some wet/dry filter questions...

[boojumsnark25]

Well, I called the LFS guy and he said that the filtration system i have is inadequate...not enough live rock, he thinks my live sand is dead, and I need to revamp it. He said that my canister filter is doing little more than circulating the water. He reccomended I got with a wet/dry filter. I found a model on ebay that fits into a 10 gallon aquarium. I have about 10 of those lying around, so this seems like the way to go. Here is the link

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...MEWA:IT&viewitem=&item=300070462103&rd=1&rd=1

Does this look like it would work for my tank? I was thinking of putting bio-balls (I've read that they will work great and won't give off nitrates if you clean them often) in the box and putting rubble rock in the main chamber.

If this would work for my tank, I've been told I need:

Hose
A return pump
Bio balls

I think I can handle getting the hose and bio balls, but what gph should my return pump be? Thanks a lot!

Greg

 

[JM]

The return pump can pump no more gph than your intake can take in or else it will empty the sump and run dry. Thats why it is best to buy a spill box instead of using a hose, this way u know exactly how many gph it can take in and base your pump off of that number.

Instead of doing all that why don't you just buy like 20lbs of live rock. Your info says that you have 40lbs of live rock now. You really only need about 20lbs more to meet your filtration needs. It seems to me that would be much easier than building the sump. Then you could keep your canister because all you would need it to do is circulate water.

Also why do u think your sand is dead? You have live rock in the take which means there is plenty of bacteria which should have infiltrated the sand bed. Did you buy it as live sand?? There is no reason that it should be dead unless you used copper based meds which means your rock would be dead also.

 

[roka64]

I agree with JC. If you have 1.5-2Lbs per gallon of rock, you will have plenty for proper filtration. The only thing I have in my filter (fluvial) are a few of the ceramic rings, that I will be replacing with base rock. I' not sure how you LFS seems to think your sand is dead. Live, both for sand and rock means it has the beneficial nitrifying bacteria to convert ammonia into eventual nitrAtes. So, in essence, my filter is only adding more water movement.
What brought up this issue?

(I've read that they will work great and won't give off nitrates if you clean them often) in the box and putting rubble rock in the main chamber.

True, the bio balls, if cleaned regularly, won't produce nitrAtes.....Why not just use rubble instead. Just rinse them in your old, PWC's water?

 

[boojumsnark25]

to get 1.5 pounds of live rock, i'd have to get 40 pounds...it'd be much cheaper to get this wet/dry....

I was also wanting to get this because I want to have a refugium at some point, and it seems like i should change the filter now instead of later if i'm going to do it.

 

[roka64]

This would be perfect for you to get base rock. I bought 150 Lbs from marcorocks.com. It will save you tons of money!

 

[JM]

1.5-2 in just an estimate number. You could get away with a little less than 1.5 especially with that amount of sand in your tank. If you want the wet/dry than do it, but believe me its much more than, just a hose, pump, and bioballs. I build my own wet/dry fitlers and sumps, and its a lot of work and you do have to spend a decent amount of money to do it right, good pumps arent cheap either.

 

[boojumsnark25]

1.5-2 in just an estimate number. You could get away with a little less than 1.5 especially with that amount of sand in your tank. If you want the wet/dry than do it, but believe me its much more than, just a hose, pump, and bioballs. I build my own wet/dry fitlers and sumps, and its a lot of work and you do have to spend a decent amount of money to do it right, good pumps arent cheap either.

Do you think maybe you could look at that link in my first post and tell me what you think of it?

What else would I ahve to buy other than the things I listed?

 

[JM]

I didnt realize you were actually buying it all assembled i thought you were going to do it yourelf. The only problem i see is that if you plan to use the sump as it is in the picture, most of the bioballs are submerged. While they will still grow bacteria they won't be nearly as effective because the bacteria that grow on bioballs need oxygen thats why it is a wet/dry. The water needs to flow over them and they need to be exposed to the air. If you are going to get LR rubble anyway y don't you just save the money you would spend on that unit and use a 10g as a sump and just put rubble in it.

If you get the one from ebay i would suggest you look into buying an overflow box for the tank, which will probably run you close to 80$ and a pump. A Mag 5 is about 50-60$ online i think.

 

[roka64]

I'm not sure what you will need but here is an easy DIY SUMP http://aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=53046 that is very inexpensive.
I believe it's a 40G and only cost around $30.