Found this stuff and need advice...

Justin....#JAMAS · Jan 29, 2018

Hey all, so I was riding to the gas station and left my apartment complex and out on the curb were a tall 65 gallon tank with a stand, and the equipment I'm posting pictures of....I'm guessing someone got tired of the hobby maybe and just threw it all out bc its all good stuff and not broken!! In fact, I just sold the 65 gallon!!!! Crazy! Anyways, I kept this other stuff BC it looks like a sump and hopefully all the parts to go with it! Not pictured is a big pump, I'm guessing for the return flow. The 65 gallon wasnt drilled so I'm assuming this was a HOB overflow box with the sump box but not sure how to set this up! I have a 75 gallon reef tank and its not a drilled tank, I have a HOB Tidal Filter 110! So to add this sump to my tank, after a good cleaning, would be great and help out filtration wise but I have no clue where to start with what else I need or how to put this together. If someone can help point me in the right direction and maybe help with how I would hook this up and parts im missing that would be awesome! It says on the box its Aqua Clear Aquatics.....thanks a bunch

redfishbluefish · Jan 29, 2018

It appears to be a Wet Dry filter, typical to freshwater tanks. Not aware of folks using this type filter on saltwater. #reefsquad might be able to add to this. You might be able to modify it to work with salt.

EDIT TO ADD:

I stand corrected.....just found THIS LINK to a Wet Dry that's advertised for a reef tank. So they are used for saltwater tanks.

Justin....#JAMAS · Jan 29, 2018

There are calcium deposits and sponges all over this thing so it was used for saltwater! Just found this

http://www.pro-clear.com/Home/Product?ProductID=6

lbacha · Jan 29, 2018

Wet dry's were used on reef tanks back in the day so not just a FW thing. It will work as a basic sump but it doesn't look to have baffled so you won't have chambers for skimmers (that need a set water level) or a refugium. If all you want is a sump for biological titration add some marine pure blocks where the green biomaterial is and you will be good to go

Justin....#JAMAS · Jan 29, 2018

I have a HOB classic octo 100 that works so well on my tank now....it has an acrylic piece that seems to be missing on the inside I'll have to get to make 3 separate chambers....would it be possible to put chaeto and some matrix bags in here once I add the missing acrylic piece?

jsker · Jan 29, 2018

lbacha said:
Wet dry's were used on reef tanks back in the day so not just a FW thing. It will work as a basic sump but it doesn't look to have baffled so you won't have chambers for skimmers (that need a set water level) or a refugium. If all you want is a sump for biological titration add some marine pure blocks where the green biomaterial is and you will be good to go

I was going to say, "That is old school" filtration.

Captmcfly · Jan 29, 2018

I converted mine into a basic sump

Captmcfly · Jan 29, 2018

I obviously don’t use the trickle tray anymore.. I did for a while with carbon pads

Justin....#JAMAS · Jan 29, 2018

The only pvc that is on any pieces is on the overflow box. And there is a long tube that im guessing is to go into the sump and the other tube in the picture connects to the return pump.....I'm just not sure what other little parts I may need or if I need to plumb it with pvc or what? I've never had a sump or have set something like this up before so I'm clueless lol. I get how it works and all that but as far as what little parts go where ....is the old school trickle ok to use? If one of you guys were in my situation, how would you set this up?

Captmcfly · Jan 29, 2018

Mine worked fine as a trickle filter. But it was noisy... my plumbing is all diy. All I got when I got mine was the acrylic box one tray and one baffle . I made a hob overflow out of pvc and made all the other pvc parts you see in the pic.

Justin....#JAMAS · Jan 29, 2018

Ahh ok , nice! Yeah I'm going to have to configure something with this soon because I'd really like to have this extra filtration for the corals and fish....so let's say I already plumbed this thing and was about ready to go, what would I put in the sump starting from where the water first goes in the sump on the left tall side if I want matrix bag(s) for more bacteria to grow, some chaeto to help on nitrates, and I guess mechanical filtration.....

Captmcfly · Jan 30, 2018

I have live rock in my first chamber then chato in the 2nd along with my return pump.

Captmcfly · Jan 30, 2018

FWIW I actually have more rock in my sump then my dt. It till does it’s job regardless of where it is. I like the minimalist look in my dt till the corals I have grow out. Then I’ll at a new rock from the sump to the dt and place the next addition on it. That’s just my preference. I would make sure my drain line comes out at or just below the water level of the sump. It makes far less noise that way .. when I ran it as a true trickle filter it drove me nuts listening to that water running like a waterfall through the pad and into the water below. That’s the main reason I switched to the way I have it now. Plus the fact that I don’t have to change filters anymore is nice haha

Justin....#JAMAS · Jan 30, 2018

jbomb001 said:
FWIW I actually have more rock in my sump then my dt. It till does it’s job regardless of where it is. I like the minimalist look in my dt till the corals I have grow out. Then I’ll at a new rock from the sump to the dt and place the next addition on it. That’s just my preference. I would make sure my drain line comes out at or just below the water level of the sump. It makes far less noise that way .. when I ran it as a true trickle filter it drove me nuts listening to that water running like a waterfall through the pad and into the water below. That’s the main reason I switched to the way I have it now. Plus the fact that I don’t have to change filters anymore is nice haha

I unfortuanetly don't have the money to plumb it with PVC but it looks like whoever had this before had it plumbed coming down into the sump with a 3/4 inch by 1 inch clear thick tubing...that would work right?
And to summarize, I also don't have money right now to get chaeto, but I will in the future, so I only have one white egg crate bracket thing to go down in the sump on the bottom or top level! So I guess I'm going to get matrix bags and some filter pads for mechanical filtration! So I guess I will put the egg crate white thing on the bottom level and live rock on top of it and than buy another white divider and put the filter pads on top where the water comes in first....after the water goes thru the matrix bags and goes under the bottom acrylic into the last chamber there's a little gap at the bottom, should I put another little filter pad right there to filter one more time before it gets to the return pump? Also when I do get cheato and put it in the last chamber will I need to buy another white egg crate thing to put between the chaeto and the return pump to make sure no chaeto gets sucked into the tank?

Captmcfly · Jan 30, 2018

Chaeto would cost you less then matrix I’d place the egg crate in the first chamber then place the chato in there or wait till you have funds to build what ya want. I completely understand the budget issue lol

Captmcfly · Jan 30, 2018

This is also the reason I have a home made sump and home made overflow

Captmcfly · Jan 30, 2018

I think I payed 5 bucks for my ball of cheato and yes hose is fine I actually have hose between my overflow and my sump . I ran one inch

Justin....#JAMAS · Jan 30, 2018

Well I'm getting chaeto tomorrow...what kind of light does it need to have on top of it? Can it be say a long really bright little desk light? And I've got it all together I just have to set it on the aquarium and plug in all the pieces !! I guess I'm going to just hook it all up tonight and get it going and tomorrow go get chaeto and put it in! I bought 2 big nice filter pads that are supposed to reduce nitrates so I'm going to put those in and put some live rock from my display tank into the sump!