Sump Round 2

[Clawhammer]

As documented on a recent thread, my first attempt at a sump ended in disaster because of silicone that wasn't fully cured. No matter what the instructions say, wait at least 4 days, preferably a week!

With the recent tragedy, I went with a week, and tomorrow will be the day. I also took the opportunity to get a little more fancy with some baffles and a chamber for bioballs. The bioballs are currently in my canister filters (which will be run in line via the pictured Jebao DCT4000 pumps), so I decided to put them in the sump, tossed with an airstone. I purchased 3L of pond matrix to put in the trays that formerly housed the bioballs. The canisters will each be 2 trays matrix/pond matrix, 1 tray purigen, 1 tray polyfill. I figure I will take care of all of my mechanical and bio-filtration in the sump so maybe I can eat some nitrate and really polish the water in the canisters.

I also upgraded the overflow so I could go herbie style.

Let me know what you think! Any advice or warnings are welcome

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[Jenene]

That looks great Eric! I am jealous of you guys with your DIY custom sumps. I wish I knew enough when I was first starting out. Yours is so much easier to maintain with the vertical foam. I have an Eshopps which is really better for reef systems. All the media has to be horizontal so to clean it I have to dig it all out. Live and learn.

I hope you have better luck this go around. Keep us posted. Hope it runs like a dream

[Clawhammer]

Thanks Jenene! I definitely tried to make access for cleaning as easy as possible.... After doing daily WC's for a year, I know that any effort in the beginning to make maintenance easier pays off exponentially down the line

[Clawhammer]

Did a little tour of my sump install...

[Jenene]

Thanks Jenene! I definitely tried to make access for cleaning as easy as possible.... After doing daily WC's for a year, I know that any effort in the beginning to make maintenance easier pays off exponentially down the line

I really wish I would have known- hindsight sure is 20/20. I thought I could convert it a bit and install vertical baffles with Poret but the water channels run on the bottom so I didn't have a choice but to just pile the media up in the skimmer compartment. It has gone through so many transformations to try to make it run cleaner and more efficiently. The refugium originally had Miracle Mud which is anything but a Miracle- just mud. I took the sock out and added Poret cubes but those were even harder to scoop out and clean. So the sock went back in -I did keep the two layers of foam block under the sock. At the recommendation of aquarium guy who fixed a leak in the bulkhead I added a big air stone disk under the media and moved the Purigen over the top where the bubbles can agitate it. After all of that I still have to get in there and yank all that dripping stuff out to clean it but it works - my water is really clear. Probably not as well as yours will work, hence the envy... I do have to fix those broken baffle legs. I can't keep them on!
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[Jenene]

Great video! Very thorough explanation of your setup. Love it. Your remaining fish look great now. Gorgeous, healthy and they look hungry! Thank heavens they made it through that. So glad you are over the hump. Now get out there out and buy more balls!

[Clawhammer]

Haha, didn't realize how much media the sump can hold.. I guess thats the point!

I agree, the fish look so much better... Its an incredible turnaround, although I still haven't fully recovered!!! They are so resilient.

This addition means I now have 150 gallons of water and only 10 discus in a BB tank. I think I will be expanding my discus family in the near future

[Jenene]

Haha, didn't realize how much media the sump can hold.. I guess thats the point!

I agree, the fish look so much better... Its an incredible turnaround, although I still haven't fully recovered!!! They are so resilient.

This addition means I now have 150 gallons of water and only 10 discus in a BB tank. I think I will be expanding my discus family in the near future

Oh...now even more jealous! I keep seeing more strains I really want. It is actually painful! How big is your display tank? What kind do you think you would add? I love the ones you chose. You have great fish taste IMO.

[Clawhammer]

Sorry!

I think my next batch will likely be from Kenny, especially after seeing your tank! A red eagle, white butterfly, neon sapphire, and penang eruption are my current faves, but every shipment I change my mind I like showing off the beautiful diversity of discus colors and patterns

[Jenene]

Sorry!

I think my next batch will likely be from Kenny, especially after seeing your tank! A red eagle, white butterfly, neon sapphire, and penang eruption are my current faves, but every shipment I change my mind I like showing off the beautiful diversity of discus colors and patterns

Oh geeze...my heart...I love all of those. Kenny's Red Eagles are to die for. His butterflies...all of them...I can't even breathe... I need a bigger tank..I just do.

Keep us posted on your tank and stock. It is going to be amazing.

[JBurgo]

I think you should've kept it more simple, I don't think you need the bio balls. The addition of the bio balls really complicated things (because it changed the simple planning of the sump). You ended up with a compromise that resulted in a noisy air pump when I don't think you actually need it, and it takes away all the great work you did with the Herbie. The bio balls work to their best potential in a wet dry arrangement, so I think it'd be better, if you really want them, to make a trickle tray over them, that way you can discard the air pump. Another hint is to use a large bag, the type bulk oranges come in, to bag your bio balls, that will make them easier to remove for cleaning. I don't mean to be critical, just trying to help you get a nice quiet system.

[Neptune]

Does the baffle that holds the egg crate run all the way to other side?

[Clawhammer]

I think you should've kept it more simple, I don't think you need the bio balls. The addition of the bio balls really complicated things (because it changed the simple planning of the sump). You ended up with a compromise that resulted in a noisy air pump when I don't think you actually need it, and it takes away all the great work you did with the Herbie. The bio balls work to their best potential in a wet dry arrangement, so I think it'd be better, if you really want them, to make a trickle tray over them, that way you can discard the air pump. Another hint is to use a large bag, the type bulk oranges come in, to bag your bio balls, that will make them easier to remove for cleaning. I don't mean to be critical, just trying to help you get a nice quiet system.

Thanks for the feedback Jason. You are right, and I definitely went back and forth on the changes, but in the end I decided to go this route because I already had the bioballs in my canisters and I feel that they are more efficient this way as some air is mixing with them. There is actually very little noise from the airpump, being that it is all in the cabinet. The herbie is completely 100% silent, so if the barely audible hum of the airpump gets annoying, I can just turn it off.

Great suggestion on using a bulk oranges type bad for the bioballs, I am going to follow that advice. I had hoped the water and bubble flow would make the bioballs move around, but they pretty much stay in place. I didn't think they would tumble like K1, but I thought they would at least spin or be in motion.

[Clawhammer]

Does the baffle that holds the egg crate run all the way to other side?

Not sure which one you are referring to, but I will describe the flow... The vertical egg crate is siliconed in to hold the poret, the water then is forced under the next baffle and up through the bioballs, which are held down by an egg crate. The egg crate sits on top of the water pump baffle, which is designed to prevent display tank overflow in case of a overflow box failure.

[Ryan925]

Not sure which one you are referring to, but I will describe the flow... The vertical egg crate is siliconed in to hold the poret, the water then is forced under the next baffle and up through the bioballs, which are held down by an egg crate. The egg crate sits on top of the water pump baffle, which is designed to prevent display tank overflow in case of a overflow box failure.

Hey man glad to see that the dual overflow outlet box ideas worked out for you. I agree it would have been best if you had put the bio balls in top of that egg crate above water level and had the water trickle over them then under last baffle to pumps but hey it is what it is. Bio balls are best emerged but still work submerged. With your socks and your poret I highly doubt maintenance wound be an issue.

Sorry to hear about your losses. Silver lining is now you have an excuse to give our friend Kenny a call