Getting a 550 gallon tank next week...

[ChiPerf]

No way am I enlarging the holes, but I think not sizing down the existing holes from 2 inches or whatever they are initially to 1 inch seems dumb. They have 2 inch bulkheads in there I think, then sized down with PVC adapters to 1 inch. Tank stocking plans are listed above, and probably a few more cichlids we are fond of, like an argentea and carpintis. Adding a canister filter would look horrible based on the design of the tank and being seen from all sides. I'd rather make the sump as efficient as possible and see how that goes.

[sazhar]

Yeah I would remove all reducers and make the drains a large as possible. You may then want to get a larger pump as two 2” pvc drains will flow 7200 gph. Most agree that a turnover rate of 7 to 10 times an hour is best for a decent bio load in a large tank. So that would mean a pump output of 4000 to 5000gph for your tank. Of course the more the better when it comes to filtration imo.

[ChiPerf]

Thanks for the help man. I actually think I can handle all this now. I think I will keep the pump I have now, and upgrade in maybe a year or so, when the fish get bigger and the load gets higher. I am breaking the bank as it is. lol Another question though, does it matter that the return sizing will still be 1"? Can you just keep increasing flow but keep the smaller return tubes the same, or will that place a strain on the pump?

This tank does not have durso pipes either, which I don't really know what they are, except they reduce the noise the overflows make, right? How do I make them?

[Kyle_91]

I am planning on all my cichlids in there eventually, which presently are a Bocourti, 2 severums, Midas, Flowerhorn, Buttikoferi, Convict, Jack Dempsey, Firemouth, Regani, Jaguar, Pleco, and 2 Clown Loaches. They are in a 55 gallon tank right now, getting along very well surprisingly. If I have aggression issues in the future, I have a 125 also I'm setting up just in case.

It is a Reeflo Marlin pump, and it is about 2000 gallons per hour I think? I only have 2 drains, and 2 holes to refill water up to also, so that is only 1200 gph right? Good enough, or should I do something different? The bulkheads look much larger, and they have the drains and upfills (whatever you call them) sized down to only 1" Maybe I should totally redo this setup with the largest size PVC I can use huh? What do you think?

Sounds like a nice cichlid mix you have there, cant wait for pics!

[ChiPerf]

Thanks! I'm pretty pumped to get her rolling right now. I just got another FX5 for the 125 today so I gotta work on that too. Heading to the LFS to pick up some more bulkheads to do this deal right.

[sazhar]

If you keep the current pump you should be ok with the 1" return lines since that was running the tank in the previous setup. If you do get a larger pump in the future you will want to run a larger diameter line all the way to the sump. Changing from 2” to 1” in the return line will hamper the drainage and not be as efficient if you were to run 2” piping all the way to the sump. If the pump is putting out more water as the drain can handle, the water level in the sump will basically keep lowering until the pump starts to suck air. So that is not good for the pump. I generally like to allow for significantly more drainage, that way I don’t worry about it. A durso pipe is a drain that allows for good flow rate without that much noise. Without one there is a lot of noise from the waterfall created by the over flow. You can make one out of pvc pretty easily. All you need is a pvc elbow, tee, cap, and few of feet pvc. There are a ton of websites showing how to make them. Google durso standpipe and you will find a lot of info. If you need help fine tuning it let me know.

[aldiaz33]

A few questions for you:

1. Did the tank come with heaters?
2. How cold does it get in your basement?
3. Do you plan on setting it up to be viewable from all sides, or is it going up against a wall?

I ask about the heaters, because if it gets cold in your basement you will probably need a good deal of wattage to heat a tank that size. A lot of saltwater tanks run metal halide lights that put off so much heat that you have to run a chiller. But in your case, you probably won't be using metal halides (they are expensive to run and unecessary on a freshwater tank), so you may need to get additional heaters, depending on how cold it gets in your basement.

In regards to the plumbing, if the tank will be going up against a wall, you could use all 4 bulkhead's for drains to your sump and run returns up the back side of the tank. I would probably just use the same setup they had before (2 drains and 2 returns), but I'm just throwing this out there so that you have some more ideas as to your options...in case you want to go with a pump with more flow down the road.

The Reeflo is a high pressure pump that will consume about 265 watts at 5' of head. If you take the general 2 to 4 watt rule for heaters, you will add another 1,000 to 2,000 watts. I'm not sure what you pay for electricity, but all of this can really start to add up. I point this out because I was pretty shocked at how expensive running a big tank gets. My electric rates are some of the highest in the country (up to $.34 per KWHr, at the highest rate...it's a tiered system). Running your pump would cost me around $60 a month and a 2,000 watt heater that cycled on for about 8 hours per day would cost me another $145 a month (total of $205 a month in electricity).

If your rates are closer to the national average ($0.11KWHr) then this would cost you around $70 a month in electricity. My estimates for the heater cycling on for 8 hours a day are total guesses and you may not need so many watts if your basement is heated. I'm not saying this to be a Debbie Downer...just giving you a heads up as to the potential costs to run a tank this size.

Can you post pictures of the actual tank?

[ChiPerf]

Man I'm pumped. This thing is coming together nicely so far. Working on sealing up a leak from the bulkhead in the weir that is for the cords to come through. Learned something from that. Never trust what somebody else did. There were a few other plugs leaking in the sump too. This all sucked because I have water in there now with all the lava rock and everything else. Not light to lift to one side to work on the bulkhead plugs.

The tank did not come with heaters to my knowledge, but there are some tubes in the cylinder that went to the chiller, so maybe they are in there. I got two new Jager 300s to go in the sump. Basement sits at 62 right now, so not bad. Yes, it will be viewable from 3 sides, like a bullnose setup with one short side up against a wall eventually once I finish more of the basement walls. I spent a bunch of time buffing the tank out with Novus 3, but it really didn't do much except for the haziness and super light scratches. I got impatient and tired of hoping for better results without sanding and going through all that. It is what it is now.

[dirtbikedani]

I like your tank!

[ChiPerf]

My ghetto sump. )