Need help on future 500 or 600 gallon freshwater tank

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growthembigger

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 23, 2011
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Texas
hello everybody, i currently have a 125 gallon freshwater tank. im going to be upgrading in about 6 months to a 500 to 600 gallon. i want to start purchasing things for it now so my wife doesnt flip out when she sees how money ive got to spend. i will be converting my 125 into a wetdry sump......so here are my questions

how many gph of filtration will i need? ( so i know what size pump to buy)
what do you recomend i put in my sump for filtration?(bioballs, uv sterilizer, ect..)
should i drillthe tank? if so what size pvc pipes?
what size overflow?
and how should i do the lighting?(watts)
should i have a canister filter also with the sump?

this tank will be a freshwater carnivore tank, if you have any other questions u need answered to help me out just ask :) thanks for all of your input
 
I won't be able to answer all of your questions but I'll give a shot at a few.

I have a Reeflo Hammerhead pump for my 500. I figure I'm getting about 4,000 GPH out of it. For you 8-10X trunover will be a good place to be so you will need to find a pump that will move that volume of water.

I think bio-balls or any other ceramic media will be sutibale for you. UV sterilzer, not sure that is necessary. You can also add a canister filter to your system. I'm looking at adding a couple of Nu-Clear canisters to my return lines. For my system my wet-dry does a great job with the bio but I need more mechanical filtration so I'm going to get a canister with a 25 micron fitler pad to polish the water.

I would do 2 inch lines from the tank into the sump and keep it as big as possible from the sump into the pump. If you have too small of lines going into or out of the pump it will create head pressure and reduce your GPH. I believe that mine are 2 inch into the wet-dry and 1-1.5 inch (I don't remember exactly, sorry) from the wet-dry to my pump. The output of the pump is the same (1-1.5 inch) and then it gets smaller at my return lines (3/4 inch I believe).

Good luck. It maybe a good idea to think about a dehumidifire as a tank that size will create a lot of moisture in the summer.
 
Chromobotia said:
I won't be able to answer all of your questions but I'll give a shot at a few.

I have a Reeflo Hammerhead pump for my 500. I figure I'm getting about 4,000 GPH out of it. For you 8-10X trunover will be a good place to be so you will need to find a pump that will move that volume of water.

I think bio-balls or any other ceramic media will be sutibale for you. UV sterilzer, not sure that is necessary. You can also add a canister filter to your system. I'm looking at adding a couple of Nu-Clear canisters to my return lines. For my system my wet-dry does a great job with the bio but I need more mechanical filtration so I'm going to get a canister with a 25 micron fitler pad to polish the water.

I would do 2 inch lines from the tank into the sump and keep it as big as possible from the sump into the pump. If you have too small of lines going into or out of the pump it will create head pressure and reduce your GPH. I believe that mine are 2 inch into the wet-dry and 1-1.5 inch (I don't remember exactly, sorry) from the wet-dry to my pump. The output of the pump is the same (1-1.5 inch) and then it gets smaller at my return lines (3/4 inch I believe).

Good luck. It maybe a good idea to think about a dehumidifire as a tank that size will create a lot of moisture in the summer.
Click to expand...

I have a rena xp3 hooked up to my wet/dry.....work wonders ill post picks
 
when i was looking into a 600g tank my filtration was going to consist of a 150g sump, BIO balls and filter floss for mechanical. 2 Fx5's(depending on your budget of course) all bio with only one or two polishing pads, with in-line heaters and in-line UV sterilizers (not necessary, but nice to have just in case).

for lighting i'd just use shop lights... they're about $25 each at home depot. 2 should do fine, 4 would give you plenty of light
 
It is always safe to have an extra canister filter laying around pumping..............The filter can easily be uased on other tanks..........
 
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