Sump making

Ok so I need to make two sumps. One for a 500 gallon and one for a 770 gallon. I am planning to use two stacked 55s for the smaller tank and a 300 gallon trough for the bigger one. What I the best bulk media to use? I have lots of volcanic red cinder lying around and have a quarry of it. What would that do to my water? Is there a reason I could not use an fx5 as the pump? Put the intake in the sump and out flow in the tank ? Basically a sump is three chambers , mechanical with floss, bio with ciders, and a res to pump back to the tank?

I would go with the volcanic rock man. I have a feeling you could also get denitrifying bacteria with that rock as well. Check out Pond Matrix at Ken's, you can get lots for cheap.

Return pump; Have you figured out how many times per hour you plan on turning the volume of your tanks? Once this is figured out you can figure out what kind of pumps and how many you may need. Your suggestion with the canister would probably work to a certain extent. I would possibly consider it if I was thinking about extra filtration. Otherwise I'm seeing either 1 huge internal sump pump or duel pumps running multiple return hoses....

For bulk filter media perhaps check out specialized out door pond stores. The last time I purchased media in bulk I went to Moorehaven Gardens in Everett. I was turned onto a product that was said to have better surface area than bio balls & able to fill my sump for about $20. I do not remember the product name but its a course fiter mat about 2-3 inches thick. I have it cut into sheets and the sump filled with it.

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I am kinda curious if the lava rock will raise your ph.

As for the Fx5 as your return pump, I wouldnt. It says that it flows 900gph, you may be lucky and get 700gph. You can buy a Tamm Rio HyperFlow water pump that pushes 1900gph for about $110. The HF are designed to push hard even at a higher head, so you will get close to 1900gph with these. (unless your head is 10')

As for media, I use the plastic scrubbies in mine.

I believe it depends on the lava rock.
some is real others are man made.

real lava rock is inert.

i got the real stuff from the ground.

madness wrote:I am kinda curious if the lava rock will raise your ph.

As for the Fx5 as your return pump, I wouldnt. It says that it flows 900gph, you may be lucky and get 700gph. You can buy a Tamm Rio HyperFlow water pump that pushes 1900gph for about $110. The HF are designed to push hard even at a higher head, so you will get close to 1900gph with these. (unless your head is 10')

As for media, I use the plastic scrubbies in mine.

I have to second this. I run the top three in the HF series and they kick ass. Low power consumption and push lots of water.

Sort of mousing one together with what I have. A tub a few buckets ....and it is working. I feel much better about the flow adjustments and directions now . I can glue the baffles now and get a pump ordered. I just wanted to do it before I ordered a bunch of stuff. If you are in doubt just throw one together. Not too hard to do.

I tested the lava rock for three days and no ph change, just in a bucket though.

Thought of an issue with the fx5 ....compensating for the 2 minute off period every day. I am using a small fountain pump says 400 gph just to see everything work.

Just curious; how many times do you guys turn the volume of your tanks?

Everything I have read and have witnessed and learned when it comes to wet/drys is:

The design and the capacity of the container, plus the size of the media chamber and the amount of media is calculated to work the best and be beneficial if you do not exceed the flow rate on them. For example the Eshopps 300WD has a max flow rate of 1200 gph. This is the rate they suggest to have every thing work most efficiently. I am pushing about 1200 on mine. The Wet/Drys are designed for a trickle flow through the filter media and through the bio balls.

So to answer your ? Chad, on my large tanks I probably turn them over 4 times/hr.

So I need 2 better than 1000 gph per hour pumps.

I would say close to 3000 gph for that monster tank.

The only items I need are the pumps now the sump on the 500 is working well.

madness wrote:Everything I have read and have witnessed and learned when it comes to wet/drys is:

The design and the capacity of the container, plus the size of the media chamber and the amount of media is calculated to work the best and be beneficial if you do not exceed the flow rate on them. For example the Eshopps 300WD has a max flow rate of 1200 gph. This is the rate they suggest to have every thing work most efficiently. I am pushing about 1200 on mine. The Wet/Drys are designed for a trickle flow through the filter media and through the bio balls.

So to answer your ? Chad, on my large tanks I probably turn them over 4 times/hr.

There are also two ways to do this. Slow and fast flow rates. Slow the flow rate, as you mentioned and have each pass over the bio balls be more efficient per pass. Speed the flow up and each pass becomes slightly less efficient as far as the bacteria doing their work although the turnover rate can help bring the efficiency back up some. The faster the flow, the better gas exchange as well. I have tried both ways and simply prefer the fast method as it visually seems to keep the tanks more clear, longer and stirs up pockets of poo and nastiness better. Obviously this wouldn't work with fish that aren't very open water types, but seems the Caquetaia can't get enough flow.

Addicted2CAs wrote:

madness wrote:Everything I have read and have witnessed and learned when it comes to wet/drys is:

The design and the capacity of the container, plus the size of the media chamber and the amount of media is calculated to work the best and be beneficial if you do not exceed the flow rate on them. For example the Eshopps 300WD has a max flow rate of 1200 gph. This is the rate they suggest to have every thing work most efficiently. I am pushing about 1200 on mine. The Wet/Drys are designed for a trickle flow through the filter media and through the bio balls.

So to answer your ? Chad, on my large tanks I probably turn them over 4 times/hr.

There are also two ways to do this. Slow and fast flow rates. Slow the flow rate, as you mentioned and have each pass over the bio balls be more efficient per pass. Speed the flow up and each pass becomes slightly less efficient as far as the bacteria doing their work although the turnover rate can help bring the efficiency back up some. The faster the flow, the better gas exchange as well. I have tried both ways and simply prefer the fast method as it visually seems to keep the tanks more clear, longer and stirs up pockets of poo and nastiness better. Obviously this wouldn't work with fish that aren't very open water types, but seems the Caquetaia can't get enough flow.

So how many times would you say your turning the volume of your tanks?

Ive figured in my 140 gallon tank Im turning the volume about 9-10X. At both points where the water enters the sump and returns to the tank the pathway is opened up so the flow isn't condensed into jets. There is a 1600GPH duel overflow-when the water hits the sump it hits a mat that spreads the pathway across the entire diameter of the 1st compartment. Its a massive trickle that utilizes the whole box. It looks like an Amazonian rain shower...lol. The water is returned by an external 1200GPH pump with 3' head. The last foot is expanded into a duel 1.5" PVC with duel heaters. This expansion allows the flow energy to be dispersed in a wider diamiter limiting Jet power. Ive literally created a waterfall type return which works well for my leaf fish,plants and dwarf type fish.
Also in the 3rd compartment of the sump there is a DYI CO2 reactor with a modified undergravel filter with 3 inches of media on top. This is powered with a 140 gph powerhead literally turning the volume of the tank 1 more time an hour...

When I 1st got into the hobby somehow I got this stuck in my head to turn the volume at lest 8X. At 1st I housed high protein predators some WC and only ate live pray. At one time I housed up to 100 goldfish in a QT tank to feed these monsters. Although Bass ate fish whole, Pike tore fish up making good water quality hard to maintain. For the longest time all I fixated on was converting these monsters to prepared foods and water quality. The more media I could stuff into the sump and more flow the better. There isn't 1 square inch in this sump where water isn't running through some kind of media, bio or mechanical. A dead space is a wasted space.

If I had a sump with the volume of 50+ gallons filtering a tank 500+ gallons I would definitely have a hay day with DYI projects trying to maintain nitrates very low to 0. I would probably even have simi aquatic plants growing out of it. Using duel pumps probably would be a good idea incase of any pump failures.

That's just me