ProClear 150 Sump what's this skimmer and..

I am looking into buying a 75g setup. This is a pic of the ProClear 150 sump, the tank is drilled, in tank overflow. I asked what the skimmer was, all they knew was it was the one that went with the sump. Anyone know what it is and if it works well? Also, why does it look like rock where bio balls usually are -- is this some kind of media?

 

I have the proclear sump & skimmer - the skimmer works great! It seems as if they just removed bioballs and replaced with live rock rubble. It looks like the setup you showed is a bit different but not a whole lot.

Bioballs or LR rubble = nitrate factory, leave it if you want or turn the whole thing into a refugium if you can like I did... heres a pic (doesnt include the light)

 

I have the same sump, I tossed the bioballs, leave them outta there nothing but trouble like bc219 says. I took out the bioballs and put a new protein skimmer in there, I didn't like the skimmer that was in there...I put a a EuroReef RS-80 in the bioballs spot. Take out the sponge seperating the two chambers as well...unless you plan on cleaning this routinely. I'm not a sponge person. unless in grows in my tank.

 

I'd like to hear a few more opinions on this. So does all of your biological filtration happen in the live rock in DT then? I am starting with base rock and live sand. I would like to hear more on bio balls vs. none. The sump does have a filter right above where the water filters into the bio balls area.. Isn't that good enough to get debris from getting trapped in the bio balls?

 

This is what I believe and I have had much success...from reading many, many articles and forums about bioballs, they are only good for FOWLR systems. With a reef tank, leave them completely out. I will never use them and I will advise people to never use them as well. All they are are plastic balls with a big surface area so nitrate eating bacteria will grow on them....this is the problem, the water that is trickled over them does not make the bacteria useful like it should be...it gets a little fuzzy after this, just from what I've read and personal experience don't use them. I remember the filter before the bio-ball chamber. I threw that out as well. I threw out all sponges and filter pads that came with everything I got. All they do is collect waste and raise nitrates. Some people use filter socks on their returns to the sump with great success, but that involves a lot of maintaince and you will read that they often buy new ones frequently. So, I took all that extra stuff out so it was just bare bones just plastic. The water goes into the side with the bioballs chamber(no bioballs), the hose just sits in the sump, i took out the white top. There sits my RS-80 skimmer, so new water gets skimmed. Water transfers to the other side to my UV, heater and return pump. I have some debri in the bottom of my sump but I have amphipods down there that will take care of that.

 

You want to read about refugiums and try to change it into one, I did it with that sump, it was a bit tricky but it works. Basically you would use a section of the sump as an area with sand and macroalgae (like cheato) and/or some mangroves, then the other section will hold the pumps. You then light the refugium with a separate light opposite hours that the display tank lights are on. There isn't one in my picture but I have a clip on shop light that I use. Read up on refugiums, it's interesting.

Regarding filtersocks that t4azlews mentioned, I use a knee high panty hose on the end of my drain hose and wash them well every few days. It catches a lot of detritus and helps keep the sump clean. Knee high panty hose are a lot cheaper than buying filtersocks.

Here is a pic of my ghetto style refugium that I made out of my pro clear sump (which seems to be slightly different than yours, as I am unable to put my skimmer where the bioballs were). I used a baking dish for the sand and cheato.

 

I think I'll take your advice and skip the bio balls. If I build a fuge in the bio chamber it would be a really high flow rate so I think I'll build one in a separate container. Thanks for your advice. The panty hose idea is great I'll use it..

 

I had such an emergency I built it the way it is because it was better than nothing. I do plan on changing it to something that will work better and be more efficient though.