New to me 90 Gallon with Sump

[LJSmith]

So I am purchasing a new to me 90 Gallon tank, stand, heater, lights, and sump setup. It is currently being used as a salt setup.
Is vinegar and water still the best practice to clean it up and disinfect?
The wet/dry is currently using bio balls, I have no experience with sumps, but I have heard bio-balls are not that effective. Any guidance on media for the sump would be appreciated.

I plan on running it bare bottom, maybe a fine layer of sand if the bottom is to beat up. It will be home to 6-8 adults and a bristlenose pleco.

I'll also be running a sponge in the tank for aeration and additional biological filtration.

I expect to be doing 60% WC every other day (if pH and TDS remain stable).

[rickztahone]

So I am purchasing a new to me 90 Gallon tank, stand, heater, lights, and sump setup. It is currently being used as a salt setup.
Is vinegar and water still the best practice to clean it up and disinfect?
The wet/dry is currently using bio balls, I have no experience with sumps, but I have heard bio-balls are not that effective. Any guidance on media for the sump would be appreciated.

I plan on running it bare bottom, maybe a fine layer of sand if the bottom is to beat up. It will be home to 6-8 adults and a bristlenose pleco.

I'll also be running a sponge in the tank for aeration and additional biological filtration.

I expect to be doing 60% WC every other day (if pH and TDS remain stable).

water & bleach will be more than enough to disinfect. As far as media, you can use sponges or the classics like ceramic rings and media of this type.

[LJSmith]

Amiraclesump.jpg
I basically have this setup and am planning out the media;
I am going to keep the bioballs, but am planning to add Purigen to the bottom below the bioballs, and Matrix to the tray where the return pump sits.
Is there a better option for placing the Purigen and Matrix?

[Ryan925]

Bioballs can be effective if they are emerged in a wet/dry setup. The knock on them is that they can harbor material that can cause nitrate issues. Quality prefiltration is key to keep them clean. Use something like poret foam on your drip tray to filter out the nasties. Keep in mind if you put purigen below the bio balls it will not be accessible for maintenance without removing all of the balls. I'm actually building a sump now that will have a wet/dry section with bio balls. I actually made it where all the balls will be in a clear container with lots of large holes drilled on the bottom so that the entire container of balls can be removed at once rather than one ball at a time

[LJSmith]

Good point. I had planned on placing the BioBalls in mesh laundry bag for ease of rinsing and removal. I also thought I could tie a string the the purigen, so i can pull it out from the location of that blue sponge. Appreciate the feedback.

[LJSmith]

I'm sold on Poret Foam. I am going to use a 10PPI pad, followed by a 20PPI pad pre Bio-Balls. I am then going to put a 30PPI sponge block in place of the current sponge block. Open to feedback on all of this.

[Jack L]

i do 10,20,30 poret, i don't bother with bio-balls anymore.

bio-balls like all that other stuff just provides surface area, the sponge in the photo you have there is likely enough surface area by itself.

i ran a completely empty sump except a sock on the overflow pipe and a a coarse sponge on pump intake, and that was enough surface area for a 140 gallon display tank with a dozen discus and tank mates. i never read anything except nitrate, i seeded BB from another tank.

it was empty while i tired to decide how to use it. i have a bunch of other media in there now, haven't really seen a difference, still just nitrate and at about the same levels.

the poret foam is sturdier than any other foam i've tried. been happy with it for year+ now. i found out about it on this board. works nice for mechanical and bio filtration, and i'm not changing socks anymore, so i am happy with switch to poret.

[Jack L]

Bioballs can be effective if they are emerged in a wet/dry setup. The knock on them is that they can harbor material that can cause nitrate issues. Quality prefiltration is key to keep them clean. Use something like poret foam on your drip tray to filter out the nasties. Keep in mind if you put purigen below the bio balls it will not be accessible for maintenance without removing all of the balls. I'm actually building a sump now that will have a wet/dry section with bio balls. I actually made it where all the balls will be in a clear container with lots of large holes drilled on the bottom so that the entire container of balls can be removed at once rather than one ball at a time

Ryan, I've read that complaint with bioballs too, but i never seemed to notice them being nitrate factories as some report. mine got pretty gunked up too.
i just didn't like the noise they made.

have you had problems with them?

[Ryan925]

Ryan, I've read that complaint with bioballs too, but i never seemed to notice them being nitrate factories as some report. mine got pretty gunked up too.
i just didn't like the noise they made.

have you had problems with them?

Honestly I haven't put mine to use yet. I started my sump design but unfortunately I need to finish a stand build before I can utilize it. Both are currently in hold for some other things.

I did a lot of reading though and it seemed those that did have issues was due to neglect.

I mostly wanted them for the additional gas exchange. I way over engineered my sump. I have enough bio balls for more than double my tank volume not to mention the other media that will go in. My plan is to be able to use the same sump when I upgrade tank size so that I don't have to do it all over again. I'm building it out of a 40B

I do have a friend with a community 140 with lots of fish and a tiny little sump with bio balls and never has issues.

[gators111]

I have a similar setup as yours. (90 with a 30 wet/dry sump) I put a marinepure block (8x8x4) in the bottom, then laid the egg crate on top of it, and put marinepure bioballs on top of that. I then got some pinky filter I cut to size and put that in the drip tray. The water rains over the MP balls and the block remains submerged. Working well for me. The other thing I did was rig a piece of PVC with a micron filter from an old HOT magnum as an intake filter on my Magnum 950 return pump. But it doesn't look like you'll have the space for that.

[Ryan925]

That's the great thing about a sump. The endless possibilities of customization to fit your needs

[LJSmith]

So, I order three 1" sheets of Poret. One each of 10, 20, and 30 PPI. If remove the bioballs, I assume I would just run it stacked top to bottom from most porous to least.
If I keep the bio balls, my plan is to run the 10 and 20 on top of the bioballs, and then the 30 PPI on the tray below.
From there it would be Purigen to Matrix, and then back to the tank. I would keep the current sponge.

Any issues with that plan?

[rickztahone]

So, I order three 1" sheets of Poret. One each of 10, 20, and 30 PPI. If remove the bioballs, I assume I would just run it stacked top to bottom from most porous to least.
If I keep the bio balls, my plan is to run the 10 and 20 on top of the bioballs, and then the 30 PPI on the tray below.
From there it would be Purigen to Matrix, and then back to the tank. I would keep the current sponge.

Any issues with that plan?

I'd prefer ceramic rings instead of Bio Balls but that is just me.

[LJSmith]

The bioballs came with, but I am not wed to them. I have to remove a bunch to make room for the foam, so I may just switch out to rings.