water pump in sump

T

Tj51

I have a question......what do you all use to keep small particles in your sump, for instance pieces of caeto, from getting into your tank through your return pump?
 
your return pump should have some sort of sponge that covers the intake. But you do not necessarily want to block the things traveling to the tank. Soem of that stuff is good like the pods.
 
how big is your sump? put some lr in front of the intake

most would say not to use the sponge that covers the intake unless u wash them out every other say or so,or the will hold nitrates and stuff
 
You'd actually want that stuff going back into the tank or refuge, unless you have clean up crews in the sump. That stuff will just sit there unless you do. If it goes back into the tank, your cleanup crew will have a chance to eat it, or if it stays suspended and goes back down your skimmer has a chance to skim it out.

You should periodically vaccum out the sump if you get a buildup of stuff in the bottom of it.

If it gets bad, then you have an issue with the skimmer or the cleanup crew combined with the feeding of the tank.

It will rarely be pristine, but it shouldn't be a 1/2" thick either.

A simple strainer on the input of the pump should keep algae out, but again, the pump shouldn't be in the same chamber as the pump to begin with so its not supposed to be a stop all, just a shield of last resort.
 
Along with the above, there should be baffles in place to seperate the return area from the "fuge" area. You can also place a 90* elbow on the pump input and angle it down or slightly to one side. This will keep some stuff from getting in and also keep bubbles from getting sucked in since the water is being pulled from the bottom of the return area. :)

Cheers,
 
My problem is that I am seeing small dust like particles in my tank.....don't know if they are from the sump, or possible tiny air bubbles. It's a new pump and Marc mentioned that it may bubble for a while; however, in looking at the water in the return section of the sump, I noticed some small particles and thought they may be coming from the caeto.
 
when I shake the return pump from the sump I am getting air bubbles......so hopefully it's just the new pump breaking in.
 
I have small particles in both our tanks all the time but they can only really be seen by shinning a flash light into the tank. They are not a problem. Like Dave and Don said you want stuff from the sump to get into the main tank, much of it is phytoplankton which is a good food source for your corals.

Micro bubbles are another matter and you will need to determine the cause/source.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top