I don't use filter socks in my sump. I do maintenance in my sump once a year. My sump is not the only filtration I also have 3 large canister in the system that get cleaned every few months.
Maintenance Free Sumps??
- Thread starter malawi500
- Start date
But if for instance you had a 10, 30 then a 45 PPI sponge then at each stage you are trapping the various sizes till they break down. So you could effectively just let it run? I'm sure it would take a while to clog any of the sponges particularly if 2" thick?
As for biomedia doesn't the good bacteria build a film anyway thus covering the pores?
As for biomedia doesn't the good bacteria build a film anyway thus covering the pores?
The way I see aquariums is that they are a poor construction of what nature has. The equivalent stocking of a 240 gallon aquarium to what fish have normally in a lake or river is perhaps something as unlikely as one 6 inch fish. Thus, anything we do to improve that quality is a good thing since we start woefully behind.
I'm all for reducing maintenance. Some things that can be done are adding automatic water changers, increasing tank size, reducing tank stock, changing food or changing tank stock, improving plumbing design, using larger sumps, changing substrate, using larger pumps, adding UGJ or wave generators, adding UV, adding finer sized filters, adding water conditioners or changing how we actually filter water (for example wet/dry versus UGF.) These can be done in a way to reduce maintenance while not worsening aquarium conditions.
I just consider the act of choosing not to remove and clean a dirty filter (when it can be done quickly and easily) as reducing maintenance at the cost of aquarium conditions. That's not consistent with the above list which are meant (imo) to improve water conditions or maintain them while reducing maintenance. Intentionally leaving debris in a system that is already 10 to 50 x less volume in water than nature provides is something else.
It's true that nature traps debris as well and does not 'remove' it to a trash can, toilet or sink, but it does so in volumes of water that dwarf what we offer. I just personally think that easy methods to remove debris entirely from the system are great.
I'm all for reducing maintenance. Some things that can be done are adding automatic water changers, increasing tank size, reducing tank stock, changing food or changing tank stock, improving plumbing design, using larger sumps, changing substrate, using larger pumps, adding UGJ or wave generators, adding UV, adding finer sized filters, adding water conditioners or changing how we actually filter water (for example wet/dry versus UGF.) These can be done in a way to reduce maintenance while not worsening aquarium conditions.
I just consider the act of choosing not to remove and clean a dirty filter (when it can be done quickly and easily) as reducing maintenance at the cost of aquarium conditions. That's not consistent with the above list which are meant (imo) to improve water conditions or maintain them while reducing maintenance. Intentionally leaving debris in a system that is already 10 to 50 x less volume in water than nature provides is something else.
It's true that nature traps debris as well and does not 'remove' it to a trash can, toilet or sink, but it does so in volumes of water that dwarf what we offer. I just personally think that easy methods to remove debris entirely from the system are great.
a settling area was part of the plan in my sump design, having the water flow upward (after the pre-filter) in the hope that the larger stuff making it through the 20 ppi foam would settle to the bottom.
did it work?
yup. this is about 2.5 months worth (the age of my sump). it's also the only sign of waste I can see anywhere in the sump. even the pre-filter looks nice and clean.
unfortunately, my design on the drain system didn't work out as well. for multiple reasons. so now to remove the stuff, I'll need to pull out the foam and vacuum the sump, and being at floor level that's not too easy.
plus I now have colonies of shrimp, scuds, snails, and Heterandria formosa that made it through the 20ppi and are living in that section under the 30 ppi foam. I don't want to vacuum them out...
you had asked me about water clarity malawi500, if the 45 ppi foam would polish the water, and the answer to that is no, it won't. my water is pretty good, but there's still a stone dust haze from the substrate that the foam won't clear. this is 45 ppi foam next too 100 micron screen, as you can see the mesh has smaller pores. and while there are 100 micron socks, most people I've seen polish with 1-5 micron.
did it work?
yup. this is about 2.5 months worth (the age of my sump). it's also the only sign of waste I can see anywhere in the sump. even the pre-filter looks nice and clean.
unfortunately, my design on the drain system didn't work out as well. for multiple reasons. so now to remove the stuff, I'll need to pull out the foam and vacuum the sump, and being at floor level that's not too easy.
plus I now have colonies of shrimp, scuds, snails, and Heterandria formosa that made it through the 20ppi and are living in that section under the 30 ppi foam. I don't want to vacuum them out...
you had asked me about water clarity malawi500, if the 45 ppi foam would polish the water, and the answer to that is no, it won't. my water is pretty good, but there's still a stone dust haze from the substrate that the foam won't clear. this is 45 ppi foam next too 100 micron screen, as you can see the mesh has smaller pores. and while there are 100 micron socks, most people I've seen polish with 1-5 micron.
