Fine Particles

[peter_b]

Hi there, newby to the forum.

Just wanting info on fine particles floating in my tank (Aqua one 220 with sump)

I have upgraded from a tank with a canister filter, and have noticed I have small particles floating in the water. The other thing that is different is I am using sand as a substrate now instead of small pebbles. 

Q.1   Have I got the wrong sand? It was purchased from my local aquarium.

Q.2   I notice that the sump tank filters only skim from the surface of the water. Is this part of my problem?

Thanks

Peter

 

1 x Cobalt Zebra

15 x Yellow Labs

4 x Assorted Peacocks

[Link2Hell]

Welcome to ACE   peter_b

post a pic of the sump so we can see how it's set up

in the chamber dividers and what media you are using

 

[peter_b]

It has the wool? material and black sponge material that were supplied with the unit. I added noodles (bag) and pebble substrate from my old tank. A bag of carbon and shell grit from aquarium shop.

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[peter_b]

I think I have my foam the wrong way around. Should the more open black foam be first? Then the white finer material. ?

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[Link2Hell]

what does the inlet pipe drop the water on ?

do you use a sock , a filter wool/mat catch pad, nothing straight into the first chamber

that is all your filter media is in the second chamber ?

to me it looks under done in design and media used

is there a weir or overflow in the tank to feed the sump

if a weir does this have a bulkhead and pipe in the bottom of the tank

need pic of the tank feed to the sump

 

you need some sort of pre filter on the pipe to the sump be it filter mat wrapped around a drain pipe that is drilled

or a filter sock 100 - 200 micron where the water enters the sump

flow direction looks like under from first chamber and over from second chamber in the third chamber with the pump

 

I would also have some coarse media in the first chamber like the foam block you have in the second chamber

and bags of coral rubble under that

in the second chamber I would have a medium/ fine foam block with filter mat over it and bio material like baci rods on that

[peter_b]

I have rearrange since last photo.

The pipe is fed by an overflow system. (Photo 1)

The pipe that delivers the water to the sump sits on black course foam.

Then under that is a bag of ceramic noodles from previous tank (canister filter ) and a bag of charcoal. (Photo 2)

In the next chamber there is a wool layer with a calcium? rock. ( photo 3)

There is also a layer of shell grit/pebble substrate from old tank that fills the bottom of the first and second chamber.

Please advise if i need more of something. At the moment the tank is pretty stable.

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[Ageofaquariums]

So the water falls first onto the coarse black sponge? A layer of fine white pad on top of that seems the easiest logical solution to me. If the water is then flowing through the layer of sand/rubble you are at a risk of it clogging. I would seperate out the rubble and put it into media bags. The coral sand and texas rock may be better employed in the actual display?

[peter_b]

Yes. The water flows onto the black sponge.

I will get some bags for the rubble so it doesn't clog up.

Appreciate the help.

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[Ageofaquariums]

So if you could place a sheet of fine white filter matting over the black sponge you would have an effective and easy to maintain prefilter. The other debris that builds up in the sump will be from the microbe colonies that bioaccumulate organics from the water column. Having the rubble in bags makes it super easy to remove and swish in a bucket of aquarium water to clean it of "mulm". Doing this a few times a year will help prevent (OTS) nitrate bounceback issues after water changes.

[peter_b]

Thanks. I'll do that. ?

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[Link2Hell]

by the look of it you have substrate in the first chamber that is blocking the flow path of the filter 

there should be a gap under the first plate so the water comes up through the foam then over into the end chamber

if it is running over the first plate that is why it isn't filtering the particulates out