what to do with my sump

[Poor Boy]

ive been pretty lazy lately and have neglected my sump quite a bit. as of now it has a carbon filter and thats pretty much it. what can i should i do with this sump? its 10 gallons and leaves little to no room for anything really. i also have no space in my stand so my options are limited.

what can one do with a small sump?

[DTdr2]

Have you thought about throwing in a Marine Pure high performance biofilter media block? I put one in mine, it doesn't take up a lot of room, and provides more housing for microorganisms than live rock.

[Poor Boy]

nope, but i am now. thanks!

[DTdr2]

If you haven't read this yet, here's the link to Marine Pure. They have a really good read, and something you may want to take a look at.

http://www.cermedia.com/MarinePureTechSheet.pdf

[Poor Boy]

thanks for the suggestion! im going to order some this weekend. not sure if i should go with the block, sheet, or balls though.

[Dizzle]

do you have fish only? or corals?

[Poor Boy]

both

[Dizzle]

Awesome i just set up a sump and trying to get feedback on what to put in it.. its like a wet/dry, i wanna turn the spot were the bio balls go into a refugium area..

[Poor Boy]

thats exactly what i have and exactly what i wanted to do. i just didnt know where to start. i think the above suggestions might be the way to go though.

[Dizzle]

I just hear bio balls or any bio media is a no no especially if you have enough live rock

[Zack]

I just hear bio balls or any bio media is a no no especially if you have enough live rock

Exactly, unfortunately overtime, bio balls will accumulate detritus and actually begin producing nitrates instead of reducing them. Live rock, if too compact in the sump can also have this effect.

[Dizzle]

So whats best way to keep nitrates out .. i just added bio balls in my sump but now wanna take it out and just do a nice refugium in there and other side protein skimmer, gfo/carbon reactor, heaters..etc

[Zack]

Nitrates are inevitable, however a good skimmer (as big as you can fit), and also water changes and feeding can go a long ways towards keeping them at lower to even unreadable levels. You can also look into bio pellet reactors, however to be honest I've never personally used them although many have with good success.

[Zack]

My old 40 gallon, I did weekly 5 gallon water changes, had a very large skimmer (I believe rated for 120 gallons), and also toyed around with the Thrive programs form of "liquid" carbon dosing. My nitrates were almost undetectable with that regiment.

[DTdr2]

I just hear bio balls or any bio media is a no no especially if you have enough live rock
You should read the pdf link (I am no way affiliated w/Marine Pure). It talks about live rock loosing it's effective properties over time. I've got a wet dry, and took out the majority of the bio balls replacing them with a gallon of Marine Pure spheres. I also placed a 1" block in flat on the bottom of the sump. Some might say it's over kill, but I've got no complaints. Due to me having limited space under my stand the sump I have is not as roomy as I'd like. Only so much I could do to keep my water in tip top shape.

[Poor Boy]

are the spheres completely submerged?

[Poor Boy]

im thinking about adding the marine pure spheres where the bio balls use to go, adding a 2" sand bed, and finding an in sump skimmer. my sump is only 10gs so it might be a bit tight...

doable?

[DTdr2]

Tried replying to your PM, but you've acceded your space limit.

What I have now is 16" H x 18" L x 12" W. My guess is that it maintains +/- 4 gal. of water in it while the sump is on. I've got a skimmer, and sump pump in it, but don't have room for anything else. Where the skimmer, and pump sit I've only got 9" to work with. So only half is available to me.

[DTdr2]

are the spheres completely submerged?
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04/10/eed8d30509078832bddc551b25f4268c.jpg

Hope the pic displays, and what I've got is the bio balls above water while the block is completely submerged.

[alton]

Make sure you keep a clean filter pad in the drip tray to keep gunk out.

[Dizzle]

I use a polly pad or carbon pad in drip tray .. rinse once a week replace like once a month.. there like 7 bux at your nearest LFS.