Marine pure in wet dry trickle filter

[G puffer]

I am getting back in the hobby. I have had several Fowlr tanks before my last being a 220 oceanic. Been about 5 or so years since I disassembled it. I have a 374 gallon acrylic tank that I am finalizing with the builder (envision acrylics) as well as a big 5’x18”x18” wet dry trickle filter with a slide out tray for floss and big area for my big skimmer. I saved all my old equipment and right before I took a break from the hobby I switched from bio balls to marine pure balls. I have been doing a lot of reading and there is a lot of mixed reviews on the marine pure. What are thoughts on using the marine pure balls in wet dry area of sump? I appreciate any tips/knowledge as stuff seems to have changed since I was playing with saltwater. I will be adding pictures of this build however I am brand new to the forum and still navigating around looking for the build thread area.

 

[blaxsun]

The MarinePure balls need to be submerged and work best in areas where there's good flow. The 1.5" spheres really work well and don't chip off as much as the gems or blocks.

 

[G puffer]

Any ideas on a different sump design other than a wet dry chamber?

 

[SilvermistInc]

Any ideas on a different sump design other than a wet dry chamber?

Just raise the water level up my dude

 

[G puffer]

That would be the easy solution however I am a day or two away from sending the check for the tank/sump so not sure if there is much point in having James build a wet dry chamber if I need to submerge the marine pure balls.I always had it in my mind that simply replacing plastic bio balls with marine pure balls would be a slick setup because I would have the flow; but too much air it sounds like. I could always drop the egg crate floor of the wet dry chamber so the marine pure balls stay more submerged but then I have a diffuser on top for no reason.

 

[Tcook]

That would be the easy solution however I am a day or two away from sending the check for the tank/sump so not sure if there is much point in having James build a wet dry chamber if I need to submerge the marine pure balls.I always had it in my mind that simply replacing plastic bio balls with marine pure balls would be a slick setup because I would have the flow; but too much air it sounds like. I could always drop the egg crate floor of the wet dry chamber so the marine pure balls stay more submerged but then I have a diffuser on top for no reason.

Do you already have the wet-dry sump? If not I would bag that idea and get a modern design sump.

 

[CoralB]

Yes back in the day wet dry was the tech and today it’s no longer. All wet is the key except the spill over into a sock ,sponge or some other mechanical media . Personally if you already ordered it I’m sure you can either modify it or leave it the way it is but just lose the dry aspect . Your skimmer if you use one puts enough oxygen into your water .

 

[G puffer]

I have the custom acrylic guy 2 hours north of me and I sent him dimensions I would like on display and sump. I’ll be completely honest, I’m not sure what a modern sump design is these days for fish only. I have always had good luck with bulk floss from pinkyfilters so that was my plan for mechanical to remove the big debris. From there I was just planning on an area for marine pure balls, enough room to slide out a tray to replace floss easily and then a big area for my skimmer. I already have a vertex alpha 250 that I like a lot that was too large for the bio load of my last tank. I have a 80 watt ho Pentair uv. A couple big reactors with left over fancy carbon and gfo from BRS. I am open for suggestions and really value your opinions.

 

[G puffer]

I am picking up what you guys are putting down, I just need to modify my design a little bit. I think I can just drop the floor if the bio media chamber way down to keep the balls submerged but keep the flow rate high.

 

[G puffer]

Anyone want to share pictures of their filtration, that is my favorite part of this hobby.

 

[CoralB]

I have the custom acrylic guy 2 hours north of me and I sent him dimensions I would like on display and sump. I’ll be completely honest, I’m not sure what a modern sump design is these days for fish only. I have always had good luck with bulk floss from pinkyfilters so that was my plan for mechanical to remove the big debris. From there I was just planning on an area for marine pure balls, enough room to slide out a tray to replace floss easily and then a big area for my skimmer. I already have a vertex alpha 250 that I like a lot that was too large for the bio load of my last tank. I have a 80 watt ho Pentair uv. A couple big reactors with left over fancy carbon and gfo from BRS. I am open for suggestions and really value your opinions.

I just use live rock , a skimmer and mechanical filtration socks (not in that order ) in my sump . BRS has all kinds of pictures of sumps that they sell , some are equipped with a refugiums etc.

 

[1ocean]

a 60x24x18 sumpd I built for my 300

 

[gbru316]

Ammonia -> nitrate an aerobic process

nitrate breakdown is an anaerobic process.

Wet/drys are no longer used because, while they’re great at keeping ammonia in-check, they aren’t so great at reducing nitrate. And given the general goal of low nitrate, wet/dry filters are no longer used.

I don’t think it’d be a huge problem with a Fowlr tank though, since nitrate is only going to spur algae growth. And that can be mitigated using other methods.

 

[Jubei2006]

Congrats on the tank! James built me a beautiful 525g center overflow tank. Great workmanship, and came really well packed and protected. Im no help on the sump as I use a 50 and 150 gallon rubbermaid troughs for the sump (its in the basement below the tank). Do use marinepure balls and bricks. Id only use the balls. Everytime I touch a brick now (1 year date), it crumbles off pieces. So right now I jave them holding up my skimmer so it's at the right height.

 

[1ocean]

Just got the 3 big boxes of sera siporax. Gonna soak them in saltwater w microbacter 7 for a day and then add them to my sump..