Sand in the sump???

[chillaxr6]

This is how my system is currently setup and running very very smoothly . . . parameters and fish are all healthy and i have good growth in the tank. I was thinking of utilizing the sump with maybe a pile of LS from the main tank. Would it be wise to do this and ocassionally place food on the pile of sand i have in the sump. Here is a picture of my filter / sump and was wondering if id get some answers from the wise crowd of reef central . . .

<img src="http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b152/chillaxr6/mysump.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

 

[Fast Fred]

Before you do anything with the sand, you may want to consider removing the bio-balls from your system. They will only give you nitrate problems in the long run. Before removing them, you would need some cured live rock in your tank - about 1-1.5 pounds per gallon of water. Once the live rock is matured, start removing the bioballs a few per week until they are gone.

After that, the area of your sump where the bioballs were would make a nice refugium. Research it, and you can easily DIY. With the refugium, you could have some live sand, live rock and macro algae for nutrient export.

 

[joe18]

maybe he is not going for a reed rite now, if your goin reef then get thos bio balls out, if not then try and get em out anyway, but doesnt have to be like imediate, the fish will be fine with low nitrate readings.
add a clip on light, and put some macro in there, a bit of rubble and BOOM uve got youself a little fuge

 

[Fast Fred]

Whether it's a fish only tank, or a full blown reef, bioball will do nothing but cause problems in the long run. Yes, fish can tolerate higher nitrate levels than most corals, but why should they have to when the solution is so simple?

Also, just an observation, but with all the foam forming on top of your sump, you may want to look into getting a good skimmer. You obviously have some protein build-up.

 

[chillaxr6]

thats not foam its filter wool . . .
hmm im taking things slowly and its been running fine for 3 months . . . keep the ideas coming

 

[Fast Fred]

LOL, looked like foam from here...

 

[chillaxr6]

so slowly but surely i should be removing the balls and adding LR and LS where my balls are resting ( excuse the rude terms ) to complete the entire cyle of water flow around the tank . . . as i have a nice amount of LR and LS in the maintank?? so ill really have 2 tanks one with loads of macroalgae and my display tank???

i must confess i dont have that great a set of lights . . . im running fluoros but not sure the watts on em just know i have 5ft of 10k and actinic coralstars. I think i might have started off with FOWLR and slowly coming towards reef but not quite full blown reef with MHs . . .

The corallamorphs are taking off in the tank and my zooanthids seem to be doing fine just slowly but surely they are being eaten by something . . . i also have some pink bits all over the tank . . . ill take some pics tonight and post in my other thread . . .

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=738934