tank and sump

jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
Lol oh god. My understanding of it is this. The organic materials the skimmer removes have limited impact on fish. So in a fish only system no u don't need it. Now in your case your sump is your mechanical filter with the skimmer removing organics
 
iidylii

iidylii

Active Member
Ok so if someone had a sump this is acting as there filter? Although my sump is absolutely no more then live rock and macro algae which is in your everyday DT so I don't understand lmao
 
lmforbis

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
All that live rock is more surface area for the bacteria. Personally I don't really think a filter is needed with mature live rock and a skimmer. The sump provides more water volume and a place to hide the skimmer.
 
iidylii

iidylii

Active Member
nope no filter socks no nothing lol just LR and skimmer...like forbis said the only reason I don't use a sock is cuz it eats up all my pods! I did like that my water particles really went away though...but yeah it was a pain in the ass changing the sock out every couple weeks and having to bleach them clean or whatever

I guess my point was if we have all this natural filtration whats the point of having a filter type machine?

I also would like to start running carbon in the water but have heard several different things...and no I don't run carbon either lol...im to lazy to use a reactor...cant I just put some carbon in some panty hose and sit it in my sump and call it good
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
Ha ha ha. I have heard of people running reef tanks with a skimmer and lr. Its honestly why iam so lr crazy. The stuff is amazing.
There are a couple of thoughts on carbon. Its useless. It removes essential elements in the water. It is only effective for a few weeks and loses its effectiveness.
Chempure is suppose be good stuff. A fair amount of folks use that. However it to has carbon
 
lmforbis

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
I do run a carbon and GFO reactor. In my opinion the bio filtration is the primary filtration in our tanks. Skimmers help get rid of organics. Reactors help with specific issues. There just isn't a need for mechanical filtration.
 
S

Shilpan

Member
Hey guys just butting in with a question, since my GFO ran out the only form of nutrient export in my tank is water changes, LR (if it is denitrifying), a refugium and the skimmer.

Half the refugium is live rock. Do you guys think removing this and leaving more room for macroalgae better? Or leaving the 3-4kg of live rock there is better?
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
I don't think rock in the sump offers much in the way of nitrate reduction. Better off making more room for chaeto IMO.
 
iidylii

iidylii

Active Member
2quills said:
Tank and sump looks good. I almost came home with a cube just like it one of my customers was giving away.

Keep us posted on the cheato reactor.
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im not sure how I feel about this chaeto reactor...it really doesn't seem to be growing in size to much and seems to get some brown residue building up inside the reactor and even on the chaeto...maybe I need to turn up the amount of water flowing through it?
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
iidylii said:
im not sure how I feel about this chaeto reactor...it really doesn't seem to be growing in size to much and seems to get some brown residue building up inside the reactor and even on the chaeto...maybe I need to turn up the amount of water flowing through it?
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Those led strip lights look pretty weak and probably not the most ideal spectrum.

The people who I have seen using them and say good things are using red and blue or red and white strips.

I'd consider adding a red strip to it to boost the intensity for what you already have. I'll try and look around and see if there are any 660nm red strip lights available.
 
iidylii

iidylii

Active Member
2quills said:
Those led strip lights look pretty weak and probably not the most ideal spectrum.

The people who I have seen using them and say good things are using red and blue or red and white strips.

I'd consider adding a red strip to it to boost the intensity for what you already have. I'll try and look around and see if there are any 660nm red strip lights available.
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Hmm the marine depot website recommends exactly the lights I have...I believe they are the ones who did the diy video as well...ill have to check out the other ones also
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
You can grow it with those I just think you can get better growth with a little more light and targeting specific spectrums.

But unjust dawned on me you have the reactor plumber into your return. So you're essentially feeding it "clean water" vs the dirtiest water. That might have some effect.

Does all of your drain water go through the skimmer?
 
iidylii

iidylii

Active Member
Oh ok so I should prob have a pump in my drain chamber to give the chaeto the dirtiest water I can? And my skimmer is sitting in my drain chamber yes...does all the water go through it?, I can't say for sure but yes that is where it drains into is the skimmers chamber
 
iidylii

iidylii

Active Member
And I might just abort this mission all together...I only started this because my heat lamp light burns out every other week it seems from sitting over top of the sump maybe getting wet? So I think I'm just gonna buy a couple grow lights on with those flexi necks and see what happens...at least those lights come enclosed in plastic so they will keep water out better...something like these...?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01DU6BLBM/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1493831155&sr=8-2-spons&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=grow+light&psc=1
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Yeah you're probably better off going with a traditional fuge. Those reactors kind of like algae scrubbers are one more thing that need constant maintenance. And I question the size even having much of an impact on your size tank.

Those lights should be ok. Funny that they advertise them specifically for growing pot lol.
 
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