Pro Clear Sump - How to put heater in sump & Questions..

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TheChad

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Dec 20, 2005
Messages
568
Location
Warrensburg, IL
Hey all,

I just bought a Model 125 Pro Clear Aquatics Sump for my 55g tank.

I am putting my Coralife Super Skimmer 65g model in the sump, and was hoping to get my Heater in the sump as well. The water level for the sump is only like 4" so standing the heater up 90% of the heater would be out of the water, The heater is too long to lay down. The only way I could do it is if I were to cut a hold in the Polishing sponge and put the heater length wise along the side...

The other question I had was Do I want the polishing sponge in the sump? If the sponge is trapping everything, then the skimmer wont be able to remove it right?

Thanks,

-TheChad
 
TheChad, direct linking of images to sites is a no-no. You can use imageshack.us, photobucket.com, or photolocker.net to host your images for free.

To answer your question I would ditch the bio-balls and replace with lr rubble and remove the “polishing sponge” below the bio-ball chamber to make room for your heater(s). You could keep the return filter on to minimize bubble return since you do not have baffles but make sure you clean that weekly.
 
Sorry. I was going to link to the sight, but thought it would be easier to link just the picture....

Yeah I figured I'd leave the bio balls, if the nitrate starts becoming a problem, then I can take them out, and either put nothing, or use the LR rubble as you said (Not sure where to find that)...

By return filter you are refering to the Bubble Difuser from the Super Skimmer? I was going to run with out that, unless bubbles started becomming a problem...

So removing the Polishing sponge is prefered over cutting a hold in the side of the sponge to allow room for the heater?

Thanks,

-TheChad
 
No harm. From what I’ve read of the Rules and Regulations direct linking isn’t prohibited but is generally considered bandwidth stealing and is easily avoided by either linking to the site directly or using the mentioned photo host sites :D

If you have enough lr (1.5+ lbs per gal in the main) then the use of bio-balls will only contribute to waste accumulation and excess no3. Yes, you could remove them slowly at a later date but why bother if you have the lr. For lr rubble it doesn’t have to be “live” and could just be cheap base rock broken up into small pieces. Waste can still accumulate on the rubble if you do not use a prefilter on your overflow. The prefilters also need to be rinsed out in old SW every couple of days.

I was talking about the filter sleeve on the return pipe directly to the right. If you have room you will probably want to use the bubble diffuser on the CCS or else you will get a ton of micro bubbles in the main. If not then the use of baffles helps eliminate most of them and you could cut some acrylic to fit and glue them in just before the return.

As for cutting a hole in the sponge I think it defeats the purpose of the sponge so you might as well either use it and rinse or not use it at all. That’s why I recommended the later.
 
I have 65lbs of LR in the Main tank, and 40lbs of LS, also 40lbs of dry sand, so eventually 80lbs of LS..

I also have the Ehiem Professional II Canister filter. There is a prefilter on the overflow, I had planned on using, then there is another filter on the plate that drips the water over the bio balls.

There is no filter for the return pipe, in the picture that is the prefilter for the overflow... The return is a Rio 2200 Pump straight back to the tank, no filter.

With all thease prefilters in place, by the time the water gets to the skimmer, I don't see how there would be much left in the water to skim, but I guess we'll see...

-TheChad
 
You would be surprised at what skimmers can remove. The pre-filters are just designed to catch the larger stuff and the other smaller DOC still get through which is the job of the skimmer to remove.

What is this?
filter7eu.jpg
 
That is the prefilter for the overflow... When packaged, the overflow is inside the sump.. The Return is jut a Rio 2200 pump sitting on suction cups on the bottom of the sump, no filter for the return water...


I fired up the sump and got it running, also started the skimmer.. The return from the skimmer isn't long enough to be under water, since there is only about 4" of water at the bottom of the sump, and the skimmer sits pretty high... So right now the skimmer return is just dumping into the sump... Have any suggestions on what I should do for that? The bubble difuser has no way to mount in order to work, So i'm going to have to go with out it... There arn't too many micro bubbles comming out of the return from the sump... and I don't have corals, so that's the least of my concerns at the moment....

-TheChad
 
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