Is my Sump setup correctly? Any mods?

[Borntovin]

Hi there fellows, I have a 30G sump under my 75G DT. It came with a bunch of live bristle worms, copopods, etc in it when I acquired the setup. First compartment gets filled with water from DT from overflow box, 2nd compartment has some bottom substrat and a lot of live rock completely filled, 3rd one has a return pump that seeds.

Is it ok with a lot of live rock in it? I got one ball of chateau algae. I used to have a lot of copopods when i started, I see very few now.
I get microbubbles into the sump from overflow box, is it ok ? If not how can i stop it?

Can i add brine shrimp eggs in the sump for them to grow in there?

Any other mods or suggestions that I can do to improve the setup?

For complete setup http://imgur.com/a/lfYwC#0

 

[RocketEngineer]

You need to replace the two metal hose clamps with plastic ones.

 

[thegrun]

+1, but the refugium full of rock is good. No you cannot raise brine shrimp in your refugium, they require higher salinity (besides they are not very helpful for your fish. Feeding them to your fish is like feeding a kid candy, they like it but it is of little nutritional value.

 

[Borntovin]

You need to replace the two metal hose clamps with plastic ones.

Yeah, working on removing the metal clamp now.

 

[Borntovin]

Where do i put the skimmer, in the first chamber where the water collects or the return section?

 

[pmrossetti]

First chamber

 

[pmrossetti]

If that's a check valve I see, be sure your sump can handle the back flow without it.

 

[pmrossetti]

Brine shrimp are good for your fish if they're eaten right after they hatch.
So use them if u like.

 

[flight50]

I'd probably add a filter sock on the hose coming from your display though. Doesn't look like you have anything catching particles as they enter your sump. A build up waste can raise the nitrates beyond what the algae can process.

 

[diegoluv]

First chamber skimmer. Make sure the substrate is still live and healthy and get rid of the bristle worms.

 

[Borntovin]

Having hard time removing metal clamp as it is all rusty. Soaking it in vinegar, hopefully it makes it easy.
I have a Reef octopus BH 2000 hob skimmer on the tank and I added one more coralvue 65 skimmer in the sump's first chamber.
I have a check valve, it makes sure water goes only from sump to DT, not other way round.

 

[palmerit]

Check valves fail. The comment was made to basically say.. WHEN it fails, make sure your sump can handle all of the water that will drain to it to avoid a flood.

 

[Titans_Reef]

I perfer using heavy duty zipties instead of plastic claps since I can tighten them as hard as I can and with plastic ones you can't really. All the LR you can move towards the display tank and will basically do the same thing. I have some LR in my fuge but its more like rubble along with some sand and cheato. For the skimmer to work properly, look up what the recommended water level is to maximize performance. Usually the first chamber you can't raise or lower the water level.

 

[RocketEngineer]

I have a check valve, it makes sure water goes only from sump to DT, not other way round.

Check valves can fail because things like sponges and feather dusters can grow on the valve seat and prevent the valve from sealing fully. That is the reason they are not recommended for SW tanks.

I perfer using heavy duty zipties instead of plastic claps since I can tighten them as hard as I can and with plastic ones you can't really.

Have you ever owned a plastic hose clamp? Just wondering because I use a pair of channel locks to tighten them down and they have no problem getting nice and tight. Zip ties really aren't designed to take the same amount of load. Sure they work, they just aren't ideal for the job.

 

[Dapg8gt]

Just looking at your pictures to me it seems like the sump is running almost full? What happens when the tank shuts off? Does it rely on the check valve 100% to not overflow? If that's the case you may need to run it lower to accommodate the water coming in without the check valve on because echoing what's above it WILL fail..

 

[Titans_Reef]

RocketEngineer,
I've owned plastic clamps before and placed them on my return pumps and I've broken some with channel locks trying to tighten them. I just bought a bag of heavy duty zipties rated to 120lbs and they work better for me. I've come home to my return pump just blasting the water upwards because the pipe came off so I just use zipties now and it works better for me.

 

[Borntovin]

Check valves fail. The comment was made to basically say.. WHEN it fails, make sure your sump can handle all of the water that will drain to it to avoid a flood.

Yeah check valve is working fine now, with that working my sump can handle and has enough room to handle the water that comes from over flow level. If check valve fails, I will be in big trouble

 

[Borntovin]

Just looking at your pictures to me it seems like the sump is running almost full? What happens when the tank shuts off? Does it rely on the check valve 100% to not overflow? If that's the case you may need to run it lower to accommodate the water coming in without the check valve on because echoing what's above it WILL fail..

That earlier pic was taken when return pump was off, so it is full and it's all good there with whatever overflow was able to disperse.
If check valve fails, it will be too much water. I realized that while removing the rusty metal clamp. My return pumps water outlet was in the water, I will raise it up a little above the overflow level. That should take care of it if at all check valve fails. Thanks to all of you for pointing it out.

 

[palmerit]

Its not 'if check valve fails'. It's 'when check valve fails'

As I previously mentioned, check valves in saltwater WILL fail. Plan for it now to prevent the inevitable disaster.

 

[Borntovin]

RocketEngineer,
I've owned plastic clamps before and placed them on my return pumps and I've broken some with channel locks trying to tighten them. I just bought a bag of heavy duty zipties rated to 120lbs and they work better for me. I've come home to my return pump just blasting the water upwards because the pipe came off so I just use zipties now and it works better for me.

I was able to remove the rusty clamp and another one that ties return pump to the pipe, pipe is hard and it could not stop leaking at the pump. So I had to spray some salt creep eliminator and use the metal clamp for now. I will try getting some nice plastic zip tags or plastic clamps.