I don't do that often either, so I don't think there is an issue. I do have to buy a new algae magnet for the glass though, I can't use the pad on a stick anymore while on the floor and I'm not doing that on a ladder. I swapped the sock out on Tuesday morning. It's so much easier to do now, I hit the feed button on the pump, wait until water stops slowing down the drain pipe, swap the sock, and put the old sock in a pitcher and take it outside and spray it out with the hose. I think the worst part right now is spraying it out with the hose, that takes longer then swapping it out. Since the pump is on feed, it automatically resumes afterwards so I don't have to turn it back on or anything. The way it looks, I should be able to swap the sock twice a week and just do water changes after that.

This past week I finally got my shoulder put back in place, not sure as I don't have a doctor that can give me an exact explanation, but it seems like it was halfway out of the socket, not quite dislocated, but not in right either. Keep in mind I have had decent function of it, with pain, weakness, numbness, tingling, and random sharp stabbing occurring now for about 3-4 months if not longer, so long that I don't really remember when it started, other than it was before winter. It's still tender, and sometimes feels like it's going to come out (or whatever it did) again, but it's been staying in place again. I will need to slowly do physical therapy though to pull the muscles back into place again and hold it there.

This is to say nothing of my back issues and everything else, so ultimately, this sump has a lot to live up to.

I have not fixed the water sound issue yet though in the downpipe. The sump itself, the pump, inflow pipe, and emergency drain are silent, but you can hear the water running through the downpipe still and in the overflow box on back. I am considering some options to wrap the pipe right now to sound insulate it. Any ideas are welcome.

You could have just gone with an eheim 2260 and mounted it on a stool or riser, easy maintenance and none of this heavy labor. But if this way is easier than that, congrats on a tough job well done.

I considered doing that but I'm trying to get away from the canisters right now. It's been a fall back idea for if the sump didn't work too. I really liked the Rena XP4's I had on the tank, but even during the breakdown of them to transfer the media, lifting a bin of ceramic balls was almost too much for me, doing that 8 times (once for each bin in both Renas), it's enough for me to want to quit having fish again. I am hoping the open-ness of the sump and using the sock will give me more flexibility in maintenance as I can swap out the dirtiest part of the filtration (the sock) much faster and easier now.

My wife is impressed too and she has eagle eyes. She says the tank looks clearer than it ever has before. Even I have to admit, these socks really polish the water.