best media for freshwater sump

[redterror123]

Hi

I am re-designing my 6x2x2 freshwater aquarium with 5ft sump and wanted to know what is the best media to put in the sump.

Any advice. I am going to be using the tank for large american red terror cichlids.

[krellious]

jap matt, ceramic noodles. K1? and fitler wool. or fir spinnign arm filterwoo/jap matt then bioballs

[PlecoSam]

Sump or wet dry?

[Buccal]

Jap mat for primary mechanical filtration

Black sheet sponge for secondary mechanical filtration

Black matala mat (coarse grade) with 'Water Cleanser Pond Block' underneath for biological

K1 media tumbling for biological

All in order.

[Mattzilla]

if its a wet sump (submerged media) you could use hydroton. its a hydroponics growing meadia that works great. Cheap as chips too so you can fill the sump to the brim

[yellow]

you could use hydroton.

Have you used Hydroton, Matt?

[Mattzilla]

i have been using it for years, most of my sump is full of it now, have used in canister filters hang on filters etc

i think a 50 ltr bag cost about $50 so it's soooo economical

needs a very good wash when first used and will float until water logged, which doesn't take long.

i put it into large laundry mesh bags so it doesn't float away through sump and makes it easy to remove and rinse

[Chuckmeister]

I've used expanded clay (aqua clay) in my sump for years its cheap and works well. Sometimes in can take a little for all the clay balls to sink but they get there eventually.

Mine is Cotten filter mat first. Just bought 20 meters this week actually off ebay. Then I use aquaclay (50 bucks roughly) then I have shredded plastic, bagged. Then More Cotton filter then into the return and back to my tank.

[redterror123]

Thanks for all the advice

I am going to a wet sump. Thinking of putting 3 chambers then freshwater return.

1st chamber jap mat

2nd chamber black mat

3rd chamber either k1 media or ceramic.

might have to re-think my design now and how many chambers im running.

[yellow]

i have been using it for years, most of my sump is full of it now, have used in canister filters hang on filters etc

i think a 50 ltr bag cost about $50 so it's soooo economical

needs a very good wash when first used and will float until water logged, which doesn't take long.

i put it into large laundry mesh bags so it doesn't float away through sump and makes it easy to remove and rinse

I've used expanded clay (aqua clay) in my sump for years its cheap and works well. Sometimes in can take a little for all the clay balls to sink but they get there eventually.

Mine is Cotten filter mat first. Just bought 20 meters this week actually off ebay. Then I use aquaclay (50 bucks roughly) then I have shredded plastic, bagged. Then More Cotton filter then into the return and back to my tank.

Awesome! It's always interesting to see what other people use for media. There are always cheaper alternatives to conventional products.

Filter wool is just dacron. When I had tanks, I bought it from Clark's Rubber.

[robdog013]

In my weir overflow I have a durso about 4/5 of the way up and the weir is always filled with water, can I put k2 media in here or is it too dirty because the water hasn't gone through any mechanical filtration yet?

[Buccal]

No such thing as water being to dirty for K media.

That's the beauty of it,,, it tumbles and keeps its self free from blocking up,,,, 100% biological action 100% of the time.

[Mattzilla]

k1 is awesome, just a little noisier than some other medias because of the water agitaion required for it to move around

[PlecoSam]

Will it be tumbling in the weir?

[robdog013]

I can see a lot of water movement and there is more water movement at the top near the inlet for the durso

[robdog013]

If there wasn't enough cyclical movement I was going to run an airline into it

[Bill6122]

Hi guys new to this I have an aquapet tank 780 litre with a inbuilt back sump 600x600x200 and it is 3 sections in the sump I’ve stuffed jap mat in the first chamber with floss on top the second chamber has noodles and media balls the last chamber has Petworx power head 2300 litres per hour for the life of me every 2 weeks this sump crashes to some extend don’t know why for the life of me help needed