Sump configuration for phosguard & active carbon

[Joseph_Joe]

Hi all,

I would like to know if I am correctly setting up my chemical filtration.
My 6 month old tank didn't have one as I started with dry rocks and wanted to make sure bacteria was well established.
Sump is about 20g and due to the lack of place, I am not have a reactor yet.
Therefore, I set up the chemical filtration as per below.
However, I wanna make sure that the flow generated by the overflow + pump suction is enough to create a minimal flow for the filtration to be effective. When I put my hand in the below area where are located the socks, I don't feel a "huge flow" that would comfort me about having the pellets with enough contact with the water.
Filtration pellets are inside socks.

I am saying that because I am coming from a big phosphate level (1.5 ppm but no corals yet and fishes look okay) and phosphate didn't drop since 2 weeks of filtration.

Thanks in advance.

 

[X-37B]

Hi all,

I would like to know if I am correctly setting up my chemical filtration.
My 6 month old tank didn't have one as I started with dry rocks and wanted to make sure bacteria was well established.
Sump is about 20g and due to the lack of place, I am not have a reactor yet.
Therefore, I set up the chemical filtration as per below.
However, I wanna make sure that the flow generated by the overflow + pump suction is enough to create a minimal flow for the filtration to be effective. When I put my hand in the below area where are located the socks, I don't feel a "huge flow" that would comfort me about having the pellets with enough contact with the water.
Filtration pellets are inside socks.

I am saying that because I am coming from a big phosphate level (1.5 ppm but no corals yet and fishes look okay) and phosphate didn't drop since 2 weeks of filtration.

Thanks in advance.

You could build a rack with eggcrate and raise it off the bottom in the foam area. Then place both bags on the rack just under the surface. Both bags will cover the surface of the egg crate and all the water will flow through the media in the bags.
No need for foam unless its thin like 1/4".

 

[Joseph_Joe]

You could build a rack with eggcrate and raise it off the bottom in the foam area. Then place both bags on the rack just under the surface. Both bags will cover the surface of the egg crate and all the water will flow through the media in the bags.
No need for foam unless its thin like 1/4".

So is the flow of the lifting pump (400-500 m3/hr) enough to create a minimum flow for a good phosphate exchange with the filters ?

 

[landlubber]

You might be overthinking it a bit.
Whenever i use granular activated carbon (GAC) which is hardly ever, i just pour some in a mesh bag, rinse it in a small bucket of RODI to get the dust off and hang it off the weir in my sump so it sits below the waterline. The results can be noticed overnight and it doesn't require any fancy reactors.
Reactors can be handy and easy to get excited about for a new reefer but at this point they're extra noise, easily clog up and represent yet another electrical plug.
Aside from granular Ferric Oxide (GFO) I've never used any phosphate product and even that is used very sparingly.