DSB sump

[daluminum]

Im getting about 100lbs of live sand and I have 100lb's of dry sand. I calculated and I will need about 70lbs' for my new tank.. thats with a 4". I am considering using a little dry sand in my new tank and putting about 40 pounds of live sand with some dry sand into the sump of my 55gal.. I currently have a CC substrate and about 50 lbs of LR. I am going to make this into a pred tank and Im curious if I should pull out my 2" of CC from the sump and add a 4" DSB.. its a 20 gal glass tank.. should take about 60lbs.. I dont have any dividers in my sump.. Im sure I would need to put a divider around the intake of the return pump.. I can use a small plastic cup for that.. Any suggestions??

 

[biggdriver]

In my opinion I would take out the cc it only seems to trap detritus and other particles due to the large grain size.. Otherwise I have heard of people mixing it but make sure you have more sand than ccto prent particles from settling in it..

 

[daluminum]

well I would like to switch to a DSB in the main tank in the next few months.. but for now I have enough to fill in the sump.. Im curious if I should do the sump.. or put all the sand in the new tank..
my main concern is that the return pump will suck all the sand and spit it into the main tank.. I will have the return pump in a bucket below the sandbed.. with about 2" of plastic above the bed to keep any sand from falling into the pump.. but I dont know if 70#'s in the sump will do any good..

 

[mr . salty]

You would get better results by putting it in the main tank.Putting sand in a SUMP is an inefficient way to reduce nitrates.It will however add to the bio systems stability.But the denitrafying process requires as much contact time with the sand as possible,and the high GPH of a sump greatly reduces this contact time.(look into refugiums)