Sump set up plan, will it work?

[Rocket]

Hi everyone,

I have 60gal display with 40gal sump. My plan is to start my planted display up in the display tank with fast growing plants and driftwood with a sand and dirt substrate. While in my sump I will have pot plants to give the discus cover and use the BB to raise juvenile discus. This way I get the best of both worlds, good filtration n easy maintenance, then once the discus is around 5" I will move them up to the big display which would now be rooted in pretty well by then. Once the discus have left the sump I will convert it to a refugium for further nutrient removal and equipment storage.

My tank is a marine convert, so everything is ready to go with the plumbing n turn over (2.7x per hour). How does that sound?

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Rocket, have you ever kept discus before? While your plan sounds logical on the surface. In practice it is not the best for the discus. With raising juvies the tank and water needs to be kept clean due to the shear amount of waste young discus creates. The pump will end up sucking both food and feces and depositing it in the tank which will be impossible to clean with plant and substrate. I would suggest a revisit on this.
Pat

[fishaddict]

Hi Rocket, have you ever kept discus before? While your plan sounds logical on the surface. In practice it is not the best for the discus. With raising juvies the tank and water needs to be kept clean due to the shear amount of waste young discus creates. The pump will end up sucking both food and feces and depositing it in the tank which will be impossible to clean with plant and substrate. I would suggest a revisit on this.
Pat

+1

[Rocket]

Hi Rocket, have you ever kept discus before? While your plan sounds logical on the surface. In practice it is not the best for the discus. With raising juvies the tank and water needs to be kept clean due to the shear amount of waste young discus creates. The pump will end up sucking both food and feces and depositing it in the tank which will be impossible to clean with plant and substrate. I would suggest a revisit on this.
Pat

wow...good call, no i havent kept discus before. but I think i have it covered, the sump is actually baffled, with 3 sections. 1st section has a filter sock on the drain, the 2nd section is the refugium, which is where i will keep the juvenile discus, then last section is the pump.

the 2nd section has sumps with baffles which forces water to go up and down. so in a sense its a tank within a tank. The flow is slow so the crap and food would settle to the bottom in the middle section. I could also fit filter floss between the second and 3rd section to block out the waste as well.

how does that sound?

[Skip]

wow...good call, no i havent kept discus before. but I think i have it covered,

how does that sound?

It sounds like ur not listen to Pat's suggestion...

U really jus keep the two separated. .. if plumbing is as u say...

[Second Hand Pat]

Rocket, I am familiar the three chambered sump. Please do some reading on the site. If you do some reading on the needs of discus you will see your plan is not a suitable one for discus.
Pat

[Rocket]

Rocket, I am familiar the three chambered sump. Please do some reading on the site. If you do some reading on the needs of discus you will see your plan is not a suitable one for discus.
Pat

Im sorry, I didnt mean to come across as stubborn, but this plan was devised after some reading, and what I am getting confused over is why is the system wouldnt work and with all due respect, you guys are just saying no it wouldnt work and tell me to do more reading. Here is my reasoning and idea behind it, if you can dispel this for me or tell me what I am missing I would really appreciate it.

1. With the chambered sump, with sponge or filter floss in between the baffles, plus the prefilter from my return pump, along with the slowing down of the flow in the 2nd chamber causing floating material to settle down in the second chamber, there is no way particulates would get into the 3rd chamber for the pump to return to the display tank.

2. The display tank would not be fed, and the plants would feed off the dissolved organics from the water, acting as a huge biological filter, as well as producing further surface area for the biological bacteria, kind of like the sponge of the sponge filter. The display tank would not be dirted, only just sand and root tabs which wouldnt change pH or water chemistry.

3. The extra tank plumbed in would add extra volume, creating more stable condition. Would also allow me to do bigger water changes.

The 6 discus in the total 100gal would be kept in the roughly 25 gallon bare bottom space, with low flow. the confined space as discus hans says would reduce the energy needed for getting into the food and use the energy to grow, and would make target feeding easier.

Again, I dont mean to come across as passive aggressive or stubborn, but if you could explain to me why this is any less effective than just a bare bottom tank with HOB filter, it would be helpful. It is true I dont have experience with discus, but I come from the marine reef aquarium side of the hobby and this system is use to keep really stable conditions. If there is suggestions what can I do for improvements?

[Second Hand Pat]

Simply said the area is to small for six juvies discus of any size and a PITA to clean. Plus discus at three inches and larger do not do well in very low tanks.

[timmy82]

Simply said the area is to small for six juvies discus of any size and a PITA to clean. Plus discus at three inches and larger do not do well in very low tanks.

Good info pat

[mrez5]

I believe i am on the same road with Rocket, i have 120 gallons 4ft aquarium with an overflow to 2ft sump tank. What i have read on this thread was, it is ineffective to use a sump system as compared to HOB but i didn't catch the reason behind it.

Please forgive me if i didn't catch it well but is there a reason HOB is better vs Sump for having disadvantage/ineffective?

[Second Hand Pat]

The sump setup is fine. Raising the juvies in the sump is not a good idea. I have a three chambered sump on my 75 and I can not even image trying to raise juvies in it.

I run both HOB and sumps. I love sump for several reasons; more water volume, better oxygenation, place to hide heaters etc. For me the HOB is a good second choice.

[Rocket]

How about if I have the 6 discus in the diplay tank, and pot the plants in the sump? For the display tank, is it good to place driftwood in with the juvenile? or is it best to leave it as empty as possible? Should I place any tank mates with the Juvenile to get them accustom to other fish? they can help eat uneaten food I guess, or is it best to leave the discus on their own?

[fishaddict]

That will probably work a lot better. Some people actually convert there sump into a refugium where they'll use plants to help suck up the extra nitrogen. Bare bottom as as much to bare bottom as possible is best for grow out purpose.

[Len]

How about if I have the 6 discus in the diplay tank, and pot the plants in the sump? For the display tank, is it good to place driftwood in with the juvenile? or is it best to leave it as empty as possible? Should I place any tank mates with the Juvenile to get them accustom to other fish? they can help eat uneaten food I guess, or is it best to leave the discus on their own?

I'd probably avoid the driftwood while growing out juvies. Driftwood can look great, but with the amount and frequency of feeding you'll find that there will always be uneaten food and "gunk" gathered under it making it a bigger chore to keep clean. In the end your water quality will suffer and the imapct on the discus will not be what you want.