OK fine, but as far as specs go they're fairly typical on the aquarium market. I have two Q1 9000's and I don't think much of them either.bigbaddad;2129183; said:
Efficient monster filtration Design Discussion
- Thread starter cvermeulen
- Start date
This is all very interesting to me as I am setting up the 4000 gal as everyone probably knows. Less engery consumption is a big issue. I'm already planning on using LEDs for the lighting, and would like to go cheaper on every other electrical component as well. Along with more efficient pumps, I wish I could find a more efficient way to heat the tank as well. Seeing as it is in an unheated garage and Montana has horrible winters....probably comparable to Canada(maybe). If only I had the money to do a solar or wind powered rig for this tank I wouldn't worry about it at all.
All of this kind of rings a bell as my tank and filters will all be the same level kind of like a pond. I plan on using 55 gal plastic barrels for the filter behind the tank. I had toyed with the idea of using the four corners as filters, but I think it will get very complicated when it comes to sealing the tank so for now I'm going with the barrels. Their cheap, and easy to use. I'm already using one as a filter for my 350 gal pond. Running two Fx5s as prefilters, and the barrel is sitting above them, and gravity takes water back into the tank. So is there any reason to think that I could use powerheads to push water back into my tank as it will be 0 head? I'm not sure on the logistics of this, but it's very interesting. I have one 5000 gph pump and had planned on buying at least one more, but if it can be done with a savings on electricity I'm all ears. Basically my plan is to have a large PVC overflow that runs into the first barrel and down to the bottom of the barrel. The pipe goes all the way flush with the bottom. There will be slits cut into the side of the pipe up to about 10" above the bottom. There will be egg crating or something that is held at that height. On top of that would be placed filter floss, and more crating on top of that, which can be removed for cleaning/replacing filter floss. The part below that would act as a settling chamber which I want to activate with an air pump or somthing similar, and it will have a side drain that will run through the wall outside for backwashing the settling chamber. After the water works its way up through the floss it will overflow through a large pipe into the next chamber which will have scrubbies/rocks/ect for added bio filtration. After it flows through several like this it will enter the final chamber with just pumps and heaters before being pushed back into the tank by pumps. Was going to use one pump to push water through a reverse undergravel filter, and the other will just push back into the tank itself creating some current. Does this sound feasible at all?
All of this kind of rings a bell as my tank and filters will all be the same level kind of like a pond. I plan on using 55 gal plastic barrels for the filter behind the tank. I had toyed with the idea of using the four corners as filters, but I think it will get very complicated when it comes to sealing the tank so for now I'm going with the barrels. Their cheap, and easy to use. I'm already using one as a filter for my 350 gal pond. Running two Fx5s as prefilters, and the barrel is sitting above them, and gravity takes water back into the tank. So is there any reason to think that I could use powerheads to push water back into my tank as it will be 0 head? I'm not sure on the logistics of this, but it's very interesting. I have one 5000 gph pump and had planned on buying at least one more, but if it can be done with a savings on electricity I'm all ears. Basically my plan is to have a large PVC overflow that runs into the first barrel and down to the bottom of the barrel. The pipe goes all the way flush with the bottom. There will be slits cut into the side of the pipe up to about 10" above the bottom. There will be egg crating or something that is held at that height. On top of that would be placed filter floss, and more crating on top of that, which can be removed for cleaning/replacing filter floss. The part below that would act as a settling chamber which I want to activate with an air pump or somthing similar, and it will have a side drain that will run through the wall outside for backwashing the settling chamber. After the water works its way up through the floss it will overflow through a large pipe into the next chamber which will have scrubbies/rocks/ect for added bio filtration. After it flows through several like this it will enter the final chamber with just pumps and heaters before being pushed back into the tank by pumps. Was going to use one pump to push water through a reverse undergravel filter, and the other will just push back into the tank itself creating some current. Does this sound feasible at all?
Yeah, this has been a great thread so far. It touched on a concern I had with my setup. I have a real small turn over as I'm concerned about power consuption with a pump better rated to the application. To make up for it, I went with a smaller pump, but the filtering that does get done is super thorough. (goes through 200+gals of super tight Matala matting)
The idea of just adding a bit more circulation to increase suspension in lui of more pumpage sounds perfect for me. I'm thinking curtain of bubble back ground instead of a some mechanical pump for starters.
The idea of just adding a bit more circulation to increase suspension in lui of more pumpage sounds perfect for me. I'm thinking curtain of bubble back ground instead of a some mechanical pump for starters.
Funny you should jump in Necro... it was your setup that started me scratching my head 
As for Canadian Winters, I'm on the Canadian West Coast, so I can go a whole winter without seeing snow!
Anyways I don't think all of this is out of the realm of consideration. Maybe I'll have to do some research to see if I can find a high volume, very low head pump that would be suitable for more load than just circulation, but still tailored for the application and more efficient than a centrifugal pump.
As for Canadian Winters, I'm on the Canadian West Coast, so I can go a whole winter without seeing snow!
Anyways I don't think all of this is out of the realm of consideration. Maybe I'll have to do some research to see if I can find a high volume, very low head pump that would be suitable for more load than just circulation, but still tailored for the application and more efficient than a centrifugal pump.
I kinda figured when I started reading lol. Everything that can make this tank more efficient energy wise, and maintenance wise I'm looking into. Even looking at ozone generators, and the whole nine yards. That will be added later, but should be awesome non-the-less. Thanks for doing this research. I'm not much of an electrician so I don't really know how to calculate how much energy will be consumed and how that will affect my powerbill. I'm honestly more worried about finding a cheaper way to heat this thing, but everything helps even efficient pumps. I realize that at this size pumps will use as much if not more power than my heaters will. Crazy to think about though.
Sounds like you have less of a winter than I ever will. lol. I can get 4' in a single storm if I'm unlucky. Like I said we had 14" in june.
Sounds like you have less of a winter than I ever will. lol. I can get 4' in a single storm if I'm unlucky. Like I said we had 14" in june.
Oh, with my plan basically just being gravity fed will it really require a heavyduty pump. It's not really pulling water through anything. The water will just flow through everything and this pump will push it back into the tank. Again not sure on the logistics, but intrigued.
Well, It's my thought that with a large enough cross sectional area, even with fine mechanical media, the pressure to move water across the media gets very close to zero (for as long as the media stays clean anyway.). Something like an FX5 has a 5" diameter disc to put your polishing pads in, so they plug up super fast and your flow drops to near zero, but if you increase the area relative to your water movement and the amount of waste you expect to trap...necrocanis;2132996; said:
We'll have to see I guess. I know the airlift system that guy uses on his ray tank works pretty well.... but he's got so much water in there, he doesn't need massive turnover to keep the ammonia manageable, and I don't think rays are super messy in terms of mechanical waste.
Yeah, wonder how messy 20-30 3'-4' catfish will be? lol. Probably going to eat around 5-10 lbs of food per day or more when they're all full grown. Going to have to come up with some interesting feeding habbits for them. Someone suggested dog or cat chow. I need to find a good supplier of catfish chow! Buy in bulk. No one raises catfish around here though.
Man that's going to be an expensive feeding bill! 300lbs of food per month.necrocanis;2138703; said:
You're going to need to get yourself a commercial fishing license and a modified wood chipper to make your own catfish chow!
