Sump for 12'x4'x3'

[Peckoltia]

I would also suggest going with a third drain; if you end up deciding you need more flow, trying to add another drain later would be a real pain.

I have three 2" drains on my 770G tank and I'm running about 2,000GPH. My 3 overflows drain into large polypropylene filter socks, then past Black, Blue and Grey Matala sheets then 20liters of Seachem pond Matrix.

I'm not sure the matala would be enough mechanical filtration for my liking. I have it more for bio-media. The grey mat which is the finest is still pretty porous and would still let a lot through.

Here's an old video of my sump. If you want to see how my water looks, check out some of my other videos...I run a 25 micron, 50 micron and 100 micron filter socks and I'm really happy with my water clarity.

Looking forward to seeing your setup...sounds awesome!

[video=youtube_share;3g4KGI7caho]http://youtu.be/3g4KGI7caho[/video]

Thanks for the reply mate. I'm not 100% sold on the matala matting yet. I haven't seen the finest one just yet. I can always replace the matala with another type of foam or matting, I'm open to suggestions. I will probably run a couple of filter socks also. I posted up some pics of the plans. Came to the conclusion that I was was under what I would need in terms of drain holes. Changed the plans to 4x 50mm holes that will have 40mm bulkheads in them. Explanation with what I am doing with them is in my previous post. Thanks again for the reply.Will document everything with pics once it starts moving along.

 

[Squirtle919]

2.5 kw of heaters in that sump? dam...

 

[aldiaz33]

Alex is the Matala similar to Poret foam? I was thinking of something completely different before seeing your pic. I'm doing something similar with my sump, I just couldn't face the prospect of changing filter socks every three days again without trying something different! If the clarity isn't good enough with the Poret I'm going to use I'll look at either running a canister on the sump with polishing pads, or a small pump in the sump running on its own loop with a fine filter sock.

I've never seen Poret foam in person, but based on a google image search it looks like Poret is a lot more dense; Matala is pretty coarse stuff. My 100 Micron socks I'm sure capture particulates that the finest grey matala would not; if I were to guess, I would say the grey matala might capture debri that is 1000 to 2000 microns. The period at the end of this sentence would flow right though my grey matala. Definitely not the best product for water polishing, but I think it's good for bio.

Here's a pic of the different Matala sheets:

Thanks for the reply mate. I'm not 100% sold on the matala matting yet. I haven't seen the finest one just yet. I can always replace the matala with another type of foam or matting, I'm open to suggestions. I will probably run a couple of filter socks also. I posted up some pics of the plans. Came to the conclusion that I was was under what I would need in terms of drain holes. Changed the plans to 4x 50mm holes that will have 40mm bulkheads in them. Explanation with what I am doing with them is in my previous post. Thanks again for the reply.Will document everything with pics once it starts moving along.

Plans look great! Looking forward to seeing pictures. What thickness acrylic are you planning on using for your display tank? If it's going to be 3' tall, I would think it should be 1" thick. My tank is made of only 1.25" thick acrylic and it bows a lot, although it's 4' tall...I would say it should have been made out of at least 1.5" thick acrylic.

2.5 kw of heaters in that sump? dam...

If you are referring to my sump, it's 6 300W heaters, so only 1.8KW...but yeah, it uses a lot of juice in the winter time (~300KWHrs per month).

 

[Peckoltia]

To be honest, I can't remember what size acrylic they said it would be made from. I will find out and post it up in the next few days.

Starting to get pretty excited. Going to be a pain moving house/all my tanks. But at least I have the new tank to look forward to (not to mention a new house ).

Will reconsider what matting/foam I am going to use.

What method do you use for cleaning your filters socks?

 

[David R]

My 100 Micron socks I'm sure capture particulates that the finest grey matala would not; if I were to guess, I would say the grey matala might capture debri that is 1000 to 2000 microns.

Here's a pic showing the 45ppi [finest] Poret vs 100 micron filter sock;

Of course the socks will catch much more, but will subsequently clog faster too. 100 Micron is pretty fine (0.1mm) so while they work well for polishing water, I don't think I'd use them for a tank with large messy fish with out some sort of easy to clean pre-filter.

 

[aldiaz33]

To be honest, I can't remember what size acrylic they said it would be made from. I will find out and post it up in the next few days.

Starting to get pretty excited. Going to be a pain moving house/all my tanks. But at least I have the new tank to look forward to (not to mention a new house ).

Will reconsider what matting/foam I am going to use.

What method do you use for cleaning your filters socks?

I know that height is the most important factor in determining the thickness acrylic required, but length also plays a role especially when you start getting into really long tanks like yours. I would make sure they use at a bare minimum 1" thick, otherwise you might not be happy with how much bowing you will have. Have you already gotten an estimate? 12' sheets are crazy expensive and the thicker the acrylic, the price seems to jump exponentially. I know some people are touchy when it comes to discussing costs, but here in the US a tank that size would easily run > $10K.

To clean the filter socks I flip them inside out, lay them on my lawn and blast them with my hose set to Jet. It is a pain; I spend about 20-30 minutes every week cleaning them out, but I like my water nice and clear so it's worth it to me.

Have you decided on a pump yet? I've heard good things about the new Waveline DC pumps...really efficient, although they are newer to the market so they don't have a proven track record. If they prove to be reliable, I may swap out my Laguna Max-Flo pump for one (although I've been really happy with my Max-Flo).

Here's a pic showing the 45ppi [finest] Poret vs 100 micron filter sock;

Of course the socks will catch much more, but will subsequently clog faster too. 100 Micron is pretty fine (0.1mm) so while they work well for polishing water, I don't think I'd use them for a tank with large messy fish with out some sort of easy to clean pre-filter.

It sounds like that Poret stuff is a good happy medium...not too dense, but dense enough to capture a good amount of crud. It looks like you use mesh socks...I've never used them before- I've always used either felt or polypropylene which is a bit thicker and I would imagine hold more waste before clogging up.

The only thing I don't like about foam/poret for mechanical is that in the process of removing it for cleaning, no matter how careful you are, it seams like a lot of junk ends up in the sump. With socks you pull them out and all of the waste stays in the sock. I know that I've seen 200 micron socks...it might be worth giving them a try. And using the largest size sock possible and several of them also helps increase time between clogging. I try to look on the bright side in that since mine clog about every 7 days or so, it forces me to clean them out...removing turds from the water is always a good thing for your fish....but I realize that on the flip side feeling like a slave to them is also no fun- lol.

 

[David R]

I should have mentioned that wasn't my pic, I used the polypropylene felt socks too. I did try the 200 micron and found little difference, I think once they start clogging they catch finer particles anyway. I agree that having large socks and more of them are the key, if I had a bit more height to play with I would have used them with a settling chamber and some Poret first so the socks were just for polishing.


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[aldiaz33]

Hey Alex, Any updates? Has your tank been built yet? Would love to see pix.