?? best filter media for sump area

[dclegern]

I've got a large section in my sump where a refugium was going to be.

I've tried to keep it cryptic, with rubble rock. But seems to leach "crap" into the main tank after a while.

Wondering if there are any ideas about what filter media to use in this section other than seemingly dead rubble rock.

Thanks ya'll.

[RayAllen]

Live rock rubble is great to have in your fuge. I assure you if water is running through it is not dead. My fuge area has a lot of Rubble and macro, both have tons of life. Pods, bacteria etc..... This has proven to be a very effective breeding nursery and biological filter.

[allan]

I think rubble rock in the fuge can become a detritus trap and what you see after awhile is the detritus being sent back into the dt. But the benefits are as mentioned above well worth it. I routinely blow up my rubble rock with a power head and move things around with either my right or left hand.

But I keep filter media in another section to capture the gunk afterwards for a few days. Then I swap it out.

[bullstedman]

Is ruubble rock still effective with out a light or refugium a havent started one yet.I have not found a t5 light the size i need.thanks

[allan]

You don't need a light for rubble rock, and the absence of light will promote the growth of sponges which provide filtration in their own right.

[dclegern]

that was the point of my original cryptic fuge.(no light) and it seemed to do well....
But I kept having issues in the main tank with sluff-off (new word...ha!) Decay matter!

I think some of the rubble I had down there had dying/decay and I couldn't figure it out.
Thus I've boiled the snot out of all of it, and giving it another try.

wish me luck on this one!!!

any other Ideas on keeping things CLEAN!! i'd love to hear it.

[allan]

You will end up with the same issues.

Boiling isn't necessary. The particulate matter that flows through (poop, food, sand, other stuff, detritus) will accumulate in the rubble rock. The flow of water through the rubble rock will cause it to work loose and make it into your main tank.

My prediction is that the new rubble rock will build up a biological filtration and everything will be copecetic until the detritus builds up enough that it starts filtering into your main tank.

It's not your rubble rock set up that's giving you this, it's (and I'm assuming that you don't have one) the lack of a filter media to capture the detritus as it works its way back into the tank. And if you do have the filter media it should be replaced frequently to help pull that stuff from your system.

[RayAllen]

in my sump its setup like this

Water enters

chamber #1 where it goes through a protein skimmer and carbon reactor
Chamber#2 it flows through Filter mesh and sponges
Chamber #3 Rubble Rock and Macro then it returns to the main display.

The skimmer pump and reactor catch some detritus, the filter mesh and sponges catch almost all of whats left to catch. By the time it gets to the rubble im not worried about it. Probably every 3 to 4 months I will stir up the sump good during a water change and completely drain it. Im not a heavy feeder so this also helps keep my system clean.