WHAT DO YOU GUYS USE IN YOUR SUMPS

[Oddball]

just wet/dry people..
what is in your w/d

i have
bio balls
1 bag of bio max
2 bags of carbon
and im gunna get a few pounds of lava rock for my tank

You'd be better off using some other medium than crushed lava rock. A lot of people used it before bio-balls were invented but, lava rock made water too acid. We used clay flowerpot shards to keep a neutral pH. I had one wet-dry sump filled with those green plastic army soldiers we used to get for like a buck for a 100 count. Lots of good surface areas available with very few stagnation points. I still have sumps running on toys as a gag in my waiting room tanks. Toy army soldiers, barrel-o-monkeys, and gag fake teeth. These sumps are slightly oversized for the tanks they're running on since there isn't as much surface area on these toys as there is on proper biomedia.

 

[rayman45]

ok scrap the lava rock then.. i have this substright that keeps that matains the ph..

i was talking to my dad about putting plastic toys in filters.. he said you cant LOL

 

[unknownuza13]

I have about 5 gallons of bio balls and 40 lbs of lava rock in mine. Now that oddball said that about the lava rock I am slightly worried.

 

[DeLgAdO]

I have about 5 gallons of bio balls and 40 lbs of lava rock in mine. Now that oddball said that about the lava rock I am slightly worried.

you should be, if you have fish that dislike acid water

 

[rayman45]

my dad keeps it with his oscars

he tank is fine...
but im not sure with rays and junk like that

 

[DeLgAdO]

ray prefer acidic water

so your not in a badposition

 

[unknownuza13]

Do you happen to know if Pike cichlids cant stand it because i had a cobra die with no known reason and I'm sure that 40 lbs of lava could do some damage to the water... I know of a lot of people who use it though and don't seem to have any problems.. ??

 

[traumatic]

a little off topic but since you are talking about lava rock. I'm using it in my DIY 5g bucket canister filter for my turtles. Would it bother them much? Would it be to acid for pond plants. I'm looking for some bio balls if anyone has some laying around.

 

[Oddball]

Pikes prefer neutral to acid water conditions. I've used lava rock for decades in pike tanks with no problems.

 

[DeLgAdO]

Do you happen to know if Pike cichlids cant stand it because i had a cobra die with no known reason and I'm sure that 40 lbs of lava could do some damage to the water... I know of a lot of people who use it though and don't seem to have any problems.. ??

certain types of lava rock can leech lead and other metals into the water.

were did you get urs?