Filtration rates, flow, and other questions

Hi Dirk

Thank you so much, i understand.

2 questions: 1 - Does anyone know where i can get some sponge (fish safe) in the Pretoria area as i understand some sponge are made of waist from petrol?? (So say the guy from our local upholstery shop). 2 - The only polesterien i could get is 47mm thick, is it to thick to put under my sump or can i use it???(The sump will stand on a tile floor)

 

Gerrit,

The upholstery guys does not know what he is talking about.

Buy a thin sponge that is used for upholstery and put it into a bucket with water and do at least 10 water changes during a week but leave it in the water all the time. In between squash out all the water repeatedly. You have to do this because of the softeners used in sponge production which are not good for fishes, but you can definitely get rid of them in this way.

You can put your sump on any thickness of polystyrene, it will work.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Thank You Dirk for all the advice. Much appreciated!!!

 

Shew......what a read. Felt like i was on an aquatic trip. Im actually surprised that my sump design is not far from prof Dirks sump design. But i must say i like the idea for the overflow. I might not have to use my overflow and skimmer boxes. What do you think Professor?

 

Hi Prof, Your advice and theory on filtration has been a massive help! Thanks so much for taking the time out of your schedule to assist all of us on the Forum!
Unfortunately i had constructed my sump system before i had discovered the TASA website, otherwise i would definately have adapted your design and theory to my setup. I am currently running an up/down type sump system with 4 chambers running in order 1: sponge + floss 2: clay balls + smashed clay brick + ceramic tubes 3: bio balls 4: return chamber. Although not the "ideal" setup according to your recommendations it seems to do an excellent job so far of ensuring that my water parameters are kept well in check. No measurable ammonia, Nitrite, or Nitrate present, the system has been running for 2 months now, with weekly 25% water changes. In total the combined water volume is 304 litres (250L tank and 50L sump). The water quality is not currently the issue i have, however suspended matter in the tank is! The setup is running 2000 lph and I have turned it down to 600 lph to see if the matter will "settle out", no change. The overflow to the sump is taken care of by cutting down the right hand panel of the tank by 30mm effectively creating a "skimmer" which flows into an "overflow chamber" with dimensions 450mm x 100mm x 100mm, this is in turn drained via a 50mm pipe to the sump. It has been suggested to me that due to the feed to the sump being via a skimmer, the suspended matter is not reaching the surface and therefore not being removed, and that this setup is only effective on Marine tank setups. What is your opinion on this dilemma and what would your recommendation be? Your advice would be greatly appreciated!!!


-Drew

 

do you have a skimmer in your fresh water tank`s sump ?

 

do you have a skimmer in your fresh water tank`s sump ?

 

If I'm interpreting it correctly he's got a surface skimmer for the overflow, meaning it picks up the water from the top of the tank. That would make sense. A protein skimmer in the sump, however, would not make sense. It would seem that the salt content in marine water makes much smaller bubbles than freshwater, and that's why protein skimmers don't work in freshwater.

 

hmm, ok so you are skimming the water surface ? There is no magical way to get the detritus to the sump, in marine tanks there is alot of flow which helps to keep detritus in suspension, which kind of makes it easier for it to reach the sump. Skimming water surface is not only for marine tanks though, you will just need to remove detritus in the tank with manually through syphoning (like normal).

 

Hi Whip, you have it spot on. Basically the right side panel of my tank is 30mm lower than the others, creating a "weir" over which the water flows into a rectangular chamber which then drains to the sump.

 

Hi Singularity, Correct, there is about 5mm of water that flows over the top of the "weir" hence skimming the surface. There is a decent current movement created by the skimming action along the surface, but the particles never seem to get up to that level. I do weekly siphoning and gravel cleaning combined with my 25% water change, to remove detritus and poo from the gravel and rocks etc... However, even if i do bi weekly cleaning and water changes, there are always suspended particles present in the water column, that just don't seem to find their way to the sump (or out my siphon lol). The current inhabitants of the tank are 10 Pearl Gouramis, 6 Swordtails, 5 Corys, 1 Pleco, 2 Ancistrus, and 2 Guppies. I am a bit wary using chemicals such as flocculents to sort the problem and would rather find another solution.
Would possibly another overflow intake that is positioned midwater (such as your design prof) and used in conjuction with the "skimming overflow" take care of the problem??

-Drew

 

http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?6491-Hello-Everyone!!!

Above is the link to my thread showing pics of my setup.

 

You could try adding a powerhead with batting to remove it. Much easier than a new overflow

 

I've got another idea.

If you've got an overflow box in the corner in your tank, why not just make it double walled with both and under- and overflow? By putting a grid in front of them you'll eliminate the risk of adding a stray fish to it, and water will now enter through both the bottom and top, thus taking particles in through both... Your water flow will remain uncompromised, and now you can just scoot debris along the bottom towards the intake rather than trying to shoot it towards the overflow.

I'll build it to prove it works, like I did with the rest of the things in my tank... Stay tuned!

Copyright 2011 SHiBBY Concepts ;-)

 

Unfortunately my overflow is on the OUTSIDE of my tank...

 

Unfortunately my overflow is on the outside of my tank...

 

Hmmm... Yes that IS unfortunate

 

Apologies Shibby it seems i have offended you? It was not my intention...

Sorry about the duplicate post guys! is there a way to remove it?

 

Not at all bud, just saying. That's unfortunate. I should have read all the posts made. But I like designing custom solutions, and this is a challenge so I'll think of something. There's always a way ;-)

Is there a picture of your setup somewhere?

 

My apologies Shibby,it seems i have offended you? It was not my intention! But please have a look at my setup in the link i posted to see what i mean. Your DIY comments and assistance is always welcome and often an inspiration to us other DIY nuts!