Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

im running an aquapro 3000lph Pump running in my system (Big B's Line)

it has a Plastic Strainer covering a black filter membrane

i find i need to clean it out weekly i just clean it out over my GB so it all go's back into the gb.

i am wondering if i need to use the membrane?? would just the strainer be enough?? i am worried about solids i guess entering my pump and killing the impellor but also am worried about the strain the pump may have pulling water through a clogged filter.... it only seems to be dirty with "Dust and dirt" not many solids come out of it. apart from the odd worm attached to the strainer cage which would endup being mulched up fish food

just want to know if im doing the right thing?? or should i ditch the membrane?

the pump is mounted about 80mm off the bottom of the sump was thinking about putting 60mm of gravel in the bottom of my sumps for the solids to live in

Yeah ditch it.... We get rid of them from the pumps before installing. Though have you got the PP model or the AP model? I notice the AP model is almost half the price of the PP model, not sure what the difference is apart from that, they look very similar... AP is slightly higher watts...

Well in AP, you want the fish crap (solids) to end up in the growbed so that it can be broken down by the worms in there... so get rid of the filter membrane.. just the strainer should be enough... of coz you run the risk of solids causing problems for your pump impellor hence you need to have pond pump that can handle a certain size of solids...

Never have gravels or fine rock in the tanks. They should be in the growbed... Gravel in the tank causes more problems... and could impact on water quality...

I'm pretty sure I'm using the same pump mate, and the first thing I did was remove the filter sponge (I think this is the membrane your talking about). It seems to be working fine for me and I have it sitting on the bottom of my fish tank. I have only cleaned it out once and it had a bit of scum on it but not too much that it was affecting the pump.

also I would advise against having any gravel in the base of you sump. I had only a very thin layer in the bottom of my FT in the early days and it was not very nice when I had to clean it out. Stank to high heaven!!

Cheers guys, will ditch it asap, I think I will get alot more flow without it.