Setting up 700 gallon can't decide on going pressurized or good old wet/dry

I'm setting up a 450 now, I went with the Ultima 2 1000. I'm also running a small sump with filter socks for some more mechanical and is a good place to put the heaters at.

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You might find this interesting...
$700 and $1400 Seagate filters


$140 Intex pool filter


The $1400 dollar filter is a $300 dollar range older model hayward filter that they slapped their label on, you can clearly see the hayward label on the pump on the seagate website.

From a media standpoint standard pool filter sand runs around $10-15 for 50 lbs. You would need about 2 bags to cover a cubic foot so $20-30
Seagates "special" media cost $100-$120 per cubic foot.

Whats even more interesting is surface area comparison
870 sq ft per cubic foot for the Seagate media which they claim can handle 80-95 lbs of fish
30,000-50,000 sq ft per cubic foot for standard pool sand depending on the variation in size!!!!
How many lbs of fish does that come out to be!? No wonder the 50 lbs in my filter works so well.

jjb said:

Again with all the new hype on the new media available in pressurized systems such as seagate filters and ultima II by aqua clear claiming 800' of bio surface per square foot would seem very enticing with a very small system and foot print handling 80-100 lbs of fish easily ,,,can go way up if purchasing larger system

Pressurized media ;
Pros ;to me are cost is realtively inexpensive , never have to touch or clean media , can relocate in the garage and just do backwash for cleaning and water change , noise level , mess , less flooding issues

Cons ; do they really work with all their new media ? Seems to good to be true and how will it get enough 02 to support all that wonderful bacteria

Wet dry;
Pros;Works and works well easy to keep any eye on water levels ,heater in sump , other media in sump

Cons; nitrates can get really high, have to change or clean filter pads , will have to clean bio balls from time to time for nitrate reduction, noise level , possibly more flooding issues on larger tanks

Also thinkin about installing a 1.5 " drain right in the middle bottom of my 700 just to suck the waste out ,, Iam gonna paint the bottom black and go bare because Iam satying with large fish ,, has anyone done this with success ?


Anyone using a pool type pressurized media based system with a larger aquarium ?

Click to expand...

spiff44 runs two Ultimas on his 1700 gallon tank.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...nk-resealing-w-no-silicon-at-all-1700-Gallons
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...9560-Pict-of-my-DIY-build-now-recycling/page4

VLDesign runs an Ultima on his 2600 gallon tank
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...16005-My-new-2600-gallon-plywood-tank-project


There have been some MFK members who complained about water clarity using only Ultimas.
This ultimate filtration thread discusses biowave filters.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...TIMATE-FILTRATION-AND-EVOLVING-WITH-YOUR-FISH!!!!!!

I probably would have gone that route if I had known about them when I purchased my Ultimas. We are going to run two Ultimas on our big tank primarily for biological filtration. We have been very pleased with running two Pentair Rainbow RTL-25 spa filters (run with a Hammerhead pump) for mechanical filtration on our 300 gallon tank. So we are going with six RTL-100s on the big tank. This is not something that is commonly found on MFK. Here is a member with a 765 gallon tank that uses RTL-like filters:
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...-My-765-gal-tank-Part-1&highlight=Mexico+City

Here's a fabulous reef system that utilizes RT-like filters
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=16850559&postcount=809

If you decide on a closed loop system, instead of a drain in the bottom of your tank, consider extending your uptake pipes to just off the floor.
When these "poopsucker" pipes are strategically placed, the debris just scuttles across the bare floor and is quickly removed by the poopsucker pipes. This has worked extremely well for us, and in the 9 years the 300 gallon tank has been running, there has been no debris to vacuum out. Going with six poopsuckers on the big tank. The plumbing will be the only "decoration" in the tank. Six poopsuckers, five uptakes and returns for the mechanical filtration and one Ultima.


In our sump, (redundant filtration, and I had the tank built with external overflow boxes), I plan to extend an uptake pipe (like a poopsucker) to the floor of the sump to draw water to run through the second Ultima and return the water through the returns plumbed through the overflow box. I hate the thought of drilling the bottom or sides of a tank for plumbing....had eleven holes drilled in the top of our tank.....