sumpp

[godeeporgohome123]

20 gal sump
first chamber, second chamber, baffle then third chamber.
im going to have my skimmer in the first and my return pump in the last chamber but i wanted to know...alot of people keep live rock in there middle chamber...my question is dose it have to be live rock? can it be bio balls? and what makes the rock so much better of it is?


thanks

 

[BigH55]

You could do a deep sand bed with rubble rock and chaeto algae in it. If anthting make sure there is chaeto in there. it is great for nutrient export.

 

[Bifferwine]

It doesn't have to have live rock, but it shouldn't have bioballs. Bioballs usually lead to nitrate problems in tanks. A lot of people use live rock rubble, which are pieces that are too small to aquascape with. Some LFSs will give you rubble for free since they have a hard time selling it. But like BigH said, you don't need live rock, but you should definitely have macroalgae for nutrient export.

 

[ndepratt]

in a sump that size I probably wouldn't mess with a deep sand bed... I just doubt its affects would be THAT noticeable... do like Biff says and use macroalgae. But remember that the nitrates and phosphates taken in by the algae do not leave your tank until the macro algae is harvested.

Use of macroalgae will also help keep the PH in your tank much steadier by enabling you to run your sump lighting on a reverse photoperiod.