keeping sump clean

[Aquageek450]

hey guys, i have a 20gal sump with three sections, Section 1 is where the water enters and goes into the filter sock and there is a protein skimmer, it then goes up and over a bubble trap and into the refugium and then into the return section. The refugium is bare glass on the bottom and i plan on just putting in some chaeto. I've noticed there isn't much water flow/movement in the sump and some algae, junk etc is starting to settle on the bottom of the tank. What can i do to keep this from happening? Once the tank is finished cycling should i add some sort of clean up crew to the sump? Or add a small powerhead in there to keep the water stirred up? Shouldn't my filter sock be catching everything?

[cloak]

Some vinyl hosing? Just do the work and get rid of that stuff. (nip it in the bud)

Detritus will always be there, but it's up to you to break down the equation.. GL.

[jim.ranger]

Has anyone tried running a small power head in the sump to keep the detritus moving or is this a bad idea? :)

[whiteshark]

Has anyone tried running a small power head in the sump to keep the detritus moving or is this a bad idea? :)

Nothing wrong with that idea.

[asl4me76]

hey guys, i have a 20gal sump with three sections, Section 1 is where the water enters and goes into the filter sock and there is a protein skimmer, it then goes up and over a bubble trap and into the refugium and then into the return section. The refugium is bare glass on the bottom and i plan on just putting in some chaeto. I've noticed there isn't much water flow/movement in the sump and some algae, junk etc is starting to settle on the bottom of the tank. What can i do to keep this from happening? Once the tank is finished cycling should i add some sort of clean up crew to the sump? Or add a small powerhead in there to keep the water stirred up? Shouldn't my filter sock be catching everything?

If you have three sections, you could take your return plumbing and T it off with a bulkhead to adjust the flow to your fuge section of the sump. This will help ensure that it's constantly getting some flow and not a bad idea either.

[bluecoyote79]

I was wondering this same thing as well. I use 150 micron filter socks and they get most stuff but over time small piles of detirus build up. Do the felt socks keep sumps completely detritus free?

Does anyone know of a small inline pump that could be put between two sections of tubing to vacuum out a sump? Sumps are usually floor level so it hard to siphon them out with gravity.

[MidwesternTexan]

Has anyone tried running a small power head in the sump to keep the detritus moving or is this a bad idea? :)

I currently have 2 different PH's in my sump for that reason.
It is 125g sump, and keeps at least 110g running normally.

[CoralFiend]

I keep a MaxiJet 1200 with the propeller option in my skimmer section (40B sump) and it keeps most of the detritus suspended long enough to get sucked up into the skimmer. It stays pretty clean.

[rwb500]

powerhead in the sump is a great idea. even if you vacuum it every few days, its much better to keep it suspended until it gets skimmed out or consumed by an organism in the tank. If you vacuum a bunch of crap that's been sitting there for a few days, much of the algae-feeding nutrients have already leeched out into the water.

i use a tunze 6015 with the intake bars chopped every other bar so it will never clog.