New to marine, here goes nothing lol...couple questions

[StevieD]

I just picked up a 125 salt setup for a pretty good price..It came with everything needed plus some stuff and ive got the tank leak testing and running in my garage because ive never used a sump before (oh the horror lol) and i just dont trust it yet. So, with that being said, I understand the principles behind it and what it does, my first question is in the sump, bio balls or no? I have another smaller sump and was wondering if i could put my skimmer and another return pump in that? so id have my main sump with filter pad, bio balls?, and one return and the other sump id have an overflow, skimmer, and another return? thoughts, ideas, suggestions? as soon as i figure out the picture posting here ill get a couple up. Thanks.

 

[STiREX]

As far as running dual returns... short answer is no.
Bio balls... I would avoid them if possible. Make your own sump with a refugium

Welcome to Reef Central

 

[Chaotic Reefer4u]

StevieD, [welcome] Lose the bioballs, hope this helps!

 

[StevieD]

ok, any particular reason why to lose the bio balls and if I dont use the bio balls, what do I put in its place? I keep picturing filtration for freshwater because thats what I know, what exactly goes in a saltwater sump?

 

[Chaotic Reefer4u]

Ok StevieD, you want to lose the bioballs because they are a nitrate factory and also if your going to have live rock this is sufficient for your biological filtration needs. Also in place of the bioballs you can put filter bags in there with other stuff like carbon to help keep your water clear or you can put in some nitrate adsorber media, the list goes on and on. You can add a filter sock for your sumpwhere the water gets filtered through from the overflow and then goes through the filter sock and back into the display nice and clean and free of any particulate matter free floating in your display, hope this helps you pal...the sump is for your skimmer and return pump and filter bags of your choice, depends on your water quality too.

 

[StevieD]

Ok StevieD, you want to lose the bioballs because they are a nitrate factory and also if your going to have live rock this is sufficient for your biological filtration needs. Also in place of the bioballs you can put filter bags in there with other stuff like carbon to help keep your water clear or you can put in some nitrate adsorber media, the list goes on and on. You can add a filter sock for your sumpwhere the water gets filtered through from the overflow and then goes through the filter sock and back into the display nice and clean and free of any particulate matter free floating in your display, hope this helps you pal...the sump is for your skimmer and return pump and filter bags of your choice, depends on your water quality too.

ahhhh, i gotcha, makes sense. So only thing in the sump is filter sock or blue mat, skimmer, some sort of nitrat absorber or carbon and return pump...seems simple enough, that helps alot....one more question, I have 2 small overflows with single outlets and 1 big overflow with dual outlets...which would be more beneficial to use, 1 in the middle or the singles in the corners?

 

[worm5406]

If you use the filter sock all you have to do is change it out and wash it. If you use the blue pads only... you will have to fish them out of the baffles/sections and clean/replace them. I would do both... to cut down on micro bubbles too, but the filter sock will give you a quick and easy clean-out instead of it getting into the entire sump area.

 

[StevieD]

If you use the filter sock all you have to do is change it out and wash it. If you use the blue pads only... you will have to fish them out of the baffles/sections and clean/replace them. I would do both... to cut down on micro bubbles too, but the filter sock will give you a quick and easy clean-out instead of it getting into the entire sump area.

My sump has a cover over a drip plate and the blue pad fits right on top so it wouldnt be anything to just lift the cover, slide it out, and slide a new one in...but i do like the idea of the filter socks...the wheels are churning over here lol

 

[worm5406]

Ahhh a wet dry filter...

 

[worm5406]

Here is something I got from another site:

Bioballs are great at what they were designed to do. Convert ammonia to nitrate. LR does the same thing, but deeper inside the LR there are anaerobic bacteria that can convert nitrate to nitrogen gas. This gas can then leave the system through gas exchange at the surface. Bioballs don't have this ability. The nitrate they produce is dumped into the open water of the system where it can accumulate. This can lead to algae problems. If there is LR in the system, you want the nitrate to be produced by the LR so a portion of it can be removed through anaerobic processes. Having bioballs and LR is counter productive.

 

[STiREX]

1 Petco has tanks for $1/gal. Go there and buy a 55 gal tank.
2 Pick up a sheet of acrylic from lowes / home depot.
3 Buy some silicone and read the plethora of DIY sump threads here
4 Build your sump before you set your tank in its permanent location
5 Sell your wet/dry
6 Profit
7 ??????
8 Thank me later

In all seriousness, you will be farther ahead with a traditional sump. You can build one for less than $100

 

[StevieD]

Ok so it looks like I'm building a sump this weekend...now my overflows, I have three, 2 small singles and 1 dual...should I put one in each corner or just use the one big one?

 

[erock68]

Stevie,

This is the sump that I built, for my 75g display reef. It's built out of a 30g tank. I have the input, on the left hand side, going into the filter sock. In the same chamber, I have my Skimmer, then fuge, then out via the return pump:

Here is a first run, with the sump going:

A month down the road:

 

[StevieD]

Stevie,

This is the sump that I built, for my 75g display reef. It's built out of a 30g tank. I have the input, on the left hand side, going into the filter sock. In the same chamber, I have my Skimmer, then fuge, then out via the return pump:

Here is a first run, with the sump going:

A month down the road:

thanks for the pictures, that helps a ton and it makes perfect sense...i know what im building this weekend now...sweeeeeeeeet!!! just curious, is it noisy with the water falling into the sock or the protein skimmer running?

 

[erock68]

thanks for the pictures, that helps a ton and it makes perfect sense...i know what im building this weekend now...sweeeeeeeeet!!! just curious, is it noisy with the water falling into the sock or the protein skimmer running?

I wouldn't call it noisy, but you can hear the water flowing into the filter sock. You can adjust it so it doesn't happen. Just make sure to clean out the sock weekly (I spray inside and out with a garden hose) then I do a monthly bleach wash.

It's a good idea to purchase 3-4. They aren't that expensive.

 

[StevieD]

That seems easy enough, now should I run dual overflows or just one big overflow with dual utubes?

 

[coral_dog]

Even if you run with one overflow you can still split the flow in half and send to both sides of your sump.

 

[Palting]

I like playing the devil's advocate! LOL!!

Keep the wet dry filter with bioballs, add live rock both to the sump and to the DT, then use your second smaller sump as a remote refugium. One drain goes to the wet/dry, the other drain goes to the refugium, and the two sumps are plumbed together so there is only one return section for the return pump. Put the skimmer in the larger reservoir of the wet/dry sump. Easy!!

Here's a pic of the wet/dry with bioballs and rock in my 110 gal. That's the skimmer on the right.

Here's one way to plumb a remote refugium to the return section of the main sump. I've put ziploc ties ion the juctions since this pic was taken:

 

[tracyclifton]

I'm new here too. I was on the fence about the bio balls in the wet-dry filter. After tons of reading, I decided to keep the sump like it was. I made a separate refugium and have it plumbed into the sump. I have had my tank running for 6 weeks, it cycled and now has some livestock. Right now my nitrate level is holding at 10ppm. I am still not convince that the bio-balls need to be there, but I'm going that way unless I can't control the nitrate.

 

[StevieD]

From what I've been reading, and damn there's a lot to read, the bioballs and the live rock kinda contradict each other (something with processing nitrates, the bioballs only process so much but the live rock takes it a couple steps farther). I'm going to play it safe and just build a new 55 gallon sump. Either ill sell off my other sump or save it for a bigger freshwater tank