Filters in sump

[wgregww]

I have a All- glass mega flow sump running and I have slowly taken all the bio balls out, with no problem with water chemistry. My question is what about the two filters sponges? I know they hold beneficial bacteria, but wont they as well turn into a nitrate factory. I took the top one out today and rinsed it in saltwater and noticed the very awful oder coming from it, and I mean awful. I have a 90 gallon tank with about 100lbs of live rock with two seio pumps, a 820, & 1100, and 850 G/hr going thru my sump.

 

[ronj]

i would toss them out...if you decide to continue to use them, they should be changed every 4-5 days to prevent builup..i don't have any filters, except filter socks..my overflows dump the water in them before it falls into the sump..i change them out with washed ones every 3-4 days

 

[wgregww]

Im not sure if your familiar with this sump but I also have the built in overflow and I was trying to figure out how to incorporate the sock

 

[ronj]

sorry, i'm not familiar with that sump..i just have a standard 55g aquarium sump

 

[auqua man]

I have the same sump I think, and I also removed the bio balls and also put an extra filter that I clean or replace every three days now. Not to much you can do with it because it is a sealed unit. Do you find the lid bends over time and won`t fit properly?View attachment 17620

 

[Krish]

I agree on cleaning them every few days...They will degrade water quality if left too long. Either you can rinse them out in ro/di water, used tank water, or simply just replace them

 

[auqua man]

I agree on cleaning them every few days...They will degrade water quality if left too long. Either you can rinse them out in ro/di water, used tank water, or simply just replace them

Thanks to you Krish I clean every few days. I did not realize how it effects the nitrates. Still trying to get under 5 ppm. I cleaned the sponges on continuous siphon overflow today what a stink. Thanks to you I know to clean or remove sponges/filter pads regulary from the tank to reduce nitrates. Can you belive I have never cleaned them before they never looked bad untill I removed them yuck!! I also added a new power head today I hope that will reduce nitrates.

 

[Brenden]

Can you use poly filter materal easier instead of a sock?

 

[auqua man]

Can you use poly filter materal easier instead of a sock?

Poly filters are very easy, I have never tried a sock.

 

[tike]

I would dump the sponges and go with a sock to remove debris......some folks out here have used the sock and stopped because it caused there sps to react by slowing down growth. i haven't had that yet in my tank.

 

[Krish]

Thanks to you Krish I clean every few days. I did not realize how it effects the nitrates. Still trying to get under 5 ppm. I cleaned the sponges on continuous siphon overflow today what a stink. Thanks to you I know to clean or remove sponges/filter pads regulary from the tank to reduce nitrates. Can you belive I have never cleaned them before they never looked bad untill I removed them yuck!! I also added a new power head today I hope that will reduce nitrates.

Cool!!!! When I had my CPR overflow, I removed the pre-filter sponge and the strainer altogether because it got so nasty! I also removed every pre-filter sponge off of every pump and that helped a lot as well. Just think about having 3 submersible pumps and how often a person cleans the prefilter sponges on them...Chances are not until they clean the pump a few months later I figured I'd remove the sponges and just clean the pump itself more often

 

[wrightme43]

I have almost completely stoped using any mechanical filtration at all. Only for a few hours following cleanings.
What I have noticed is the water stays clearer, and the polyops on sps stay extended almost all the time now.