Sump setup and media/sponge layout

[rickztahone]

Made a video to show how my sump/prefilter is set up. I get asked about it often and I figured this would be the easier way to show people. Let me know if you have questions.


https://youtu.be/pByBmchDaus

[Jack L]

watching vid... u just gave me idea of where to attach my feeding ring!
and that doesn't look dirty.
thanks for vid.

not sure if you saw this on poret site or not
http://www.swisstropicals.com/library/aquarium-biofiltration/

[rickztahone]

watching vid... u just gave me idea of where to attach my feeding ring!
and that doesn't look dirty.
thanks for vid.

not sure if you saw this on poret site or not
http://www.swisstropicals.com/library/aquarium-biofiltration/

Yeah, I remember reading that before purchasing the poret foam. The owner of that site is super helpful and friendly. Always replied to my emails in a matter of hours! Great product and great owner.

[rickztahone]

I still haven't cleaned my poret foam but I am thinking of changing it tomorrow but checking nitrates level right before a water change. Should prove interesting.

[Jack L]

i just re did my configuration, your video game me an idea for horizontal use of foam. used a scrap piece of 10 ppi horizontal on bottom as base, then have 2 gallons of matrix on top of that. trying to get better utilization of matrix and sump space.

i also have noticed a build up of mulm behind the 30 in bottom of sump, there was an empty space. and any disturbance made it go all over, hope now it will stay settled in the base foam and under matrix.
if you disturb it, and its anything like mine, your forecast is cloudy with a strong chance to floating mulm!


fyi to others on foam, for comparison, the eshoppes foam compared to the poret foam, the poret all ppi i have 10/20&30 feel about 2x at firm compared to eshoppes. costs more, but not the same thing. poret heavier duty

[rickztahone]

i just re did my configuration, your video game me an idea for horizontal use of foam. used a scrap piece of 10 ppi horizontal on bottom as base, then have 2 gallons of matrix on top of that. trying to get better utilization of matrix and sump space.

i also have noticed a build up of mulm behind the 30 in bottom of sump, there was an empty space. and any disturbance made it go all over, hope now it will stay settled in the base foam and under matrix.
if you disturb it, and its anything like mine, your forecast is cloudy with a strong chance to floating mulm!


fyi to others on foam, for comparison, the eshoppes foam compared to the poret foam, the poret all ppi i have 10/20&30 feel about 2x at firm compared to eshoppes. costs more, but not the same thing. poret heavier duty
agreed, the poret foam is a good consistency. Are you running the matrix loose? If so, I'd suggest putting it in a mesh bag.

[Jack L]

yeah in mesh bags, will post update to my tank thread.

[rickztahone]

Checked nitrates before water change. Had just fed BH, hadn't cleaned pre filter or filter floss and hadn't cleaned the poret foam. Nitrates were at 20ppm. That's really high by my standards but considering all the things I mentioned above I don't think it's that bad. I will retest later today. I have cleaned everything today

[rickztahone]

Checked nitrates before water change. Had just fed BH, hadn't cleaned pre filter or filter floss and hadn't cleaned the poret foam. Nitrates were at 20ppm. That's really high by my standards but considering all the things I mentioned above I don't think it's that bad. I will retest later today. I have cleaned everything today

Did my WC after a few hours of doing a full water change and cleaning all my stuff out. Many wouldn't believe it, but Nitrates were at 0ppm. This was before their second round of BH. I'm sure it went up after that.

[DJW]

Did my WC after a few hours of doing a full water change and cleaning all my stuff out. Many wouldn't believe it, but Nitrates were at 0ppm. This was before their second round of BH. I'm sure it went up after that.

Are you buying BH that has nitrates added to it?

[Jack L]

Did my WC after a few hours of doing a full water change and cleaning all my stuff out. Many wouldn't believe it, but Nitrates were at 0ppm. This was before their second round of BH. I'm sure it went up after that.

seems believable, that is one of the points of water changes...no?

what test do you use? i have found the API nitrate to be VERY sensitive to not enough shaking.

[rickztahone]

seems believable, that is one of the points of water changes...no?

what test do you use? i have found the API nitrate to be VERY sensitive to not enough shaking.

I shake excessively, and the first test shows that my nitrates were indeed high. After I cleaned everything up, it went back down to 0ppm. I will check during the week to see what it goes up to. Never really do check those things, but it has me a little interested now.