High Tide Aquatics

filter sock and plankton feeding. please help!

GroundHog

GroundHog

Guest
BARcard
I have a couple of questions that I have a hard time finding answers. I would really appreciate it if you guys can share your knowledge.

- For those of you who use filter socks, how do you deal with issue that filter sock removing Phytoplankton and zooplankton that you feed to your corals? Is there any filter sock with large enough holes to not remove plankton? Do you just turn off your your return pump from the refugium to DT while feeding to avoid plankton being removed (stuck inside) filter sock? If so, how long did you turn off the pump?

- For those of you who don't use filter socks for the reason I mentioned above, how do you deal with the water splashing into ur refugium (my refugium doesn't have cover so water splash to outside the tank). It also make loud noises when water splash into the refugium (I used durso pipe to get ride of the sound in the overflow, but i am talking about noises in refugium). It also create micro bubble which are return to my DT. (before I use filter sock, there are lots of micro bubbles in my display tank and now there is none).

Sorry for the long questions, but I need some help. Thank you all in advance.

Ken.
 
For the noise in the refuguim take a piece of pvc and connect with pvc union inside refugium(do not glue pvc you may want to remove later for servicing) and submerge under the water and you can also can add a cap to end of pvc and drill holes in it. How many holes depends on your pump
 
A cause of bubbles returning to your tank usually is a sign of too much flow for the sump/refugium size you're dealing with. I get bubbles in my sump as well, as far as the last chamber, however the water doesn't move fast enough to bring them to the return pump which is always at least 8 inches deep.
 
how long is the refugium? The problem is not the display tank you can almost never have too much flow (I said almost! :)), however if you have a very short and/or shallow refugium/sump area the flow can cause the bubbles to easily migrate to the return pump if the tank drain is too close to the pump.

My sump is 4 feet long. now space limitations aside bubbles don't stand a chance to get to the return pump.

One thing you might try, is to take a peak in the refugium, see if you can actually see the bubbles get near the pump, then erect some sort of barrier to deflect them.
 
[quote author=sfsuphysics link=topic=2479.msg25520#msg25520 date=1191786349]
how long is the refugium? The problem is not the display tank you can almost never have too much flow (I said almost! :)), however if you have a very short and/or shallow refugium/sump area the flow can cause the bubbles to easily migrate to the return pump if the tank drain is too close to the pump.

My sump is 4 feet long. now space limitations aside bubbles don't stand a chance to get to the return pump.

One thing you might try, is to take a peak in the refugium, see if you can actually see the bubbles get near the pump, then erect some sort of barrier to deflect them.
[/quote]

the refugium is 24" long and 12" tall. I see what you are saying about how bubble in ur refugium are eliminated, but unfortunately, I can't fit it any refugium longer than 24 inches in my stand due to the design of the stand. Thanks for your input though.
 
[quote author=dswong01 link=topic=2479.msg25514#msg25514 date=1191774719]
For the noise in the refuguim take a piece of pvc and connect with pvc union inside refugium(do not glue pvc you may want to remove later for servicing) and submerge under the water and you can also can add a cap to end of pvc and drill holes in it. How many holes depends on your pump
[/quote]

Hi,

I tried making what you described, but air bubbles are still coming up to the surface strong enough that it is still splashing tiny drops of water around. how small/big should the holes be? The drill I was using was 1/4. I have a lot of smaller size drill, but don't know what size is ideal. Thanks.

Ken.
 
Yah, I'd go with a smaller return pump.

You don't want so much turnover in the sump, especially if it's too small for bubbles to have a chance to dissipate.
 
[quote author=Mr. Ugly link=topic=2479.msg25535#msg25535 date=1191822795]
Yah, I'd go with a smaller return pump.

You don't want so much turnover in the sump, especially if it's too small for bubbles to have a chance to dissipate.
[/quote]

Like I mentioned above, I have 60 gallon DT (my tank+stand height is 50") with 12 gallon 24x10x12 refugium (3 compartments with dividers). what GPH (at 0 ft) rate do you guys recommend I get? I don't know what is the turnover rate should be in the sump. Thanks for all your help, guys.

Ken.
 
Just throwing another idea out there. I don't recall where but I saw one person that put a T (or maybe it was a Y?) onto his return line so that he could divert some flow from the tank back to his sump. This acted as a governor without putting back pressure on his pump. If you put a valve to limit the flow into your sump and the above to limit the flow to your DT you wouldn't have to change out your pump and you might be able to find the correct rate to limit the bubbles. Of course there is the the chance that the water diverted from your return could cause more bubbles also. If that happens you'll just have to put in a sump with baffles I guess.
 
One suggestion had been for 3-5 times system volume, which isn't all that scientific. I'd go for the lower end of the range due to the small dimensions of the sump. 300gph sounds good to me.

Make sure you have decent in-tank turnover though.
 
I suggest leaving the filter sock inplace but cut the very bottom of it off. That way you won't have any bubble problems and you will still have a area on the outside of thew sock were amphipods like to breed. Don't rinse the sock just let it be. I have done this myself more than once.
 
Bravo indeed! Here I was trying to think of creative ways to create a barrier to stop the bubble flow... and wammo simple! ... Guess the whole K.I.S.S. thing still applies :D
 
[quote author=Steve Ruddy link=topic=2479.msg25590#msg25590 date=1191957087]
I suggest leaving the filter sock inplace but cut the very bottom of it off. That way you won't have any bubble problems and you will still have a area on the outside of thew sock were amphipods like to breed. Don't rinse the sock just let it be. I have done this myself more than once.


[/quote]

Thanks for your suggestion, Steve. Actually my current sock has holes cut off at the bottom. I did it because, the sock usually overflow after a week of usage, so I first started cutting small holes in the sock, and later just cut the bottom off. But my concern is that when I feed plankton, they will stuck inside the sock, even though there is a hole at the bottom, since they are small. Right now every time I clean the filter sock, I see some food particles inside the sock. Am I worrying too much?

Thanks everybody for ur suggestions.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top