Jump to content

Fish food in Sump!


MoliroMan

Recommended Posts

How do u prevent flake food draining down the weir into the sump with each feed? I have tried feeding the flake under the water but inevitably some gets down. I leave my canister running to help push the flake into the tank as well. Also tried turning the sump off with no avail!

Any advice will be appreciated!

thx

Dave

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If your weir is simply an overflow column where the water, once above a certain level, trickles down the weir before being taken to your sump via piping. You could always attach mesh, or a strip of black plastic lattice, to the top of the weir where the water overflows with aquarium silicone and then place stockings over the lattice so that any chunky particles that would've otherwise trickled into your weir, are now caught on the stockings which can easily be washed out or replaced.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you follow the advice of BlakeyBoyR, make sure that should this extra screening become blocked, that the water can safely go over the top to get to the weir, and not cause the tank to overflow.

Craig

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Forgive me for saying this but isnt flake food going to cloud your filter and then ur water either way. You cant change a fact right? Flake breaks down to it's constituent parts in the quickest and easiest fashion as opposed to granulated dried food. I would not complicate the system by silicones and mesh. Asking for trouble IMO.

I would suggest rather than finding a way to stop the flake polluting try to find the optimum quantity you should feed the tank. The trick is if you dont feed enough then your fish remain hungry....feed too much and it will pollute. If i could get this concept perfect then I imagine my filters would last longer too LOL.gif I suppose if it bothers you then stop water flow until the food is eaten, then resume.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I got to say, Lv426 has a point. Wether the food is in the filter, or trapped in mesh at the overflow, it is still a potential source of pollution. Unless the fish eat it off the screen of course.

Perhaps as he suggests, feed less, keep them keener, and the food won’t get to the overflow. Pre-sink all the food, and feed at the furthest point from the overflow. I don’t see any issue with flake itself as opposed to a granulated food, other than perhaps a granulated food will be a little more resistant to currents taking them to the overflow, but it’s a good suggestion.

I’d be concerned about turning off the sump during feeding as the day will eventually come when you forget to turn it on again, which may be a worse result that a bit of excess food.

I think what Lv426 is saying is ‘fix the problem not the result’.

The only way I can think to attach mesh without silicon is with suction caps. However as time goes by, these always stop working. Did you know silicon will set underwater. That is, if you silicon the mesh in place, provided the water flow doesn’t push the mesh over, it will eventually set.

You can also glue pieces of glass to the overflow that the mesh will slip in behind.

Craig

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, I bet no one has referred to you as impressied before. I swear that "I" wasnt there when I posted blush.gif Its pretty bad when there is a spell check button staring me in the face and yet I still manage to make spelling mistakes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i am glad we have some forum veterans always ready to help little ignorant newbies like myself! clap.gifthumbsupsmileyanim.gif

i was talking to anthony at Auburn Aquarium and he suggested using cut floating rings or foam cups on the surface so that food will be kept within the ring! Sounds like a good idea. The other idea he had was to float a strip of plastic on the surface as a barrier to prevent food floating down the weir (i guess like what u see at a dam).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The advantage of some sort of floating “thing” on the surface is that it will corral the food, preventing it from floating on the surface and then directly to the overflow. The only issue with the floating rings or foam cups on the surface is that food will sink under that, and can still go down the weir. Also, dependant on the feeding activity, the food may be thrown out of the floating ring. I know one of my tanks would have all the food out of the ring almost immediately….

If things such as this are efficient enough to solve the problem, then simply pre-sinking the food in a small container and pouring into tank at the furthest point from the overflow will have a similar effect.

A floating ring may be simpler and less work in the long run, but its success will be dependant on a few external factors, such as mentioned stocking numbers and how boisterous the fish are for example. Try it, if it works, use it.

I have three tanks where I sink the food, and were the water flows directly into a sump. Some food does go into the sump, but dependant on how your tank/sump is set up, you could keep a few fish in there to take up the left overs, if they are not strained out by the media.

Craig

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’ve remembered another way you can stop (or at least slow down) food from going over an overflow. Put some air stones at the base of where the overflow is, and turn them on when feeding the fish. The idea being the curtain of air will put a barrier between the food, floating on the surface or in midwater, and prevent it going into the filter.

Craig

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just saw your post today! Didn't realise this thread was still alive!

A novel idea indeed. I may try this. Is there any reason why u can't keep an airstone going in the overflow to aerate the water?

Thnx

DAve

I’ve remembered another way you can stop (or at least slow down) food from going over an overflow.  Put some air stones at the base of where the overflow is, and turn them on when feeding the fish.  The idea being the curtain of air will put a barrier between the food, floating on the surface or in midwater, and prevent it going into the filter.

Craig

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's ALIVE!

I'm putting in a new tank at home, and had forgotten that this is how I intend to try and tackle the issue of food going over into the filter area. I'm now up to this section of completing my tank, and remembered the idea I had some months ago for this, so thought I would add it to the thread and went searching for it.

Don't know how successful it will be, I imagine the amount of air you put through may have a strong impact on its ability to work, in addition to the amount of water going over the weir.

I don’t’ see any reason why you couldn’t have an air stone in the overflow as a permanent thing. But then why not have it in the sump itself?

Craig

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...