Is Rick still on here?

[Jack L]

The guy from California that posted the photos?

[Second Hand Pat]

The guy from California that posted the photos?

Hi Jack, a Rick from California is not ringing any bells. Do you recall his username or thread where he posted?
Pat

[RogueDiscus]

I'm thinking you mean Ricardo. I don't really know, but I think he shows up from time to time. Sometimes folks do move on.

[Jack L]

rickztahone

several years ago when i put foam in my sump he warned about it would be a nitrate problem. i think he was right.

my 30 ppi block was getting plugged and when i gave a super through cleaning, and TONS of mulm came out, i noticed my nitrates went way down.

so i took it out, and my nitrates are staying lower then they have in years. years of me trying all kinds of things to get it lower without results.

i thought that when it broke down that much till it was just fluffly mulm it was not making nitrates anymore.

the cherry shrimp seem to be keeping the 10 and 20 ppi blocks cleaned

i did try that kittly litter basket thing, but that didn't do anything, unless the baskets magically kicked into production like a year late and at the same time i took out the 30 ppi foam

[Filip]

Nice observation Jack . So did the foam degrade underwater and start fouling the water or it just served as a collector of fine mulm ?

[brewmaster15]

rickztahone

several years ago when i put foam in my sump he warned about it would be a nitrate problem. i think he was right.

my 30 ppi block was getting plugged and when i gave a super through cleaning, and TONS of mulm came out, i noticed my nitrates went way down.

so i took it out, and my nitrates are staying lower then they have in years. years of me trying all kinds of things to get it lower without results.

i thought that when it broke down that much till it was just fluffly mulm it was not making nitrates anymore.

the cherry shrimp seem to be keeping the 10 and 20 ppi blocks cleaned

i did try that kittly litter basket thing, but that didn't do anything, unless the baskets magically kicked into production like a year late and at the same time i took out the 30 ppi foam

Ricardo is still around just busy with other things. He logs in as his time allows..

Al

[rickztahone]

rickztahone

several years ago when i put foam in my sump he warned about it would be a nitrate problem. i think he was right.

my 30 ppi block was getting plugged and when i gave a super through cleaning, and TONS of mulm came out, i noticed my nitrates went way down.

so i took it out, and my nitrates are staying lower then they have in years. years of me trying all kinds of things to get it lower without results.

i thought that when it broke down that much till it was just fluffly mulm it was not making nitrates anymore.

the cherry shrimp seem to be keeping the 10 and 20 ppi blocks cleaned

i did try that kittly litter basket thing, but that didn't do anything, unless the baskets magically kicked into production like a year late and at the same time i took out the 30 ppi foam

I noticed this same thing on my 75g when I broke it down. Although I made it a habit to clean the sump every couple of months and change the filter floss weekly, I still seemed to have accumulated a lot of this "mulm". Maintenance certainly helps but I can see how a system could build up uncontrollably if not managed constantly

[Jack L]

the foam did not degrade, its rather sturdy material. i have a 2" panel of it. my current theory is that is just harbored too much organic waste. even in the mulm state and made nitrates upon nitrates. i would clean it when the water failed to flow through and there was a LOT of mud that comes out.

before i installed foam, i just ran through a filter stock that was changed every few days, and the only sponge was the prefilter on my return pump. my nitrates were better. i expect becaues the socks were removing the waste from the system, not turning it into mulm.

i'll keep an eye on it and report back. but if this turns out to be the case, pretty frustrating as the poor water quality lead to several deaths, and doing huge water changes didn't help because the nitrates would surge back.

[Jack L]

i wasn't running any floss, it was 10 to 20 to 30 foam
the 30 foam held it all

and i'd periodically clean the 30 panel and siphone out the mulm in the sump

now i've removed the 30 foam, and installed some floss that i'm tossing when it plugs which is about weekly

i was trying to build a maintenance free sump system

[Filip]

If that appears to be the case Jack , be happy because you have finnaly found the solution to your chronic nitrate and maintenance problems instead of regreting discus losses and why you haven't listen to Rick's advice right from the start .What's done it's done and you move forward with one more experience in the hobby .

[Jack L]

If that appears to be the case Jack , be happy because you have finnaly found the solution to your chronic nitrate and maintenance problems instead of regreting discus losses and why you haven't listen to Rick's advice right from the start .What's done it's done and you move forward with one more experience in the hobby .

agreed, i'm hoping i've finally figured it out.
its nice to seem them not black with cloudy eyes for a change