need help in sump
- Thread starter tripleS
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Notquiterite
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You shouldn't need a sponge or any bio media, those tend to be detritus traps. I would just use the live rock you have as your filtration.
Notquiterite
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When you say dust, are you referring to detritus and whatnot? If so, I would save those for when you do a water change to remove it by sucking it out. Otherwise, you should be fine with having the skimmer and water changes as your main sources of keeping the water clean.
Notquiterite
New member
Is that your return pump on the left most chamber? and yes, I would prefer to keep my live rock in the display tank rather than the sump, but you can get away with having it in the sump as long as you clean it up once in a while. The order from left to right of my sump setup would be the water from display tank going down into a filter sock (I use a filter sock but I also clean it out every couple of days, some or even most would be successful without filter socks as well), next going to my refugium with macro algae (also optional, some might use this chamber for their skimmer or media reactors as the water level here stays the same), then lastly the final chamber for the return pump to send water back into the display.
But in your case, you could possibly run a gfo or carbon reactor in place of the bio media and sponge pad.
But in your case, you could possibly run a gfo or carbon reactor in place of the bio media and sponge pad.
Notquiterite
New member
Like I said, you can remove any detritus or unwanted material during water changes when you siphon out the water. Sometimes you can have your powerheads blowing in the tank to stir up any detritus in the rock or nook and crannies that it would get accumulated in, then have it sucked out while it's in the water column. If your water is turning brown, I would recommend running some carbon, it should keep your water crystal clear.
Notquiterite
New member
Oh okay so your tank is still cycling. It's normal for the water coming from your sponge to not be clear as it's picking up all of the dirty stuff in your tank. Just keep monitoring your water parameters to make sure the cycle is finished. Once it's done, you can add your livestock and then worry about keeping your phosphates and nitrates down. While the tank is cycling, you might experience elevated levels of ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and phosphates. Also later on, you might not have to change so much water, especially 30% weekly. I usually do about 10% every two weeks and have been able to keep my levels in check.
Notquiterite
New member
Although your cycle is complete, your tank is still new and young. Elevated phosphates and nitrates are levels that a young tank would typically experience as the main way of reducing phosphates in your case would be from water changes, using gfo, or feeding less. If you only have turbo snails in your tank, how much are you feeding that would contribute to high levels of phosphates? What is your phosphate reading on your test kit?
Notquiterite
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You're using ro/di water? with 0 tds?
Notquiterite
New member
I find it a little strange that you have that high of phosphates with very little livestock, with no feeding, and clean water. The only thing I can possibly think is detritus (don't know where it came from, snails shouldn't produce that much waste) buildup in your bio media and sponge and turning into phosphates. Also, with your weekly water changes of 30%, you should have no problems keeping your levels down. The only other thing I can think of is your rock leaching phosphates. I would possibly start by removing the biomedia and sponge and see if you still have those elevated levels after a few water changes. If they continue to creep back up, I might consider a gfo reactor to help stabilize things until things are under control.
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