Not quite sure where to begin with my new project!

Cedric.Davinci

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 30, 2015
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Georgia
So the past few weeks my girlfriend and I have been looking on craigslist for a larger aquarium in the 150-180 gallon range to have a permanent home for our growing kids. Luck would have it we found an absolute killer deal on a setup frankly I am not sure even where to start with. I will be attaching pics to aide with this big proect we now have on our hands.

Here is the aquarium-



It's a 225 gallon aquarium. 72x24x30

This is the sump-




It's roughly 67 gallons based on dimensions 48x18x18.

The area with the bio balls is roughly 26 inches long. Does anyone know who made the sump or tank?

In the deal I also got two Iwaki WMD-30RLXT-115 mag drive pumps. I also got these pieces..



So here is my trouble. Honestly, this is significantly larger than my current setup. Right now i'm running a tank bout 55-60 gallons in size with a HOB filter. I know how to take care of fish properly, check parameters, water changes, etc etc.. The large tanks I have seen here as a lurker have been the kinds i've always wanted to get but always out of my price range. I got all of this for $300.00. I have never owned something so large. I know i'll have to purchase some plumbing pieces for this aquarium and build a stand for it. The tank is drilled on both sides of the bottom so I have to make the stand before I can even start running this setup. So where do I begin with this? What kind of sump is this? Do I need anything else major to make this happen? I have a lot to learn and plan on doing this right, so if possible some help on how do I hook all of this up. Do I need both of these pumps? I have watched a lot of videos on sumps but it's still not clicking with what I have to do.

These are some fair pics of the inside of the aquarium..




This whole setup needs a giant cleaning, lol. I appreciate any help with this. The kids can't wait to get in their new home. Thank you!
 

qguy

Piranha
MFK Member
Nov 10, 2009
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Here is what i would do, Take photos of each one and cut and paste each and "assemble" in MS Paint with your planned stands and pipping etc, this way we can better help you with your setup.
 

Cedric.Davinci

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 30, 2015
22
4
3
Georgia
The sump is going to be directly underneath and the pumps will be in there as well. I plan on building the stand with room underneath for all the plumbing etc. The part I'm confusing myself with is this: it has dual overflows built in.. The smaller holes inside the chambers are closer to the centerline of the tank with the larger ones further away.. Are the smaller holes what gets piped up to have incoming water going towards the sump with the larger holes being piped to have the clean water exiting the sump returning to the tank? Or is it vise versa? If I'm understanding correctly each overflow has a pipe bringing dirty water to the sump and a pipe bringing clean water to the tank. Also.. These two drive pumps I have.. One motor for each overflow.
 

FMA4ME

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Aug 6, 2013
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Wow man, I wish I had your problem, minus the sleeplessness lol :)
Congrats to you and your gf! I haven't had a tank that big myself but if I were you I would just start mocking things up and cleaning. Keep a pen and paper handy, make notes on possible clearance issues, especially when planning your stand, questions of course, and I bet things will just start coming to you.
 

duanes

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I don't believe the Iwaki pumps in your pic are submersible pumps, (you should check to be sure).
If not, they need to sit dry, outside the sump, and use plumbing to bring water to the intake, and sent back up to the tank.
Because they are not submersible, they do not transfer as much eat to the tank, a good thing.
And as you can see, yours have bolts, which allow you to secure them to a heavy object to eliminate vibration noise.
Where I worked pumps similar to these were bolted to cement block to quiet the hum.
 

Joao M

Fire Eel
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Nov 28, 2010
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Hi Cedric

If I were there it would be relatively easy to help, but from Portugal via net... it´s a bit more complicated.

Starting with Duanes comment
I don't believe the Iwaki pumps in your pic are submersible pumps, (you should check to be sure).
If not, they need to sit dry, outside the sump, and use plumbing to bring water to the intake, and sent back up to the tank.
Because they are not submersible, they do not transfer as much eat to the tank, a good thing.
And as you can see, yours have bolts, which allow you to secure them to a heavy object to eliminate vibration noise.
Where I worked pumps similar to these were bolted to cement block to quiet the hum.
100% correct. These iwaki are not to be submersed.
If you look at the last pic you posted of the sump it´seasy to see were they are placed and connected: next to the sump; under the tank

The first thing is, of course, to build the stand. After that we can go step by step.

Have you seen a sump operating?

If not, the first thing you should do is to visit a friend that has a tank with a sump. After seeing it functioning, things that now look "rocket science" become very logical and easy.

After that we´ll need to work on the plumbing.
 

Cedric.Davinci

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 30, 2015
22
4
3
Georgia
Thank you very much for the help so far, I really appreciate it. I have seen the systems running in passing but I will go to a high end lfs around here and see how they run. This week into weekend I'm going to start buying the lumber and hardware to build the stand. Is there anything else though (major components) besides basic pipes and hoses I will need to get this system running? Ie- canister filter, another pump etc? Thank you.
 

duanes

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Because it looks to be a complete sump/wet dry system, you will not need another filter(canister), filtration is built into the system.
You may (bit hard to tell) have all the plumbing parts you need, depending on how you fit the stand together.
 

raubiy

Jack Dempsey
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Feb 8, 2015
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♛ Slovenija ♛
Iwaki pumps are best pumps money can buy. They are very expensive for larger models 620 € :D They Never broke ,strong as whole army :D
But they are not submersible. (Run only out of water)
Man very great deal :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
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