Convert Eshopps Wet Dry into a Sump

[Marcisaninja]

Has anyone here converted a wet dry filter into a sump?  I have a 180 Gallon African Cichlid tank that has an Eshopps WS-300 Wet Dry under it.  It has the sponge and bio balls.  It seems now that it is older.  I am having nitrate issues.  I can see detritus on the bio balls but it's hard to clean out due to the sump not being able to be removed from under the tank.  I was thinking of removing the bio balls and adding filter socks.  Maybe a refugium in the middle chamber but I'd have to modify the acrylic and cut out some holes to turn it into an actual sump.  If someone has already accomplished this, I'd love to know how you did it.  Here is a link to the sump.  Eshopps Sump 

[ScottieB]

Hi! 
I did a similar thing but in reverse. I hade a custom made wet/dry for a 300g that was originally a discus tank. Eventually I converted it to a reef tank and the sump evolved into a refugium. 
I basically removed the bio balls and utilized the sump to add extra water volume to the system. 

Your nitrates tend to creep no matter what if the system is out of balance though. First just consider more (or automatic) water changes or lots more plants to regain balance. 

Otherwise if you really want to convert he sump...my suggestion would be add several large sponges to the system first then after a few days clean out the sump  (going slowly to avoid drastic changes in chemistry) but keep it plumbed to the system. Keep the heater in it and use the large sponges as your new biological filter. 
For you maintenance just rinse out one sponge at a time. I would still imagine your nitrate would creep up since there’s no reason for them go down. 
 

You don’t see filter socks used that much for freshwater but they would work as a pre-filter if you rinse them every other day.

Hope a little of that was helpful!

 

[Marcisaninja]

Thank you

 

[FishyThoughts]

2 hours ago, Marcisaninja said:

I was thinking of removing the bio balls and adding filter socks.  Maybe a refugium in the middle chamber but I'd have to modify the acrylic and cut out some holes to turn it into an actual sump.

Personally I’m not a fan of bio balls. Though I can’t say I’m a huge fan of filter socks either, but that’s only because the socks can be a bit of a pain to clean. And kind of wasteful/expensive if you went with just replacing with new ones. They do work well though. 
 

Anyway, you could make that into a sump setup without having to modify the acrylic at all. 
First compartment- do sponge filter pads; filter floss on bottom, medium sponge in middle and thick layer of course sponge on top. 
Second compartment- make a basket that fits relatively snuggly. With the basket having a solid sheet of acrylic in the middle that goes to the bottom of the compartment and up to the height of where you want the water to come up to. Only the bottom of the basket would need to be perforated, so you could make it with solid acrylic sheeting on all sides. Just make a cutouts on the basket that’s slightly bigger than the cutout in the bottom of the compartment of the wet/dry. Could also make it so they acrylic goes a little higher in the middle and cut a handle into it for removing the basket.   I would recommend sintered glass media, ceramic media or something porous in this basket. 
Last compartment- return pump, heater. Depending on space you could also add chemical media, additional bags of media you used in the previous compartment or add a divider and grow more plants.

[d23perry]

2 hours ago, FishyThoughts said:

Personally I’m not a fan of bio balls. Though I can’t say I’m a huge fan of filter socks either, but that’s only because the socks can be a bit of a pain to clean.

I place my filter socks in the washer with bleach only (no soap/detergents) and then air dry.  Pretty impressed with how well they clean, and obviously with little effort. 

[gardenman]

A wet/dry filter is typically more efficient than a sump so converting one to a sump will likely lower your efficiency. The air exposure in a wet/dry filter helps to make the aerobic bacteria more efficient. Koi keepers use Bakki Showers as a biofilter, which is essentially a tall wet/dry filter using a special, porous ceramic as the media. The detritus you're seeing on the bioballs may be thriving bacterial colonies instead of anything bad. The filter pads and drip tray typically stops anything large-ish from getting to the bioballs. Higher nitrates and low/no ammonia/nitrites are a sign that the biofilter is doing it's job. 

If you are concerned about high nitrates and are looking for a solution other than heavy planting or water changes, then adding a dense, less porous, biofiltering material like the 8"x8"x4" ceramic blocks to the filter can help. They're typically large enough, and if placed in a low flow area, dense enough to create anaerobic conditions inside the block where the nitrate consuming bacteria can thrive. There is also a product called "Miracle Mud" that can be used in a freshwater or marine refugium to create the conditions for the nitrate eating anaerobic bacteria. Some who use Miracle Mud insist they never have to do water changes and even grossly overstocked tanks maintain near zero nitrates. (It's a bit pricey though and you need to swap out 50% each year.)

The bacteria we need to convert ammonia and nitrites are aerobic, which thrive in a high oxygen, faster moving system like a wet/dry filter. The bacteria that consume nitrates want an anerobic, very slow moving water supply. In nature they thrive in the mud, so Miracle Mud tries to replicate that. Converting a wet/dry filter to a sump will likely lower its efficiency and have no positive impact on the nitrates. There are other ways to tackle the nitrate issue. 

So, why doesn't everyone use a wet/dry filter if they're so good? The typical answer is expense. They're pricey. They're also more complicated to set up. You've bought yours and have it all plumbed in, so you've already overcome the biggest obstacles.

[Marcisaninja]

Thank you

[FishyThoughts]

If your interested. Here’s some information regarding aquarium filtering, best media types and performance here. 
https://aquariumscience.org/index.php/7-filter-media/

 

[Marcisaninja]

4 minutes ago, FishyThoughts said:

If your interested. Here’s some information regarding aquarium filtering, best media types and performance here. 
https://aquariumscience.org/index.php/7-filter-media/

 

Thanks, I'm going to read it right now.