220g Filtration question

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KirbyM

Feeder Fish
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Feb 13, 2017
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Hey all, first time poster.

I just picked up a 220g (my first large tank). I've been doing Reef setups for the past few years, largest being 123g, and am just now venturing into planted tanks/larger fish species. The 220g in question will be fish only, freshwater, no plants, sand/wood/rocks as aquascape. My question is in regards to filtration: Do I NEED a sump/canister filter for a tank of this size? I would much prefer to be able to have a few monster sponge filters but I'm worried the sponge filters will have a hard time managing the bio-load of larger species of fish due to how messy of eaters they habitually are.

In response to the inevitable question, I don't know yet what I will be stocking the tank with. I would love to have an arrowana (not sure I feel comfortable putting an arrowana in a 7ft tank) , datnoid, oscar (maybe), jaguar, jack dempsey, etc.. Obviously this list is far from complete, I will be checking species compatibility before anything goes in. But the main point here is all of the fish I want are big fish, with big appetites, and big bio-loads. I'm not sure the sponge filters would be able to keep up with it.

The reason I would prefer to use sponge filters over canister/sump is simplicity. I travel for work a lot and my wife will be managing the tanks while I'm away. She's familiar with sump setups, but I'm looking to reduce my risk factor. Cost is also a huge plus, sponge filters are much cheaper. If I HAVE to add a sump it's not the end of the world, the tank is already drilled with overflows on both corners.

Anyways, any information y'all could provide would be wonderful. Thank you in advance!

-Kirby
 
KirbyM said:
Hey all, first time poster.

I just picked up a 220g (my first large tank). I've been doing Reef setups for the past few years, largest being 123g, and am just now venturing into planted tanks/larger fish species. The 220g in question will be fish only, freshwater, no plants, sand/wood/rocks as aquascape. My question is in regards to filtration: Do I NEED a sump/canister filter for a tank of this size? I would much prefer to be able to have a few monster sponge filters but I'm worried the sponge filters will have a hard time managing the bio-load of larger species of fish due to how messy of eaters they habitually are.

In response to the inevitable question, I don't know yet what I will be stocking the tank with. I would love to have an arrowana (not sure I feel comfortable putting an arrowana in a 7ft tank) , datnoid, oscar (maybe), jaguar, jack dempsey, etc.. Obviously this list is far from complete, I will be checking species compatibility before anything goes in. But the main point here is all of the fish I want are big fish, with big appetites, and big bio-loads. I'm not sure the sponge filters would be able to keep up with it.

The reason I would prefer to use sponge filters over canister/sump is simplicity. I travel for work a lot and my wife will be managing the tanks while I'm away. She's familiar with sump setups, but I'm looking to reduce my risk factor. Cost is also a huge plus, sponge filters are much cheaper. If I HAVE to add a sump it's not the end of the world, the tank is already drilled with overflows on both corners.

Anyways, any information y'all could provide would be wonderful. Thank you in advance!

-Kirby
Click to expand...
Tank that size and with those kinds of fish you wanna keep gotta go canister/sump imo with a sump being ideal and the same amount of upkeep as a sponge filter more or less. Canisters could handle it too but way more cost and as you mentioned you want the easiest amount of maintenance as possible. They are the biggest pains maintenance wise and your tank is already drilled. No brainer to me.
 
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Freshwater4Life said:
Tank that size and with those kinds of fish you wanna keep gotta go canister/sump imo with a sump being ideal and the same amount of upkeep as a sponge filter more or less. Canisters could handle it too but way more cost and as you mentioned you want the easiest amount of maintenance as possible. They are the biggest pains maintenance wise and your tank is already drilled. No brainer to me.
Click to expand...
First off, thank you for your reply. Second, I completely agree with you on sump vs canister (unless I could find an amazing deal on a FX6). While we're on the topic of sumps, for saltwater it has always been recommended to have at least 10x turnover/hr. How does that translate to freshwater/monster fish keeping? I'll have to decide on a return pump eventually and I don't want to over do it on the flow. Any good brands/models you recommend for a tank my size?
 
KirbyM said:
First off, thank you for your reply. Second, I completely agree with you on sump vs canister (unless I could find an amazing deal on a FX6). While we're on the topic of sumps, for saltwater it has always been recommended to have at least 10x turnover/hr. How does that translate to freshwater/monster fish keeping? I'll have to decide on a return pump eventually and I don't want to over do it on the flow. Any good brands/models you recommend for a tank my size?
Click to expand...

For pumps, check out the Jebao DCP pumps. They are adjustable and extremely quiet. I recommend you oversize the pump so you can run it lower on power. I currently run the two DCP 8000's I have on my 220 at about 60% and I can barely hear them even when standing right next to the tank.

As for the filtration type, if the tank is already drilled, I would go with a sump. More complicated to set up but probably the easiest to maintain. I have a 55 gallon sump under my 220.

If you don't want to go through the effort of setting up the sump, you can plug the holes with bulkheads and put three AC110's across the back. That should be more than enough filtration for a high bioload. If you need more flow for the fish then you can always add powerheads.
 
KirbyM said:
Hey all, first time poster.

I just picked up a 220g (my first large tank). I've been doing Reef setups for the past few years, largest being 123g, and am just now venturing into planted tanks/larger fish species. The 220g in question will be fish only, freshwater, no plants, sand/wood/rocks as aquascape. My question is in regards to filtration: Do I NEED a sump/canister filter for a tank of this size? I would much prefer to be able to have a few monster sponge filters but I'm worried the sponge filters will have a hard time managing the bio-load of larger species of fish due to how messy of eaters they habitually are.

In response to the inevitable question, I don't know yet what I will be stocking the tank with. I would love to have an arrowana (not sure I feel comfortable putting an arrowana in a 7ft tank) , datnoid, oscar (maybe), jaguar, jack dempsey, etc.. Obviously this list is far from complete, I will be checking species compatibility before anything goes in. But the main point here is all of the fish I want are big fish, with big appetites, and big bio-loads. I'm not sure the sponge filters would be able to keep up with it.

The reason I would prefer to use sponge filters over canister/sump is simplicity. I travel for work a lot and my wife will be managing the tanks while I'm away. She's familiar with sump setups, but I'm looking to reduce my risk factor. Cost is also a huge plus, sponge filters are much cheaper. If I HAVE to add a sump it's not the end of the world, the tank is already drilled with overflows on both corners.

Anyways, any information y'all could provide would be wonderful. Thank you in advance!

-Kirby
Click to expand...
Check out hmf filters if you want to look at sponges more
 
KirbyM said:
First off, thank you for your reply. Second, I completely agree with you on sump vs canister (unless I could find an amazing deal on a FX6). While we're on the topic of sumps, for saltwater it has always been recommended to have at least 10x turnover/hr. How does that translate to freshwater/monster fish keeping? I'll have to decide on a return pump eventually and I don't want to over do it on the flow. Any good brands/models you recommend for a tank my size?
Click to expand...
My sump does 7x turnover and it handles my 210 fine, even with a 12" Pleco.
 
Thank you all for your input, I cant believe 3 AC 110's would be enough! I will probably just end up doing a sump w/ some jebao DC pumps. Im currently using one on my Red Sea Reefer 45 (123g) planted tank and its dead quiet. Fairly cheap too, considering how much some of the other pumps go for. I know a guy that has a 40b set up as a sump, I may just pick that up unless petco is having their $1 per gallon sale soon.

I'll also have to look at the hmf filters, never heard of them before.
 
I think I may have gotten lucky, a local club member has an Iwaki MD-RLT100 for just $100! Do you think this would be enough for both overflow/returns? It's 2340gph or 36gp/m
 
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