Interesting concept

[goog]

I have a 180 gal FO tank with a with a three chamber sump (bio fil 1). The overflow from the tank flows into the two returns, through a poly flter pad and then into the two 12"x12"x12" bio-ball chambers, leaving the third chamber/sump for a protein skimmer and some carbon in media bags. The LFS recomended moving the bio balls to the two return chambers (same volume just tall versus a cube shape) combining output through a bag filter in one of the two former bio ball chambers thus freeing one of the chambers for additional chemical filtration etc..

Does the order of filtration matter? mechanical then bio, then chemical?

Thoughts/comments?

Thanks in advance

[Ninong]

Apparently you have a trickle filter. Those are still used on fish-only aquariums. In my opinion, it would be a good idea to consider adding live rock and a sand bed to your aquarium so that you would have a FOWLR aquarium instead of a FO aquarium. Then you could ditch the bioballs and convert your trickle filter to a regular sump.

What do you have in your aquarium now as far as decoration is concerned?

You can see what a sump should look like here and here.

[Ninong]

Does the order of filtration matter? mechanical then bio, then chemical?

That would be the correct order for a trickle filter and, yes, it does matter. You want the mechanical filtration first to remove sediments, then the biological filtration and lastly the chemical filtration (such as GAC) to polish the water.

Even with a trickle filter, it would still be a good idea to run a protein skimmer on a Fish-only aquarium.



P.S. -- A Poly-Filter is mainly a chemical filter but it would also trap sediment; however, that's not its true purpose. A regular foam filter pad should be used ahead of a Poly-Filter so that the Poly-Filter doesn't get all clogged up. Looks like your trickle filter is set up with a Poly-Filter first as a combination mechanical/chemical filter. That's okay except that it means that the Poly-Filter may need to be washed off a lot.

[goog]

Whats your favorite protein skimmer. Currently have a coralife knock-off.

Thanks

[Ninong]

Bubble King by Royal-Exclusiv, but they're pricey.

[goog]

Out of my budget...how about a good value skimmer. I was told the coralife skimmers are a 1 on a scale of 1 to 10.

BTW... took your advice and picked up 135 gal of Scripps water. Very easy and you can't beat the price.

Thanks!

[Ninong]

Out of my budget...how about a good value skimmer. I was told the coralife skimmers are a 1 on a scale of 1 to 10.

I used a Lifereef VS2-24 on my 120-gal tank. I would probably get the VS3-30 for a 180-gal tank. This is a very old-fashioned venturi skimmer. It worked fine for me with virtually no adjustments of any kind and it doesn't overflow due to a special recycling feature. Whenever that happens -- it happened twice to me -- you will notice that something is wrong pretty quick because the water in the system will start to look a little cloudy.

I don't know what the current price is on that skimmer and, if I were starting over, I would probably want to consider one of the newer technologies. See if you can find a cone skimmer that works reasonably well at a decent price. One that puts out a lot of very tiny bubbles.

BTW... took your advice and picked up 135 gal of Scripps water. Very easy and you can't beat the price. Thanks!

Just for the record, please explain how that worked in detail so that we will have that information in this thread for others in your area who may read this.

Did you have to get permission from anyone? Describe, in detail, where you went so that others will know. Explain exactly how you did it.

Thanks!



P.S. -- All we know from previous posters is that they got free saltwater from Scripps. Also, do you know whether it is filtered or not? Others have posted that it is filtered. Thanks!

[goog]

A DVM (exotics including marine fishes) friend reccommended it. He says if it's good enough for their aquarium it's good enough for me. They have a collection line somewhere off shore and they sand filter the water. The distribution line is right by their storage tanks on the inland side of Scripps pier. I called and asked and they offer it as a public service (free). No prior permission required. Although, I have not tested it yet the water is crystal clear. The flow rate from their tanks is 10 gal/minute or greater.

[Ninong]

Out of my budget...how about a good value skimmer.

Okay, so you're looking for a decent in-sump skimmer for a 180-gal FO aquarium, right? Do you plan on having some sort of sand bed? If so, how deep and what will be its composition?

Are you considering ever making this a FOWLR aquarium or will it always be a FO tank?

You will need a better skimmer for a FO tank than for a FOWLR tank. And a better skimmer still if you ever plan to turn it into a reef aquarium.

All of those factors will affect your selection.

What is the available footprint in your sump compartment where this skimmer will be placed?

[Ninong]

A DVM (exotics including marine fishes) friend reccommended it. He says if it's good enough for their aquarium it's good enough for me. They have a collection line somewhere off shore and they sand filter the water. The distribution line is right by their storage tanks on the inland side of Scripps pier. I called and asked and they offer it as a public service (free). No prior permission required. Although, I have not tested it yet the water is crystal clear. The flow rate from their tanks is 10 gal/minute or greater.

That's cool. So you can just drive your truck or car very close to where you're drawing the water? Is it possible to get the water into a large tank in the bed of your truck without having to use several smaller containers to carry it to the truck?

BTW, I know a couple of members of this board who have used this water in reef tanks for several years without any problems whatsoever.

[goog]

There is a sand bed in the aquarium about 2" deep...

FOW for now then maybe FOWLR

The current coralife like skimmer takes up a large portion of the remaining chamber in the sump. 3x 12x12x12 chambers two filled with bio balls. The skimmer produces skimmage but I have to run a sock on the outflow to eliminate micro bubbles. I'd like to add a fluidzied bed filter for carbon. The LFS runs their Bio balls in the in tank return chambers inorder to free up more space in the sump for the protein skimmer, QT sponge filters etc.

I have a 3" powder blue tang, 3" stars and stripes puffer, a 3" qeen angel, a Bengai Cardinal, and 2 small Chromis. My QT is waiting for a Yellow Tang when I can find the right one. My DVM friend says a key element to sucess is a low bio load, under population.

[goog]

It's very cool...I have a bed topper on my truck so I use lots of dedicated water buckets. A guy pulled up and filled 4 50 gal trash cans as I was leaving.

[Ninong]

Not having any live rock in your tank makes your system different from anything I am familiar with, so maybe it would be a good idea to post your question about how to set up your sump and what might be a good skimmer for such a system in our Fish-Only Aquariums forum. Lee, the moderator there, is familiar with such aquariums.

[Ninong]

It's very cool...I have a bed topper on my truck so I use lots of dedicated water buckets. A guy pulled up and filled 4 50 gal trash cans as I was leaving.

I used 20-gal white Rubbermaid Brute containers and I really liked them. I had two of those and one 32-gal gray Rubbermaid Brute that I hardly ever used. In fact, I used it exactly once. My tank was 120 gallons.

Rubbermaid Brute containers in white, yellow or gray are okay for safely storing R.O./D.I. water or saltwater without worring about chemicals leaching from the plastic.