Sump setup

[brandonmoss]

Would having my bio media compact in a mesh bag in my sump be less efficient then having it free and covering a whole chamber of the sump sitting on egg crate? I was thinking that taking it out of the mesh bag and letting it fill the chamber would create more surface area for bacteria to work.

My media at the moment can process 1ppm of ammonia in 24 hours and processing the nitrites 12 hours later so all in all processing 1ppm of ammonia in 36 hours. Would i need to keep adding ammonia until my filter can process this in 24 hours before i could add fish?

Thanks

[Neptune]

The more surface contact with moving water the better.

[brandonmoss]

The more surface contact with moving water the better.
Would removing them from the mesh bags be beneficial then?

[rickztahone]

Would removing them from the mesh bags be beneficial then?

Not in my experience. Bag them, have plenty of it and don't over think it and you'll be fine

[brandonmoss]

Not in my experience. Bag them, have plenty of it and don't over think it and you'll be fine

Okay, the tank has been cycling for 8 weeks now getting really impatient haha

[JBurgo]

Bagging things is great for removing things and rinsing, vacuuming underneath and general sump maintenance. If you make maintenance harder you're less likely to do it, bagging bio balls into small clusters isn't a bad idea either for the same reason.

[rickztahone]

Bagging things is great for removing things and rinsing, vacuuming underneath and general sump maintenance. If you make maintenance harder you're less likely to do it, bagging bio balls into small clusters isn't a bad idea either for the same reason.

This is a very true statement. When I had a power outage and I had to take some of the media and place it inside of 2L bottles, I couldn't imagine having to do that every so often as part of my sump maintenance.

[Hart24601]

I have all media in my sumps in bags or they are marine pure blocks, but they are on little platforms off the bottom to allow water circulation and minimize detritus accumulation. I also either have small powerhead or a T off the return that just circulates water in the sump as I have found that just the water through the drains (filter socks) doesn't really create flow in the sump like I want.

For the platform I just took egg crate, trimmed it to fit the bagged media, I think about 15" long by 8" wide, and put 1" spacers under it.

[rickztahone]

I have all media in my sumps in bags or they are marine pure blocks, but they are on little platforms off the bottom to allow water circulation and minimize detritus accumulation. I also either have small powerhead or a T off the return that just circulates water in the sump as I have found that just the water through the drains (filter socks) doesn't really create flow in the sump like I want.

For the platform I just took egg crate, trimmed it to fit the bagged media, I think about 15" long by 8" wide, and put 1" spacers under it.

I did the same. I used a piece of cut pvc to hold the egg crate up. Works fine.

[Jack L]

I have my mesh bags propped up on scrap piece of poret foam. Glad i found this thread because i have been looking for this scrap piece and now i remembered what i did with it!