ally07 Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 I was just looking at my wet/ dry filter recently (trying to make it more efficient) when some questions popped into my head. Everybody says that wet/ dry is one of, if not THE best sumps for freshwater because it allows a lot of oxygenation and surface area with the right media. But it just seems to me that a wet/ dry filter is a fickle creature. For instance, when I do a water change, what happens if I take too long and my bio balls start to dry out? Does it mean I've just killed all my BB? Or, the water doesn't seem to trickle down over all the bio balls evenly - does this mean that I'm not using the maximum potential of my bio balls? Can anybody shed some light on these issues and put my mind at ease please? :dunno: Slightly tempted to just give up the sump and get an FX-5 when I move house in the near future lol. At least I know that an FX-5 works at "maximum" efficiency. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
critter_crazy Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 I've always wondered the same things, I can't get my head around it. :spop: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally07 Posted July 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 Oh, and one more thing! When I clean my wool, I notice that the water never trickles down the same path.. So, essentially some of my BB on the bio balls will die and new colonies have to start somewhere else because I cleaned the wool?! :facepalm: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 I've often wondered similar things, never been able to answer them but still swear by the system! Having an even distribution over the media is important, thats why the really expensive biotowers (like the TMC ones used at the napier aquarium) have a rotating spray bar set up... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally07 Posted July 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 I've often wondered similar things, never been able to answer them but still swear by the system! Having an even distribution over the media is important, thats why the really expensive biotowers (like the TMC ones used at the napier aquarium) have a rotating spray bar set up... Damn, I was hoping you were one of the people with the answers haha! :smln: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 My answer is that they just work, and thats all I need to know.... :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshlikesfish Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 Cant you DIY the spinning parts? Think I saw something somewhere... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hovmoller Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 Cant you DIY the spinning parts? Think I saw something somewhere... Couldn't you rig a rotating garden sprinkler upside down? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 Possibly, but a drip tray does nearly as good a job. If I was building a bio-tower I'd try rig one up, its a shame the TMC ones would be so expensive by the time they're shipped here, they're on par with Ultimas IMO for mega-tank filtration: http://www.tmc-ltd.co.uk/commercial/bio-tower.asp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s3xtcy Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 just get a container lid as such, and evenly drill a whole lot of holes in it, this should distribute the water more evenly over the bioballs, and your wool, if you find that the drainage isnt enough, make the holes bigger maybe have it smaller than the overall intake of the sump so if it did clog/overflow with too much water etc then it would drain into the sump normally, but that should increase the flow over the entire media? Obviousally if you havnt had any problems then its working in my experience.. if it isnt broken, dont fix it hope that helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwiplymouth Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 My DIY spinner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueether Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 kiwiplymouth, work well? What have you used for the bearing/bush on the head? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwiplymouth Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 To be honest I have never used it, it doesn't even have the outlet holes drilled yet. It was given to me ages ago and i have had no desire to use it as my sumps work perfectly fine without it. I am happy to pass it on to someone wou can use it, just pay the postage. This is the spacer and bearing set up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 My answer is that they just work, and thats all I need to know.... :lol: There's a lot of things that work, of hugely varying complexity and cost. But most people believe that if two things work then the more expensive, complicated one must be the better one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally07 Posted July 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2011 There's a lot of things that work, of hugely varying complexity and cost. But most people believe that if two things work then the more expensive, complicated one must be the better one. In this case an FX-5! :facepalm: (I hope HFF keeps their filter sale on for a while more..) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henward Posted July 29, 2011 Report Share Posted July 29, 2011 My general rule of thumb. When the st up is small ish (under 800 litres of below. I would just go FX5) personally i cannot fault that product. (I am about to write a little article on little personal studies i have done with these products soon. a lot to cover) some of it i have already told you ally im sure some people know, but recently i got obsessed in a micro level. so ill put that on paper for who ever is interested anyways - sump is great, but there must be a good amount of flow on them, also good set up so water flows evenly through. Despite some vouching for them... I HATE BIO BALLS:D with freshwater anyways, i think they are kinda a waste of space.. Literally, for the same space you can get rougher ceramic noodles, efi substrate. A handful of efi substrat by eheim in a smaller canister does the job better than a larger amount of bioballs in my opinion, and yes, they do dry out and may kill bacterias anyways, i have both, canister and sump. Larger set ups, i find sump to be good - but i find sumps to take much much longer to cycle. canisters, i find cycle quickly my theory: is that canisters, the water flow is FORCED to go through media, while sump, if a portion of wool or foam is blocked, the water flows differently at all times, its never that consistent. I like the sump as well so you can put heaters in them, treating a tank is easy as you add stuff to the sump. your fx5 will do the job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishyfish Posted July 29, 2011 Report Share Posted July 29, 2011 For some great advice and footage on DIY sumps/filters, check out this guys youtube page... http://www.youtube.com/user/uarujoey He definitely knows what he's doing. Hope it helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally07 Posted August 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2011 Despite some vouching for them... I HATE BIO BALLS:D with freshwater anyways, i think they are kinda a waste of space.. Literally, for the same space you can get rougher ceramic noodles, efi substrate. A handful of efi substrat by eheim in a smaller canister does the job better than a larger amount of bioballs in my opinion, and yes, they do dry out and may kill bacterias What about using loofas? Theoretically they should stay wet for longer right? I'm not sure about their surface area though. Ceramic noodles are good, but not economically viable for a tower sump. I might change my drip tray to a single perspex sheet with drilled holes instead of my current glass strips. I figure that holes in perspex will give a more even flow than glass strips which are liable to move around during maintenance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted August 9, 2011 Report Share Posted August 9, 2011 Im running an Eheim pro 3 and an aquaone cannister on my 1100L tank, am about to get an fx5 to replace the aquaone filter - so i should have filtration pretty well covered :roll: Wouldn't a tower work better if it was full of water and had an air pump running through the media? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally07 Posted August 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2011 Im running an Eheim pro 3 and an aquaone cannister on my 1100L tank, am about to get an fx5 to replace the aquaone filter - so i should have filtration pretty well covered :roll: Wouldn't a tower work better if it was full of water and had an air pump running through the media? LoL, when I first read your post I thought you wrote 110L instead of 1100L.. My eyes nearly popped outta my head when I saw FX-5 LOL! It would be a constant hurricane inside the tank haha. :sml1: After a lot of reading and asking around, everybody still insists that tower filter media have to be dripped through, especially bio balls. I think that the air pump just can't compare to open air oxygenation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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