Switching away from sump??

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M

malawi500

Candiru
MFK Member
Sep 29, 2011
319
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UK
I have a 90g malawi tank which has a 20g sump

100 Micron Filter sock
Ceramic Rings fully submerged
Eheim 1262 Return Pump

I have been running this for about 2 months and water quality is fine although I have two main issues:

1. The filter socks are only a quarter submerged so end up filling up and need cleaning once a week
2. Water loss is very high, seem to be topping up twice a week!

I'm thinking about going back to a canister setup although that has a few negatives also.

I was looking at a second hand Eheim 2260 and thinking about upgrading the pump using my existing 1262 pump.

Any thoughts or suggestions?
 
The stuff you clean out of your filter sock once per week, is the material that tends to degrade water quality as it metabolizes. I need to clean my filter socks ever other day, and consider that normal maintenance, I believe letting it build up in a canister, is not a better solution.
 
how about some pics?

I dont have a sump but I am looking into building some. First issue with socks, how long are they? Water evap happens, do you have your tank covered, the sump?
 
i run a 20g sump on my 72 bow front... not 100% sealed.. (left side of tank is about 95% glass, and then right side is egg-crate) and my sump in 99% sealed with an acrylic top....i have to fill the sump id say....once a week? maybe week and a half?
 
First off, one should be changing water once a week anyway. Second, partially submerged filtersocks are fine. The crap they clog with is what you want out of the tank anyway right? If you are using 100micron, try a 200 micron instead. You will get longer in between cleaning. Buy several sets and it makes changing them out faster. I have found filling the sock with a course foam really helps keep the socks from loading up to fast. Dont get rid of a sump system until you have tried a little experimentation. Canisters, for me, where just big nitrate factories constantly threatening to leak.
 
boldtogether said:
First off, one should be changing water once a week anyway. Second, partially submerged filtersocks are fine. The crap they clog with is what you want out of the tank anyway right? If you are using 100micron, try a 200 micron instead. You will get longer in between cleaning. Buy several sets and it makes changing them out faster. I have found filling the sock with a course foam really helps keep the socks from loading up to fast. Dont get rid of a sump system until you have tried a little experimentation. Canisters, for me, where just big nitrate factories constantly threatening to leak.
Click to expand...

There's a differents between water changes and topping off from evaporation. WCs dilute toxic waste, evaporation concentrate it. Adding water just dilutes it to where it once was but it's still higher because toxins continued to accumulate. And canisters contribute no more nitrates than sumps on the same cleaning schedule. If you're not taking out the detritus that accumulates in the mechanical portion than it continues to break down into the water column.


Other than that I still prefer the evap loss I get with the sump than canisters at 1/4 of the frequency because with the sump I can at least let it go longer and it's easier to fill. Biggest reason I went from canisters to sump is I had to constantly fill the tank to get the water line appropriate to the turtles basking dock in the canopy. The canopy is over 2" tall and over my head. Now when the water evaporates the level in the tank stays the same and it drops in the sump.

How open is the sump? In a cabinet? I'd suggest doing a DIY cover, like plexiglass or ive used a clear shower curtain on top of canopy to eliminate drafts in winter. I wish I could make a cover of some sort for mine but right now I have an algae turf scrubber which takes up most or the area and accounts for probably 88% of the evaporation.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
some good points raised here. I'm going to attempt the following:

1. raise the inlet within the tank allowing me to have an increased water level in sump
2. cover the sump with cling film as it is currently 100% exposed
3. put some form of sponge inside the socks

Will let you know how I get on. cheers
 
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