300 Gallon Freshwater W/Two Proclear wet/drys question??

[idle0095]

So on my 300 I have a proclear 200 on the right and on the left I have a pro clear 125. How much of a pain in the butt is it gonna to keep the water level good? The proclear 200 has a mag 18 running at full and the proclear 125 has a mag 18 dialed back to half way. See pics.

The reason Im running two pro clears is because the 200 wasnt keeping up with the two over flows and two pumps.

 

[pacu mom]

So on my 300 I have a proclear 200 on the right and on the left I have a pro clear 125. How much of a pain in the butt is it gonna to keep the water level good? The proclear 200 has a mag 18 running at full and the proclear 125 has a mag 18 dialed back to half way. See pics.

The reason Im running two pro clears is because the 200 wasnt keeping up with the two over flows and two pumps.

The problem is that you have way too much pump. The recommendation for a ProClear 200 is a pump at about 600 gph. The ProClear 125 needs a pump around 450 gph, like a Mag 5. Mag 18 pumps are rated between 1300 and 1800 gph depending on the model.

We are running a ProClear 400 off our 300 gallon tank, using only one overflow box. We had a CA 6000 pump (1600 gph) which was recommended for the 400. After five years, the pump died on a Friday afternoon, and we had to pick up the biggest pond pump we could find (800 gph) for the weekend. I really didn't notice any difference with the smaller pump. When we do a water change, we fill the tank up to the bottom of the slots of the overflow box. We then add additional water to get the water level where we want it in the ProClear. The amount of water being pumped into the tank equals the amount of water entering the overflow box.

I can see that it might be a little tricky getting the water levels where you want them in two ProClears. It would seem that the same amount of water would enter both wet/drys, and one of them is smaller. It probably wouldn't matter if the water level was higher in one of them. If you end up having too much trouble, with the right sized pump in the ProClear 200, and some biological media in the FX-5, you could probably get by with just the 200 (if you're not grossly overstocked).

 

[aaronb]

Yeah I'm not sure why you chose the pumps you did especially trying to run twp. Wet/dry filters use slow flow to be efficient. Using an oversized pump and dialing it back is just wasting electricity/money. I'd recommend using the fx5 and the 200 with a proper sized pump. All wet/dry filters have a recommended flowrate. They aren't like a regular sump where you can push as much flow as your pipes will handle through the sump. Plus overflows have a recommended flowrate you need to pay attention to as well.

 

[B_IN_SD]

I have 2 w/d filters on my 125 and it is a real pita to get them both at the correct water level. 1 bump of a overflow box and one of the w/d's is sucking air and the other is half full of H2o.

 

[idle0095]

Thanks everyone. They do all seem to be working fine. I have build in overflows so I dont have to worry about bumping anything. Im going to look into getting smaller pumps today. I always thought pushing alot of water was the way to go.