I looked at your model sump and if it were me I would get marine pure blocks and call it a day. As others have said there are many media to choose. I went with that in my sump as it looked "clean" and easy to remove IF I vacuumed out detritus. It's not cheap, but I dont see ever needing to replace. After four years it still looking good. I have a Jardini in the tank btw.
Tips for filtration set up for freshwater sump
- Thread starter jdavis
- Start date
I looked at your model sump and if it were me I would get marine pure blocks and call it a day. As others have said there are many media to choose. I went with that in my sump as it looked "clean" and easy to remove IF I vacuumed out detritus. It's not cheap, but I dont see ever needing to replace. After four years it still looking good. I have a Jardini in the tank btw.
180 gallon -- tank. For a ray? Arowana? Peacock Bass?
You need a bigger tank. THEN you can start to design a sump.
Your sump and tank should have redundant drains, so your tank's overflows need to accommodate 4 drains -- big ones.
Your sump needs to have 2 pumps in it -- my Laguna 2400 died last night, and I'm really glad I run 2 of them in my sump since I'm flying out of town tomorrow and don't have a spare pump in a closet.
Your sump should have a drain in it to accommodate a drip system, so you don't HAVE to do water changes every week or two if you don't want to/can't get to it.
What bio-filter media is waaaaay down the list of priorities in sump design. Personally, I run pumice stone in mesh laundry bags in my sump.
If you don't overstock your tank, it doesn't matter what media you use -- you may even be able to use NO media.
You need a bigger tank. THEN you can start to design a sump.
Your sump and tank should have redundant drains, so your tank's overflows need to accommodate 4 drains -- big ones.
Your sump needs to have 2 pumps in it -- my Laguna 2400 died last night, and I'm really glad I run 2 of them in my sump since I'm flying out of town tomorrow and don't have a spare pump in a closet.
Your sump should have a drain in it to accommodate a drip system, so you don't HAVE to do water changes every week or two if you don't want to/can't get to it.
What bio-filter media is waaaaay down the list of priorities in sump design. Personally, I run pumice stone in mesh laundry bags in my sump.
If you don't overstock your tank, it doesn't matter what media you use -- you may even be able to use NO media.
Thanks for the advice, very helpful. And yes that is the second time someone gave me the size of tank advice. This is a preliminary tank for the arowana and ray, they will be moved to a 400g tank. But the design versus type of media is a great point. Thank you
I didn't see this part of the post on the first read, and agree with ragin_cajun.
For the fish you say you want, your 180 gal tank should be your sump/filtration, and your main tank should be at " least" 300 gals.
A 180 gal tank is really not large enough for even 1 of those fish.
