Sump Detritus

S

Saltine

New member
Morning RC,

I have a 36g setup with a 10g sump and I have detritus accumulating on the bottom of my sump. Now since it's so low I cant just suck it out with simple siphon, I was wondering if I should throw in a few hermits to take care of the problem? I currently do not run a filter sock of any type, I have a small foam piece that covers the overflow tube but it only catches larger debris. Other than that my LR, Skimmer, and Cheato do all the work. Thoughts? Suggestions? Should i start running a filter sock on the end of my return?

Thanks!
Salt
 
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I'm no expert, but I'm having the same issue. I took a snail or two and some hermits and they are eating, but not making a dent. The only issue I see with your sump set up, is the same as mine. No filter socks. I'm adding one today, and hopefully will gelp
 
I keep a few crabs in my sump/fuge but I also use a maxi jet and a hose when detritus builds up hook a hose to the intake and siphons it out or use a hose on the outlet and use the maxi jets intake to suck it up. I just use a hose on the intake with a hose clamp, works great. I've also seen people use a power head to stir it up and let it go to the tank, which I don't like that idea.

As for as socks, I don't like them. I used them for 3 months on my 75 I had some years ago and it was a pain changing them out and washing them. Much easier to siphon the junk out once a month.
 
Saltine said:
If I could achieve vacuum with my tubing i would! :) I guess I need to get a pump that I can suck it out with.

Thanks for the input!
Click to expand...

A lot of people just us a wet/dry shopvac for this. That may have been what johnike was suggesting. With a sump your size, you may get away with a small one for under $50...
 
You could try building yourself sort of a makeshift vacuum with a power head & some vinyl hosing. In one end and out the other. (into a bucket)
 
My sump stays pretty clean because i run a sock but about once every two months I throw 2 maxi jets. 1 attached to a hose into my 100 micron filter sock, and the other just blowing the stuff around ( with the return pump off) . This way it just cycles the water in the sump through the sock. I make sure to do this on a day I change out my filter sock. Works great for me. With little effort it cleans itself while i clean the display tank since my return pump is off.

its been my experience hermits in the sump cause more detritus than they remove. What goes in must come out. The hermits waste looks like little turds and I'd rather see the detritus dust than the micro turd. :fun4:
 
I usually just use a power head and stir all the detritus up so that it gets pumped into my DT. Then I'll blast the rocks with a power head, stir up the sand etc. I get a great feeding response from the corals when this is done, but most of the detritus is either siphoned out or removed via a filter sock on the way back down to the sump. Also, because this is done every week, there's really not much down there to begin with. GL.
 
wet vac works, but it will suck up 5 gal of water before i even get a small portion of my sump cleaned out....
 
If you have a spare power head grab some tubing, a Rubbermaid container and pillow floss from Walmart for a few dollars and make your own canister filter.

Turn off the return pump, start the filter, and stir every 15 minutes during a show twice a year.
 
I don't have issues in my sump I use a Tunze sock and on my return pump I have added a 820.00 Tunze filter. I stir the floor and no detritus then change filter and sock,hassle free convenient.
 
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