Aquarium sump help and information.

Hi all.

I have a question about sumps and Malawi cichlids. I have been told that these are messy fish but have never believed it until I started keeping them my self.

I have set up a sump about 3weeks ago and all was fine. Let me add that this is a 4foot extra high 300l tank and a 100l sump. Any ways sump was doing its job and keeping water nice and clean however I noticed that the filter floss was turning a little brown. I left it alone.

While doing my regular water changes I saw the water a bit cloudy and decided to remove the floss and replace. I was shocked at how dirty the floss was. Well removed it all and replaced.


My question is this normal for sumps? I change out floss on my cannister's at least every week and a half. Does this apply to a sump? Sorry for the long post.

 

I will assume that because of the higher turnover rate of a sump compared to a cannister the floss will clog up rather quickly?

 

its normal , in my opinion a sump does a better job at filtering, is the water still cloudy ?

 

Are you talking about your Fx5 floss that you change every week , I am using Batting now & found it works a bit better

 

yes true @dash i used to get my batting from waste centre, it seems to trap the waste better

 

Thanks. Water is very clear this morning

 

Do you have any empty compartments?

 

Just the first one.

 

Sweet

 

Thanks. What about all you other sump people? @eros111 @Marco

 

It's normal, but why do you change it out? Why not just rinse and put it back? Also, make sure your finest filter media is at the last compartment, before the return pump. Oh, to keep your sump relatively clean, add a pre filter sock to the incoming pipe, it helps a crap load and you need to just rinse the sock when it gets all mucky.

 

I really don't want to wash that floss out lol. At the rate I am going I will soon have to. Where can I buy the filter socks?

 

@dash -not sure why you were talking about the higher turnover rate of sumps versus canister filters. Canisters have the higher turnover.
On a sump you should slow the flow rate down to enable the good bacteria to do their job. And yes, I add an air stone in the first chamber to provide the bacteria oxygen to do their job. Not everybody will agree with this and point to the fact that it is the water agitation at the surface which 'oxygenates' the water and that the increased downflow into the sump adds enough oxygen. Well, most of my sumps are level with the tanks and the very little cost of a pump and negligible energy costs make this a logical choice. And what is good for the Prof is good enough for me -Lol

Not sure why you change your floss all the time. Just rinse it in tank water as stated by @chongke, that should do. Maybe you are using different sponge/floss than me, but I change mine perhaps 1-2 times a year.

 

Hi. If you look at the flow rate of many canister filters, and the flow rates of aquarium sump pumps, despite the hight factor, the sump has a higher turnover.


With regards to the floss, it is the fine filter wool that traps fine particles and turns brown after a while.

 

@dash, high turnover rate has no bad influence on the bacteria growing in the filter. As long as it does not get clogged up that no flow goes through the filter media, then it is fine.

Try not to change out the filter media too often, especially when you have so much fish in the tank.

You should be able to get the pre-filter sock from most LFS, I'll bet that Northlands has, and also most marine LFS will definately have. If you cant find any, get yourself a media bag, i.e. bags for purigen, matrix, etc.

I don't quite agree with you there. Flow has no real influence, as long as enough oxygen is in the water and that the water is filtering through the media, the bacteria will thrive.

 

Thanks @Chongkie this is getting interesting. In all my years of fish keeping, I always believed that the bacteria will grow on media like seachem matrix and so on. I am sure that bacteria will grow on filter floss but will changing it out impact on the good bacteria load if the majority of bacteria is on matrix or some other noodle etc?

 

Oic, I thought you didn't have other media other than the filter floss. hehe :cheesy:

Bacteria grows on everything and anything, just how much is dependent on the surface area. I've always felt that it is not always so good to change out filter media, unless it has degraded to such a state that it is disintegrating. hehe

It will definitely impact on your bacteria, how much, I couldn't say.

 

@Chongkie -you are on APSA as well. So I recommend you have a look at the thread about sump design from Professor Bellstedt. He is also on TASA but I am not sure whether he posted the same info on here.
When I initially read the thread, I was totally opposed to his idea and persistence with slowing the flow down (I am an engineer and this just didn't sound logic at first). But as I read his replies to all the sceptics, I came to realize that he had a point. You do not need a massive sump, nor do you need a pump which pushes gazillions of litres per hour (on the contrary, go smaller, less energy and overall more efficient). I have since built several sumps for my tanks and I used his 'design proposal' (adapted to my tanks and applications) and I am perfectly happy.
Yes, I use a lot of Matrix (will try Siporax on my next project), much more than recommended by Seachem (probably 4-5 times more) but what the hell, it is only expensive once -Lol

I truly would recommend to everybody to go and have a look at Dirk's thread about sumps, time well spend IMO

 

Cool will definitely have a read. Do you have the thread link?

Always nice to learn new things, and improve on my tank! hehe.

Yeah, im no APSA as well.

 

Unfortunately not. You will find it faster than me, ...I live in a beautiful part of SA, the Republic of Hout Bay (lol), right at the end of the valley. Nice surroundings but all these mountains are no good for Internet reception. My Laptop, iPhone and fancy Lumia aren't able to pick up a decent signal, ...so I use a humble BB 9320 for browsing and posting when I am at home ... and it is painfully slow. Well, I guess you can't have it all.

If you can't find it, perhaps as Hanekka to assist, ...or send the Prof a pm.