Brown Sump Waste

[gkersten]

I seem to get a lot of soft brown material collecting in the bottom of the waste which I have to vacuum up every week in order to keep the particulate matter from floating around the tank . Is this normal or am I missing something .. all water parameters are well within normal limits , fish and coral very healthy and thriving

[tlo]

just normal detrius (fish waste/rotten uneaten food etc)
A skimmer will help to remove some of this, if you don't already have one, other than that, regular vaccumming as you've been doing is the best way.

[Johnny Reefer]

Death. Taxes. Brown Sump Waste.

[fishoholic]

Death. Taxes. Brown Sump Waste.

I'm going to go with "Things in life that are certain" :lol: good one!

[mark]

that's one of the reasons to have a sump (to collect the waste from the tank)

[Matt]

Brown sump waste... I have some of that. I hardly ever remove it, though. I bet it absolutely seethes under a microscope!

[gkersten]

Thanks I guess that answers my question > I do have a skimmer but thought that the skimmer would remove this waste and felt that perhaps it was not working to capacity if this sludge appears in the sump

[untamed]

I have two sumps. All this stuff gets drained out of the one sump during a water change. But the main sump has accumulated this stuff for over a year now and I've not pulled it out. It is probably 1cm deep in some spots.

[Delphinus]

I had about 3 years buildup of it I ended up cleaning with a shop vac back in March. It was... gruesome. I resolved to never let it get that bad again. I've promptly not done it again since. I probably should do something about that ... but man ... shop vaccing the sump means draining it completely and it's a PITA. But .. ugh, 3 years of it was gruesome. Did I mention it was gruesome? It was gruesome.

[Johnny Reefer]

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b355/1Johnny2Reefer3/IMG_1090.jpg

[untamed]

That looks like a very handy device. What is it? Where can I get one?

[banditpowdercoat]

What is that contraption you got there Johnny?

[mark]

With all the concerns of needing ro/di water, nitrate factories etc, I'm rather surprised the detritus is being left that long in your sumps.

Normally I do 80l water changes, I'll siphon out ~50l from the display to get the accumulations there, then I'll go downstairs and siphon out from the sump and refugium ~30l to get the crap the builds up below.

[drydock]

I had about 3 years buildup of it I ended up cleaning with a shop vac back in March. It was... gruesome. I resolved to never let it get that bad again. I've promptly not done it again since. I probably should do something about that ... but man ... shop vaccing the sump means draining it completely and it's a PITA. But .. ugh, 3 years of it was gruesome. Did I mention it was gruesome? It was gruesome.

Does using your shop vac for your sump leave a distinctive 'sump smell' when you use it for other projects as well? I have always been hesitant you use mine to clean out a tank or sump.

[fishoholic]

We just used a siphon to suck out most of the detritus from our sump, worked well for us.

[Delphinus]

I didn't say I recommend leaving the gunk as long as me. :lol: I live my life to serve as an warning to others.
http://images.despair.com/products/demotivators/mistakes.jpg

In my defense, this was only 1 tank I let it get that bad, and there were a couple complicating factors. I had mangroves growing in it for the longest time so I had sort of gotten used to not doing much to the sump. My other tanks get their sumps cleaned on a far more regular basis but the odd thing is that this one tank happens to be the tank with the least amount of nitrate or phosphate or algae, and generally speaking the squeeky wheels get more oil.. so it just didn't get onto my radar.

Still, three years without a sump cleaning is kind of bad. :lol: I guess I'm doing a "Do as I say not as I do!!" :redface:

Does using your shop vac for your sump leave a distinctive 'sump smell' when you use it for other projects as well? I have always been hesitant you use mine to clean out a tank or sump.

Well, I do rinse it out really well after use but I imagine it probably smells richer than your average shop vac. However, the tanks are the only reason I have it in the first place anyhow, cleaning up spills during water changes or overflows or whatever.

I too would like to know what Johnny Reefer's little device is. I'm guessing a power filter modded to be a vaccuum ... but does it dump the effluent back into the tank or into the sink?

[SeaShell]

I think that "device" shown earlier is just a powerhead with a prefilter?

I use a powerhead to vacuum my sump. That's what I do for regular water changes. I plug the powerhead into a powerbar so I can switch it on and off as needed while filling buckets. Works like a charm.

[Delphinus]

Looks more like a HOB powerfilter to me with a couple adapters maybe? What's really caught my eye though is the scoop of the nozzle. Was just thinking if it was an off-the-shelf product it might be worth picking up.

[untamed]

Yes...I need to rig up something like that gizmo. I can't siphon the stuff out of there because the sump is too low. Shopvac is too large.

[banditpowdercoat]

Yes...I need to rig up something like that gizmo. I can't siphon the stuff out of there because the sump is too low. Shopvac is too large.

My problem exactly

[Johnny Reefer]

That looks like a very handy device. What is it? Where can I get one?

What is that contraption you got there Johnny?

I think that "device" shown earlier is just a powerhead with a prefilter? ...

Looks more like a HOB powerfilter to me with a couple adapters maybe? What's really caught my eye though is the scoop of the nozzle. Was just thinking if it was an off-the-shelf product it might be worth picking up.
It's a HOT Magnum filter. Made by Marineland. The "scoop" nozzle is from a hand siphon/vacuum I purchased many moons ago. I use it once a month. Oh, okay...sometimes I get lazy and I miss a month. Rinse the filter cartridge off in a bucket. Swish it around, then dump.

Further to this, I did an annual MAJOR sump cleaning about six months ago. Swished all the Live Rock I had in there. Vacuumed all the BSW. Did a complete sump water change. Even sponged what BSW I couldn't vacuum due to the last drop water change. Scrubbed my refugium screens. Ever since, my reef has been doing quite well. Mind you, I've incorporated other strategies too...increased carbon use (900 grams for 247 net gallons), increased RowaPhos use, added UV, and a controversial one...dose ChemiClean once a month....so it's hard to attribute an annual major sump cleaning to success, but I'm pretty sure it didn't hurt. I'll be doing another major sump annual come January 09. It's a fair job, but I think it's worth it.

Cheers,