Advice Welcomed, Thank You

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NCHornet

NCHornet

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Apr 27, 2012
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NC
New to this forum but getting back into fishkeeping after a break of about 12 years for health issues. Much has changed, when I left wet dry and bio balls were the hot ticket, lol!!!! I was planning on doing an all male AC tank like I had years ago, I was planning on at least 100 gal. I live over an hour from any type of decent fish store, so saltwater was out. Looks like mail order has come along and if you buy from the right people can be a great way for someone like me with limited mobility to be able to have a variety of fish. I just scored a very nice 180 gal all glass tank and drilled for sump by Aqueon with canopy, stand, led lighting, 75 gal sump, uv sterilizer and 2 massive new jebao pumps with a combined flow rate of 5300 gph. Obviously they will be throttled way back. Not sure why the PO was running 2 such massive pumps in the first place? Going to pick it up Sat and plan on sanding the cabinets down and applying a product used on pontoon decks and floating docks that has a bedliner type texture. I figured this would be great protection from the moisture. The sump is currently one large 75 gallon tank and I plan on installing 3 or 4 baffles to divide it up. Still doing my research on the best way to set the sump up for AC or I am also considering doing a native tank with different sunfish, cats and maybe a couple small mouth bass. The fish would be free from the lakes, rivers and ponds around the house and when they get to big they can be eaten or turned loose, it's a redneck thing, lol!!!! The tank by Aquen has two overflows at the back of the tank. The background is bright blue and will be changed to solid black or a DIY background. Eventually I would like to purchase one of the excellent backgrounds made today but for a tank this big I'm sure they aren't cheap. My biggest concern is the sump layout, thinking of the first chamber 6 to 8 inches wide stacked with different layers of foam from course to less course. First baffle will be held a couple inches up forcing the water to be forced up through the media in the second area. Not sure what to use here, but considering ceramic media, lava rock, or other media that can be covered with water for good bacterial growth. Water will then flow over the top of the next baffle and this next chamber will just be a couple inches wide to prevent any bubbles from returning to the tank. The 3 rd baffle will be held just off the bottom, forcing the water to flow up just like after the first baffle. The final chamber will be for probably just one of the jebao pumps and the 300w Eheim heater. The sump is 4ft long and if I do it like this it would mean an area in the middle of the sump that would be between 24 and 32 inches wide. That will hold a lot of media, would I be better off breaking this up into 2 sections with different media in each? Any recommendations on layout, media, filter floss or sponges would be welcomed. I will post pics as I progress. Just looking forward to getting back into a hobby that I once loved so much. Looking forward to meeting new friends along the way. Y'all have a great evening and thank you.
God Bless
NCH
 
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NCHornet said:
New to this forum but getting back into fishkeeping after a break of about 12 years for health issues. Much has changed, when I left wet dry and bio balls were the hot ticket, lol!!!! I was planning on doing an all male AC tank like I had years ago, I was planning on at least 100 gal. I live over an hour from any type of decent fish store, so saltwater was out. Looks like mail order has come along and if you buy from the right people can be a great way for someone like me with limited mobility to be able to have a variety of fish. I just scored a very nice 180 gal all glass tank and drilled for sump by Aqueon with canopy, stand, led lighting, 75 gal sump, uv sterilizer and 2 massive new jebao pumps with a combined flow rate of 5300 gph. Obviously they will be throttled way back. Not sure why the PO was running 2 such massive pumps in the first place? Going to pick it up Sat and plan on sanding the cabinets down and applying a product used on pontoon decks and floating docks that has a bedliner type texture. I figured this would be great protection from the moisture. The sump is currently one large 75 gallon tank and I plan on installing 3 or 4 baffles to divide it up. Still doing my research on the best way to set the sump up for AC or I am also considering doing a native tank with different sunfish, cats and maybe a couple small mouth bass. The fish would be free from the lakes, rivers and ponds around the house and when they get to big they can be eaten or turned loose, it's a redneck thing, lol!!!! The tank by Aquen has two overflows at the back of the tank. The background is bright blue and will be changed to solid black or a DIY background. Eventually I would like to purchase one of the excellent backgrounds made today but for a tank this big I'm sure they aren't cheap. My biggest concern is the sump layout, thinking of the first chamber 6 to 8 inches wide stacked with different layers of foam from course to less course. First baffle will be held a couple inches up forcing the water to be forced up through the media in the second area. Not sure what to use here, but considering ceramic media, lava rock, or other media that can be covered with water for good bacterial growth. Water will then flow over the top of the next baffle and this next chamber will just be a couple inches wide to prevent any bubbles from returning to the tank. The 3 rd baffle will be held just off the bottom, forcing the water to flow up just like after the first baffle. The final chamber will be for probably just one of the jebao pumps and the 300w Eheim heater. The sump is 4ft long and if I do it like this it would mean an area in the middle of the sump that would be between 24 and 32 inches wide. That will hold a lot of media, would I be better off breaking this up into 2 sections with different media in each? Any recommendations on layout, media, filter floss or sponges would be welcomed. I will post pics as I progress. Just looking forward to getting back into a hobby that I once loved so much. Looking forward to meeting new friends along the way. Y'all have a great evening and thank you.
God Bless
NCH
Click to expand...



Welcome aboard :)


You can actually do away with baffles to simplify the sump and free up more room for extra bio media, sponges etc.
 
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Hello welcome to MFK
punctuation is your friend! And the enter button! :)

Congrats on the 180, sounds like a nice deal. There is one guy on here who always recommends native fish to people. I know very little about natives but I'm sure he will probably pop in with recommendations.
As far as the sump, sounds like you have the right idea, I would use lava rock in the second chamber. Just because it's cheap, and as good as anything when it comes to surface area.

As far as the background goes, getting a real nice one for a 180 will be hundreds of dollars no doubt. I personally silicon-ed a few sheets of the cheap ebay stuff to the back of my last setup, and other than having seams, I thought it looked pretty good for only costing me 20$. You would have to use 4 of them and put them vertical for a 180, I believe.

Mine looked like this
t1.jpg
(this is the cheap stuff- https://www.ebay.com/itm/24x18-3D-R...hash=item46787de038:m:mSm-D5Bmj6yj1nmXMGDxF7w)
 
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Thanks for the replies, sorry for my writing skillz being subpar, but that's what you get from public education back in the day, lol!!!I tend to care more about what is said than how, but what can you do?

That background does look nice and it sure doesn't look like the ones I have seen that come in sheet form. I have looked into building my own with the spray foam, but I am to worried about the concrete leaching into the water after time and don't want to risk it. Currently the back is bright blue, with the 2 overflows being black. I'm probably going to paint it all black, use dark window tint, or....…..? Still looking at different options, there is so much more available these days and being able to read forums like this is just awesome, especially for someone who is disabled and with limited mobility.

My main concern right now is the sump. The seller is using one open 75 gal glass tank with no baffles and the media is a mixture of bio balls and pot scrubbers. I like the idea of the baffles because you are able to force the water through certain media from a certain direction. I can't see how the baffles take up any real room, especially for one this size, but I'm hear to learn and open to all ideas. Lava rock was a possibility, this sump is going to be able to hold a lot of media, no doubt about it, so cost is a major factor. Do y'all have any brands or specific types of roll out foam mats or sponges to use, or ones to avoid? I believe I want to do a submerged media to take advantage of the increased water capacity. What about growing plants in a refugium section of the sump? Is there any great benefit to this that would be better than using the same space for other media?

I hope this written a little better than the last post. I do want to thank everyone for the welcome and the advice that has been given, have a great day.
Later
NCH
 
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You don't say how debilitating your disability is. Having a large aquarium with a sump usually involves climbing stepladders at some point to mess about with the hood or whatever, no doubt you'll have to delve into your sump area which can even be tricky for able bodied people especially if it's a very tight space as most sump areas are. Have you got some help for water change day or are you going to have to struggle on your own? I'd be planning everything to make sure that any bending, climbing or stretching was at an absolute minimum.

The last thing you need after getting back into the hobby after years away is realising further down the road that you've set your system up in a not very user friendly way and having to stop all over again.
 
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Thanks for the link, some good info in there. I have a couple questions for you. How are the filter socks working for you? Any benefit to using them rather than layers of foam mat that start with a course mat followed by finer mats? This is what I was planning on in the first chamber where the water enters from the 2 overflows at the back of the tank. I was planning on making a drip tray above the foam mats to evenly distribute the water passing through them.
My 75 gal sump is quite large, and it will hold a lot of media. The previous owner is also giving me all his media from the sump that is currently still in operation and consists of ceramic media, bio balls , and pot scrubbers. Do y'all think this is a good idea, or should I sterilize the media and start from scratch? I understand that this will take much longer to establish a healthy bacteria group, but it also eliminates any contamination that the filter media might contain. It's going to take me at least a month to clean and paint the stand and canopy and to get the sump built. I can easily keep the media going in a clean tube with air stones if y'all thought this was a good idea?
The previous owner just purchased 2 new jebao pumps a couple months ago. They are the DTC 12000 and the DTC 8000 . The tank is plumbed for 2 returns from the sump and he was using both of the pumps, one for each return. Obviously they needed to be throttled way back as these pumps are capable of some serious flow. Wouldn't it be better to just use a single pump and split the flow to two different returns? The 8000 should be all that's needed and even it would need to be throttled down. If I do a submerged media sump, what type of flow would be best? Six times, Eight times the tank volume, more, less? When computing the flow rate should I add the sump capacity to the 180 gal tank capacity? Calling it 250 gal would be a nice round number, so doing over eight times that would be easily done with the equipment coming with the tank, but is that to much flow to support a healthy bacteria group?
I am also uncertain if a section of the sump that would contain a chem agent is needed or desired? I have no experience with Chemi Pure and the other products available today. What are your ideas on this? Sorry for all the questions that are probably asked constantly on this forum. I see this on the firearm forums all the time, that's my other expensive hobby, lol!!! I plan on doing a lot of reading in the different sections and I actually just purchased the DIY Handbook. I have watched his videos and have received some good info and ideas, so I figured it was worth the cost.
Thanks Again,
NCH
 
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esoxlucius said:
You don't say how debilitating your disability is. Having a large aquarium with a sump usually involves climbing stepladders at some point to mess about with the hood or whatever, no doubt you'll have to delve into your sump area which can even be tricky for able bodied people especially if it's a very tight space as most sump areas are. Have you got some help for water change day or are you going to have to struggle on your own? I'd be planning everything to make sure that any bending, climbing or stretching was at an absolute minimum.

The last thing you need after getting back into the hobby after years away is realizing further down the road that you've set your system up in a not very user friendly way and having to stop all over again.
Click to expand...

Excellent question, I can get around decently, so that I should be able to handle the maintenance on the aquarium myself. Prolonged activity, even driving for more than an hour can be very painful which I have meds to lower. However I only take them when it's absolutely necessary. Even if I were totally fine this size tank is larger than anyone could handle the setup alone. I am doing my homework on the setup so that I do it right the first time, or at least that I don't do it totally wrong, lol!!!! I have a basement under the tank and I have decided to drill a hole through the floor and run a large hose or PVC line so that I can use one of the pumps for water changes that will quickly pump the water out of the sump and into the basement where I have an open drain. I haven't gotten that part totally planned out yet. I also plan on tiling the floor under the tank, or even using thick rubber squares that lock together, any thoughts on this is much appreciated as well. I do have help that I can call when needed. Thanks for bringing this up.
Later
NCH
 
NCHornet said:
Excellent question, I can get around decently, so that I should be able to handle the maintenance on the aquarium myself. Prolonged activity, even driving for more than an hour can be very painful which I have meds to lower. However I only take them when it's absolutely necessary. Even if I were totally fine this size tank is larger than anyone could handle the setup alone. I am doing my homework on the setup so that I do it right the first time, or at least that I don't do it totally wrong, lol!!!! I have a basement under the tank and I have decided to drill a hole through the floor and run a large hose or PVC line so that I can use one of the pumps for water changes that will quickly pump the water out of the sump and into the basement where I have an open drain. I haven't gotten that part totally planned out yet. I also plan on tiling the floor under the tank, or even using thick rubber squares that lock together, any thoughts on this is much appreciated as well. I do have help that I can call when needed. Thanks for bringing this up.
Later
NCH
Click to expand...
Tiles would be better than rubber, as they are less likely to shift.

As far as stock perhaps a mix of pirate perch, trout-perch,a couple creek chubs, some shiners, a pair of madtoms and a orangespotted sunfish
 
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