Making the best DIY filter/sump

[Haywire]

Ok, folks it's time for me to rebuild my sump for the tanks as I've now gone to 250 of the 300 gallons I had planned.

I would like to start this thread from the point where the water exits the tanks into the sump.

What should be used for the first stage of the filter? I also wonder if there's a way to hold some water as I've had a 3" clown wind up in my sump, and thankfully not on the floor.

Additional media chambers/trays?

right now I'm rebuilding the PC so I've temporarily lost the ACAD. I'll get that going once this thread takes off.

[ronrca]

There are perhaps various methods as to where to place the media. I think first that you should decide on what type of filters you want for example mechanical and bio. The mechanical filters you will be cleaning on a daily basis, the bio on a month perhaps therefore the mechanical filter should be very easy accessible, easy to remove and replace. You can put both types of filters together at one location in the system or separate. In my system, I have them separate. The mechanical filters are placed in between the overflow and sump (for obvious reasons). All I have is 1 sponge that catches all the crap the comes out. It is very easy to grab, rinse and replace.

The bio filter I have in between the sump and the water entering the tanks. This way the water exiting the sump must first flow thru the bio then into the tanks.

Just a few ideas to start! ;)

[Haywire]

Ok, so stage 1 would be a sponge block.

Any suggestions on peat, floss, bioballs?

as for water polishers, a fluidized bed is in the works (and has been for months now) and I suppose there could be UV and daitom filters down stream of the sump.

[Jason]

I think you making this way more technical than it needs to be!

foam pre-filter before the bio-media, get a few foam blocks so you can replace one with a cleaned one.

for bio-media plastic balls is fine or sintered glass media is my preference now.

peat and other medias should be used in a preperation tank before the water is added to the system.

why do you feel the need to add uv and polishers????

keep it simple, use water changes, not technical equipment. Most of the major discus farms in the world don't even use filters alot don't even use airstones.

just change water

[rdeis]

Isn't a fluidized bed just a high capacity bio fliter? That's not a water polisher. With enough biomedia the fluidized bed is redundent- right?

UV can be handy for slowing algea growth down so you can get by with a smaller crew of clean-up fish. A proper quarentine procedure prevents any need for UV to mitigate parasites, but if quarentine is impractical for some reason...

Same for the polish filters. I won't dispute that water changes are the best method for keeping good water quality, but some people can't spend an hour changing water every day- and it seems that extra chemical filtration gives those people a bit of a safety net.

[Haywire]

Jason,

I was thinking of reduing the amount of water consumed, similarly the amount of waste water disposed of. I know a friend who's got on septic system that's low on capacity.

[Dave C]

I agree, keep your water clean and parasite free and you can get away changing less water. I'd skip the Diatom filter though and go with a Magnum filter with a micron insert. You can go with the HOT model(s) and hang the filter on your sump. They're easy to change filters and no priming necessary. I'd pass on the FB filter and just toss extra sponge filters into the sump.

[Jason]

maybe try experimenting with chemical medias, or algae/vegetative filters.

maybe freshwater protein skimming is worth a look too