Sumps are bad for reefkeeping

[capn_hylinur]

thanks for all your help--really appreciated

[Paul B]

Interesting thread (albeit old) I just saw it.
Wow all sorts of information going back and fourth, some IMO correct and some not.
I myself do not have a sump but I feel that it would be a good idea. There was no sumps when I set up my tank. They were not heard of yet.
I do run a sump like trough above the tank that functions as an algae filter though. I feel a sump, if nothing else would make it much easier to remove detritus that would naturally collect there.
I also have no filter socks (no where to put one) but I do have a sponge filter on the inlet of my RUGF. I do have to clean that sponge by weekly. I also have pods and all sorts of microscope life all over the place.
Have fun.
Paul

[BeanAnimal]

how was it riding a horse to school as a kid paul?

[capn_hylinur]

Maybe misconception again but if you are not running any mechancial filtration like a sock then you must be running a big mother skimmer? I have read, been told that a skimmer will also remove food(copopods, phyto, cyclopeeze etc)

[Paul B]

School! You had SCHOOLS?
We just wrote on the sidewalk with chalk while we were waiting for TV to be invented

Maybe misconception again but if you are not running any mechancial filtration like a sock then you must be running a big mother skimmer? I have read, been told that a skimmer will also remove food(copopods, phyto, cyclopeeze etc)

A skimmer and anything else that removes water may remove some pods but pods generally stay on the rock, glass or any other object including the inside of the skimmer.
A skimmer is not considered a mechanical filter.
IMO some sort of mechanical filter should be used at least occasionally. Could you imagine what my tank would look like after over three decades if I did not remove solids occasionally.
You would be amazed at the amount of solid your tank will accumulate. If you don't notice it, your tank is very young.
There will be urchin spine parts, fish skeleton parts, ground up gravel, undijestable pieces of food, amphipod shells, settled out calcium and soft corals contain thousands of glass like structures that you can see when they die. Especially leather corals.
I use a diatom filter every few months and in my tank anyway I would not be able to have such an old tank without one.
Of course I run a RUGF which allows me to stir up the gravel to clean. With a DSB that would be impossable and you people are on your own with that one.
Have a great weekend.
Paul

[capn_hylinur]

Originally posted by Paul B
School! You had SCHOOLS?
We just wrote on the sidewalk with chalk while we were waiting for TV to be invented

hot town summer in the city back of my neck getting gritty-------LOL


A skimmer and anything else that removes water may remove some pods but pods generally stay on the rock, glass or any other object including the inside of the skimmer.
A skimmer is not considered a mechanical filter.
IMO some sort of mechanical filter should be used at least occasionally. Could you imagine what my tank would look like after over three decades if I did not remove solids occasionally.
You would be amazed at the amount of solid your tank will accumulate. If you don't notice it, your tank is very young.
There will be urchin spine parts, fish skeleton parts, ground up gravel, undijestable pieces of food, amphipod shells, settled out calcium and soft corals contain thousands of glass like structures that you can see when they die. Especially leather corals.
I use a diatom filter every few months and in my tank anyway I would not be able to have such an old tank without one.
Of course I run a RUGF which allows me to stir up the gravel to clean. With a DSB that would be impossable and you people are on your own with that one.


Have a great weekend.
Paul

thanks but I didn't mean to infer that skimmers were mechancial

the point I was trying to grasp was the using of both skimmer and a sock-----another thread discussed the idea of not running a sock and letting the skimmer do everything--this way nitrates wouldn't be able to build up in the sock----but if you change it every other day I personally don't see that happening

I like your idea of running the sock once and awhile instead of 24/7

[DarkXerox]

I agree with the occasional sock use. I find that my tanks do better (grow less algae) after a "simulated hurricane" once in a while + a sock to catch the detritus. I go in with a turkey baster or powerhead, take apart rocks that are moveable, and blast insides and the sandbed to suspend as much as I can so that the sock can catch it.

Also no microbubles on any of my tanks either. Just requires good sump design and baffle use.

[GreshamH]

Originally posted by capn_hylinur
Maybe misconception again but if you are not running any mechancial filtration like a sock then you must be running a big mother skimmer? I have read, been told that a skimmer will also remove food(copopods, phyto, cyclopeeze etc)

In order to remove phytoplnakton you'd have to be running ~20 micron filter sock of which is fairly uncommon. Most are 100 micron and above.