Am I missing something?...

[follow3]

Hello,

I was viewing some of Marvins pics tonight and couldn't help but notice how crystal clear his water is. My water always has little particles floating around in it.

Here is my setup:
40 gal breeder tank.
20 gal long sump

I installed a piece of glass in the back of the tank to act as an overflow. I drilled and installed 2- 3/4" bulkheads to drain the tank to the sump through vinyl tubing. The sump is divided into 3 chambers:
1. The first chamber is where the water enters and is about half full of live rock.
2. That overflows into the second chamber which is the refugium. It has about 3" sand bed, A decent sized clump of Chaeto, 3 Mangroves and a couple of snails and hermits.
3. That overflows to the third chamber which houses the return pump.

I dont' have a skimmer yet. Would a skimmer take these particles out of the water, or do I need some other type of filter or pre-filter material?

Thanks in advance for help,
Steve

 

[surfn]

well, without knowing your return rates....those "particulars" could be micro bubbles....

a skimmer would DEFINITELY help. essecially since you have sps.

adding carbon with a phosban also helps.

and to get the water really clear (after all of the above has been done), you could even add a UV sterilizer (but not the solution for everyone).

 

[follow3]

Hey Surfin,

It's not micro bubbles. That's what I thought at first. At least not all of it. It seems to be particles of detritis (spelling?) That's what made me wonder if I need some other type of filter.

My return pump is a 600 gal. per hour. I'm not sure how many gph after head pressure. I have that pumping up through a 7/8" vinyl tube, then split to 4 pvc returns at each corner of the tank. I also have a MJ 1200 in the tank for flow.

I also seem to build up quite a bit of trash on the bottom of the tank. It almost looks like sand. I don't feed with anything, so I know it's not from over feeding.

What do you think?

 

[surfn]

where are your nitrates at?

the "junk" at the bottom of the tank sounds like something is decomposing....is your live rock really new?

got lots of snails? algae?

what kind of sand do you have in there?


are you seeing this buildup in the bottom of your sump too?

 

[follow3]

where are your nitrates at?
Almost 0
the "junk" at the bottom of the tank sounds like something is decomposing....is your live rock really new? The live rock is only in the sump. In the tank there are a few large colonies of Zoas on live rock about 6-7" rocks. There are 7 of them.

got lots of snails? About 10 snails and 8 hermits algae? Very little. But I did have an algae problem about 2 months ago. But it is all gone now.

what kind of sand do you have in there? Bare bottom in the display. Live aragonite sand in the fuge


are you seeing this buildup in the bottom of your sump too?

A little in the one are that has a bare bottom.

 

[follow3]

Hey Coralnutz,

I cut some glass and siliconed it in for baffles. I divided the tank into 3 sections. The fuge is in the middle and is the largest (about 50%).
The feed is on the left and I installed 3 baffles to act as a bubble trap.
The return pump is on the right.

I think I should setup some type of pre filter with some floss and activated carbon. I think I will also add a skimmer to the first chamber.

Here is a very crappy pic, but it might help you.

Also check out me 40 gal breeder thread. It's not the greatest but it may give you some ideas. http://www.club-zoa.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3739

I coppied this setup: http://www.bareefers.org/discussion/index.php?topic=1599.30

Let me know if you need some better pics or anything. Please post pics of your project as you build it.

Steve

 

[follow3]

I am going to install a filter sock on the line that feeds the sump. It will take the particles out of the water, plus give me somewhere to put Activated carbon when needed.

I am also ordering an AquaC Remora skimmer.

That should solve those problems.

Thanks for the input!!!