Pesky particles floating in 75g tank

[Reef Knub]

Hey folks,

Need some input! Got some floating / suspended particles floating around the tank that just don't seem to get filtered out of my 75g saltwater tank - see attached pics.

The particles don't look like food, but rather small bits of dead algae / dust (recently went on a big algae scrapping spree with the lights off two weeks back).

I have two powerheads, one jebao 90 i set up vertically on the left on wave mode, and one normal power head up in the top right. The idea is to keep a circular flow through the tank, with the particles hitting the powerhead in the top right and push across the top to the overflow teeth in the top left of the tank. I feel like maybe this isn't working well enough however if the particles are staying suspended in the tank. I used to have the two powerheads flipped, with the jebao in the top right horizontally pushing diagonally downwards through the tank.

Let me konw what you guys think....i feel like maybe i'm not pushing enough flow to the overflow chamber despite my setup, but not sure.

Thanks!

 

[LiLinka]

What kind of filtration are you using?

 

[Reef.]

You don’t t say what you use to filter the water, that is most likely the issue.

 

[bushdoc]

Generally if sediment is suspended in the DT it should find way to overflow and sump. To filter particles, you should have filter sock(s) in the sump. Another posibility is that your turnover between sump and DT is too small or/and powerhead do not generate enough current.
I would play with powerhead and install filter sock if you don't have one yet.

 

[Reef Knub]

Sorry, obviously should've mentioned what I have going on in the sump.

I have the following:
- durso overflow pipe in the overflow
- sump with filter cup with filter floss, then octo protein skimmer, then last chamber is a fuge with chaeto. Between the skimmer/fuge chambers I have some bio balls

 

[bushdoc]

What is turnover between sump and DT? I would recommend 4-6x Total system volume.
Filter sock might filter more particles than filter cup with filter floss as it have larger surface area.

 

[Reef.]

Sorry, obviously should've mentioned what I have going on in the sump.

I have the following:
- durso overflow pipe in the overflow
- sump with filter cup with filter floss, then octo protein skimmer, then last chamber is a fuge with chaeto. Between the skimmer/fuge chambers I have some bio balls

My experience of floss is it does let small particles pass through, the top layer gets clogged very fast, then the water just overflows the floss, once I moved to filter socks I noticed the tank became very clear, I now use a filter roller and it too keeps the tank clear.

 

[Reef Knub]

Thanks guys I'll try the filter socks.

How do I go about measuring the turnover between dt & sump? Is there a tool I can use?

 

[Reef.]

Thanks guys I'll try the filter socks.

How do I go about measuring the turnover between dt & sump? Is there a tool I can use?

You can do it roughly by checking whatwater your return moved on the spec sheet, it may give as a range such as 1000g-1500g if the pump is adjustable, obviously if you only run it at 50% then you would half the figure, same with your power heads, add all the figures together that should give you an idea.

A Tun over figure is not so important, generally you want to aim for as much flow as your corals like and that your overflow can handle, if in doubt go for a bit more if everything looks happy.