Suggested BioFiltration for 40 Gallon Sump!

Good Sunday,

I am in the process of setting up a 220 Gallon Discus tank, 180 in the tank with a 40 Gallon Sump. This tank will not be heavily stocked as I simply don't like heavily stocked tanks. So it will only house 6 to 8 Discus max and the rest will be the typical small tank mates, such as cardinals, corys, german blue rams etc.

I would like some advise, given the current information, on what the recommended best biological filtration would be and what to put it in (mesh bag?) and the amount, considering the sump will be run by a 2000GPH pump. The pre-filter will be two 7" filter socks, either 100 or 225 micron, not sure yet.

I also plan on running a phosphate reactor as I have a dual manifold that can power two reactors. And finally should I bother with Carbon filtration?

Picture of sump for perspective.. build thread can be found here: (its a slow process, budget and time) http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...ney&highlight=

thank you in advance.

Attachment 130847

I use a MarinePure ceramic block and the ceramic balls in media bags, but my biggest complaint with them is that they are very fragile and small bits of the ceramic settle at the bottom of the sump. It doesn't seem to affect anything in the tank, but I dislike how it appears to "deteriorate" over time - not noticeably much, but it is annoying when the outside of the media crumbles a little when moving it for maintenance. I think my next option is going to be to use something like these Reefing Art 'sticks' or Seaside Aquatics spheres which appear to be a little more robust.