lets see your diy sump setups

[jcardona1]

Found some actual stats, this is for Seachem Matrix. Same concept as other porous ceramic media though:

Each liter of Matrix™ provides as much surface (>~700 m2) as 170 liters of plastic balls! Plastic bio-materials provide only external surface area, whereas Matrix™ provides both external and internal macroporous surface area

http://www.seachem.com/Products/prod...es/Matrix.html

[spiffyfish]

pretty cool stuff right there thanks for the link, i made this thread because i am new to the whole sump thing and am in the process of building one just trying to see what works for people. i plan on making a sump with three stages would the first with either pot scrubbies or some sort of other filter materiel be sutable enough for that? the second section i will definatly use some sort of ceramic media,more than likely ceramic rings, and the third will be the pump. is there anything that i can use filter wise for the first section that will last longer than a few days, as you said the bags usually only last about that long. that just sounds like a lot of time and money either having to clean them constantly due to getting clogged so fast or replacing them.

[jcardona1]

First stage of the filter should be mechanical regardless. Filter socks tend to get dirty quicker because they are pulling out more particles from the water. You could always get a bigger micron size, like 200, but your water won't be as clean as if you had 25 micron socks. Regular filter pads let a lot of particles get through, which is why I don't like them. I'm a fiend for sparkly water, so I like runner finer socks.

As for replacing them, not really. I just wash them in the washing machine and they come out good as new. I've washed them a good 20-30 times already and they're still good. And they're not expensive either, about $3-4 in the link I posted earlier.

Let me know if you have more questions!

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

[spiffyfish]

i drew up a rough design of what i wanted to do but i cant seem to get it on here to get feedback

[spiffyfish]

i think i got it up, i dont know how well the qaulity of it came out but at least i think i got it up there, this is what i plan on doing for my sump.

[leeishom]

Wow.
Those setups in japan?, in your home? Very niice. The look, feel of heavy duty trumps all.

[waterfaller1]

Bump please

[Lenin]

OK I want to build this exact one do you have plans? a list of things needed, this is exactly what I need for my 55


[QUOTE=jcardona1;706375]Here's my 10g sump on my 57g planted tank. I will never again run a traditional wet/dry setup with pot scrubbies or bio balls. My setup eliminates the need for messy drip trays, dividers, or baffles, since you use submerged ceramic media.

This sump has a Quiet One 4000 1017gph pump and 2x 4" 25 micron filter socks (best mechanical filtration you can get, aside from a diatom filter). All you need is an old tank, filter socks on the inlet, ceramic media in the middle (either in a basket or mes laundry bags), and a pump on the other end. That's it! Cheapest and easiest sump you can build

[Darrell Ward]

Been there, done that with the micron socks. Constant maintenance, or the socks clog. I recently made a fluidized bio reactor in my 55 gal. sump for a 240 gal. tank. I am very pleased with the results. It took some tinkering, because I was unfamiliar with them, and never actually seen one running in person, but it's really quite simple, and fantastic filtration. All I did basically was wedge a 4" thick piece of Poret foam across a section of the sump, added an airstone in each corner with 2 more in the center, put a few handfuls of kaldness bio media in there to get the cycle started, and wedged another piece of the Poret foam on top to act as a pre filter. Water from the tank enters above the prefilter, drains to the bio media being churned by the air from the airstones, and runs thru the Poret foam divider, where it is pumped back into the tank. Because the bio media is being churned around, it constantly self cleans itself of dead bacteria, and the water is super oxygenated from all the forced air. This also removes the C02 from the water. Brilliant concept. This picture is from when I first set it up. I have since added more media. You should add to it gradually to get it to fluidize. The media takes a while for bacteria to coat it, then it fluidizes really easy.

[Chad Hughes]

Sorry for the HUGE delay, but here are some shots of mine. There are two twin sumps that run all 26 of my tanks on two seperate systems.









Let me know if you have any questions....

[Second Hand Pat]

Chad, your pictures did not show up.

[Chad Hughes]

I'm working on it.... sorry! Picasa is not cooperating.

[Chad Hughes]

OK..... Photobucket worked. LOL!

Here's a video of the automated topoff system. As the system drains, the float vlaves open and the pump kicks on. When it's full, it stops!

[spiffyfish]

i hate to open a thread i started a year ago, but i havent seen jose post on here for awhile, anyways does anyone know where i can get these style mesh bags?
jose sump.jpg

[Darrell Ward]

If Aquatic Eco Systems don't have them, probably won't find them anywhere.