Sump Question

[Lkeizm]

So ive had my 190G running now for a little while, i filter it using a sump, so i have a corner weir and the water goes through the comb at the surface almost and then goes into the pipes which lead to sump then get pumped back into the tank.

The issue im having is there always seems to be some sort of particle floating in the water column, the way ive done the sump is 4 chambers, so it runs into static K1 micro media to start with, then goes through sponges into the bio media chamber then to the pump into the tank.

Ive now added an fx6 to help the sump out and try and clear some of the stuff in the water, no matter what i do even if i add filter floss i just cant seem to shift the particle in the water

any suggestions?

 

[esoxlucius]

Surface skimming such as yours, unless you have a decent turnover rate, and maybe powerhead agitation too, can lead to heavier particulate remaining in the water column. This could be what's happening. And if you have substrate with fish that like to rummage then the problem is made worse.

And first port of call for your water in the sump should be mechanical filtration, filter socks, sponges, floss etc. I'm not sure if there's any benefits, or indeed if it's adding to your problem, to having static micro media as your first pass.

Fortunately yours is a common problem, and can be easily rectified with a tweak here and there.

 

[Lkeizm]

Surface skimming such as yours, unless you have a decent turnover rate, and maybe powerhead agitation too, can lead to heavier particulate remaining in the water column. This could be what's happening. And if you have substrate with fish that like to rummage then the problem is made worse.

And first port of call for your water in the sump should be mechanical filtration, filter socks, sponges, floss etc. I'm not sure if there's any benefits, or indeed if it's adding to your problem, to having static micro media as your first pass.

Fortunately yours is a common problem, and can be easily rectified with a tweak here and there.

I only recently put the K1 in to see if it would help and it did seem to help a little, maybe adding a maxspect gyre will help push the water and get full flow around the tank, yes the sand I have with the fish I have it does tend to get a little messy and when they start rummaging around it does disturb quite a lot

 

[Lkeizm]

Surface skimming such as yours, unless you have a decent turnover rate, and maybe powerhead agitation too, can lead to heavier particulate remaining in the water column. This could be what's happening. And if you have substrate with fish that like to rummage then the problem is made worse.

And first port of call for your water in the sump should be mechanical filtration, filter socks, sponges, floss etc. I'm not sure if there's any benefits, or indeed if it's adding to your problem, to having static micro media as your first pass.

Fortunately yours is a common problem, and can be easily rectified with a tweak here and there.

Also I have my new tank ready to order, which will be bare bottom but how would you suggest doing the skimmer? In the uk it’s hard for us to find hob overflows or anything like that, how can I redesign the skimmer so it gets all the Water instead of the surface

 

[skillzizzo]

I had the same issue with one of my tanks is a weird size acrlyic 48 L 18 wide 16 H that has a built in internal corner square over flow bod weir at top and to drains one on bottom and one on the back panel all the poo and so forth just sits and swirls around never going high enough to get out of the tank my only solution was to put a internal power head in the tank blowing on a 30 to 45 degree angle toward the weir to get the debree into the drain works well like this

 

[Lkeizm]

I had the same issue with one of my tanks is a weird size acrlyic 48 L 18 wide 16 H that has a built in internal corner square over flow bod weir at top and to drains one on bottom and one on the back panel all the poo and so forth just sits and swirls around never going high enough to get out of the tank my only solution was to put a internal power head in the tank blowing on a 30 to 45 degree angle toward the weir to get the debree into the drain works well like this

The way mine is done, is like a herbie overflow, so 2 pipes one mid way one at the surface almost in the corner weir

 

[esoxlucius]

Also I have my new tank ready to order, which will be bare bottom but how would you suggest doing the skimmer? In the uk it’s hard for us to find hob overflows or anything like that, how can I redesign the skimmer so it gets all the Water instead of the surface

Both my tanks are, or were, surface skimming. I had to get creative to convert them both to my preferred bottom skimming.

My 180 has a single standpipe and this, on its own, gives me surface skimming only, which wasn't good enough, as you are finding out. The standpipe is maybe 2" diameter. I bought a 4" diameter clear acrylic tube and placed it over the standpipe. The clear tube just sits above the bottom of the tank. So water is now sucked from the bottom of the tank, it goes up the acrylic tube and flows over the top of my original standpipe. Bottom skimming achieved. I have decent turnover and powerheads too, to agitate and direct water to the corner of my tank where my overflow is. The water column in my 180 is extremely clear. I had to get similarly creative on my 360g to achieve bottom skimming on this too. Below is a picture of the standpipe (blue) in my 180 along with the acrylic tube. Excuse the algae build up on the pipes but it gives you an idea how it works.

 

[skillzizzo]

The way mine is done, is like a herbie overflow, so 2 pipes one mid way one at the surface almost in the corner weir

it is designed this way to have both pipes run to the sump. the one that goes up through the bottom of the tank should be an inch or so below the other. put a shut off on the bottom pipes line and adjust it so that it does most of the work and the water barely flows through the top one. I guess is a herbie style but with one on the back wall instead of both being drilled through the bottom. I had it set up like i just said to begin with but latter i capped the bottom one and just used the one in the upper back wall of the tank to do all the work this tank does not need two 1 1/2 drains for any reason. this tank is not currently set up i took it down to turn it into a multiple tank on one sump set up

 

[Lkeizm]

Both my tanks are, or were, surface skimming. I had to get creative to convert them both to my preferred bottom skimming.

My 180 has a single standpipe and this, on its own, gives me surface skimming only, which wasn't good enough, as you are finding out. The standpipe is maybe 2" diameter. I bought a 4" diameter clear acrylic tube and placed it over the standpipe. The clear tube just sits above the bottom of the tank. So water is now sucked from the bottom of the tank, it goes up the acrylic tube and flows over the top of my original standpipe. Bottom skimming achieved. I have decent turnover and powerheads too, to agitate and direct water to the corner of my tank where my overflow is. The water column in my 180 is extremely clear. I had to get similarly creative on my 360g to achieve bottom skimming on this too. Below is a picture of the standpipe (blue) in my 180 along with the acrylic tube. Excuse the algae build up on the pipes but it gives you an idea how it works.

View attachment 1464384

So on the new tank i could essentially put holes in the weir lower down to allow water to flow in from the bottom and the surface, would that be correct? How would I deal with a power cut? As in wouldnt it overflow the sump allowing water in from the bottom as well?

 

[esoxlucius]

So on the new tank i could essentially put holes in the weir lower down to allow water to flow in from the bottom and the surface, would that be correct? How would I deal with a power cut? As in wouldnt it overflow the sump allowing water in from the bottom as well?

No, no, no. What you are suggesting is akin to me just using my standpipe and drilling holes in it at different levels so water is being taken away from various levels of the water column. A power outage would see my tank drain to the level of my lowest hole. It would be catastrophic. At the minute my standpipe gives me a set water level in my tank. It's the acrylic tube which does all the magic in my set up.

Backfromthedead is pretty clued up on stuff like this. He has a good handle on all the main types of overflows used in the hobby. I'm only used to the basic set up i've got so I can't really offer much more on alternatives for you. He'll chime in when he gets this.