Chrushed Rock Or Sand In Sump

[peckham125]

what should i use in my sump tank ? i have bio balls already, should i add sand or chrushed rock to it ? also once i have it up and running should i pack the sump with my media form the 404 ?

[jcgd]

I would move a bit of the media from the 404 into the sump and keep the 404 running for a while to let the bacteria establish in the sump. I would add lava rock if you want some cheap media. I never really understood bio balls, they don't have all that much surface area.

Some foam in the sump would be nice for mechanical filtration.

[peckham125]

no need for sand then ?

[jvision]

No need for sand.

[peckham125]

would small chunks of granite do anything ?

[jvision]

It would provide negligible surface area for bacteria to colonize.

A sump is a filter - you don't usually put sand or rocks in a filter, right? But its your sump, do what you want

[peckham125]

i guess, im just going by what i seen and read. what would you suggest

[jcgd]

i guess, im just going by what i seen and read. what would you suggest

Some sort of bio media followed by a sponge filter. Fill the first camber with bio balls or lava rock or whatever and then fill another smaller chamber with foam, something with small enough pores to catch debris but not clog too fast. You want it to fit snug enough that the water won't bypass the sponge, but completely flow through. Something similar to what you'd find in a hang-on-the-back filter.

Sumps are really simple. No need to over think them.

[Fireisfun]

I thought the purpose of the sand or crushes rock was to use live sand/rock to add invertibres and other micro sea life to the sump to add to the nutrient removal

Edited September 16, 2012 by Fireisfun

[cainechow]

that is true, but a different style of filtration. the other school is to use some media, such as bio balls or plastic pot scrubbers, and some sort of pre filter like a sponge or sock. is this sw or fw?

[Fireisfun]

I'm in the proces of setting up a new 120 sw tank and am looking for ideas for a good 40 gal sump. I was thinking half would be bio balls, skimmer and baffle plates and the other would have lots of live sand and rock.

[Vitaminz]

I'm in the proces of setting up a new 120 sw tank and am looking for ideas for a good 40 gal sump. I was thinking half would be bio balls, skimmer and baffle plates and the other would have lots of live sand and rock.

And that is the key part of this equation...SW...

I will assume here that the other responses thought you were talking about a fresh water sump instead of a salt water.

40g sump...does it already have chambers, or is it just a 40 gallon tank that you want to convert over to a sump?

Ok here is are my thoughts...ditch the bio balls...just my experience...Had them...hated them.

Do you have your skimmer already picked out?

Are you adding in a ATO system?

Unless you are going to add a refuge into your system for the pod population, I would ditch the live sand. I have no live sand in my system at all. All crushed coral.

Here is a pic of when I first setup my sump to give you and idea:

Hope this gives you a good start, and if you have any more questions, just let me know.

Jeff

[Fireisfun]

The sump I'll be using is my current 40gal long tank so once the new display has cycled I'll start transferring my livestock over and start on the sump build. I bought a nice reef octopus Hob skimer for my current tank but it's rated to 200 gal so I'm going to try and incorporate it in the sump.

I got the basics for

suppy->skimmer->return<-refuge<-supply

As well as baffles to stop the Bubbles from the skimmer, but I'm not sure what else it needs (filtration,carbon,etc).

I do want to grow pods and rotifers in the sump as well.

Thanks for the help so far

[Vitaminz]

So your adding in the sump after the tank is already filled an cycled? Also do you have all your plumbing run?

I ran a dual media chamber outside the sump, so that I can run Carbon and GFO. You can also run filter floss in one of your baffles or run filter socks.

Make sure you also plan on putting a light in for the Refuge. Or if you want to put in Chateo, I put mine in the first chamber.

Jeff

[Fireisfun]

Yeah I will cycle the new tank once it arrives and maybe use a large rough tote as a temporary sump while I prep my old tank to be converted into a sump. The more I look into the ato system the more appealing it is but in reality it could be added in at any time?