Over tank sump filter

[Fishy-Botany]

How big of a sump filter do you think I can put on top of my 75 gallon tank?
I want to do a planted sump filter and was thinking of using a 3ft x 6inch x 6 inch planter box. The goal would be to fill it with emersed plants and clay pellets to remove excess phosphates and Nitrates between water changes.

 

[Racersk]

How big of a sump filter do you think I can put on top of my 75 gallon tank?
I want to do a planted sump filter and was thinking of using a 3ft x 6inch x 6 inch planter box. The goal would be to fill it with emersed plants and clay pellets to remove excess phosphates and Nitrates between water changes.

Like physically how big and heavy? or size?

Take x2 2x4's and set them on edge , with the planter sump on top of these. Span this to the frame and it will be fine. I had a overhead sump over the back half of my 125G for 3 years using cedar fence boards and it was a 6' wide tank-with more weight overhead than your planning.

 

[Fishy-Botany]

weight wise. sorry..
Thank you for the info. Do you have any photos of how yours looked? What plants did you use?

 

[Backfromthedead]

i had one of these running on my 75 awhile ago until the pump took a crap. worked well, i used pothos. heres some pictures i had while i was building it.

 

[duanes]

I used a 20 and 40 gal tanks as planted sumps, set up on two different window box/ledges to make use of natural southern exposure natural light on one, and a western exposure on the other.

 

[Fishy-Botany]

Backfromthedead I think im going to steal that plumbing idea for the out flow.
duanes that is awesome that you had cyperus species growing indoors for you! How much did they filter out?

 

[Backfromthedead]

Backfromthedead I think im going to steal that plumbing idea for the out flow.
duanes that is awesome that you had cyperus species growing indoors for you! How much did they filter out?

yeah i actually put in a reducer (1 1/2"-1 1/4") to keep the water level high in the sump. that rio pump i was using pushed about 800 gph so i figured make the drain too big vs. too small at first. took awhile to make quiet but thats the rig i stuck with mounted just below the waterline.

 

[duanes]

duanes that is awesome that you had cyperus species growing indoors for you! How much did they filter out?[/QUOTE]
My nitrate level averaged 2-5ppm, in the tanks, those sumps were attached to. But not the the plants alone
I also do large water changes every other day, 30 to 40%. with semi-permanent PVC that sent old water straight to the garden sumps.

 

[Fishy-Botany]

duanes 2-5ppm is really good. The lowest I get mine with just water changes is 10ppm for a couple days. My pike characins are so much more skittish when nitrates go above 20ppm. So far I do 60% twice a week. Im hoping using an over head sump will get me to once a week or to 5ppm.
Backfromthedead that makes sense. It would suck having it over flow.

 

[Racersk]

Only pic I could come up with of the sump. It was a floor sitting tank, garden planter on the left, 10G bow on the right- Pothos Tree planted in that- the other side was bio (scrubbies) and filter over the top with a spraybar and drain on either end.