i would probably run it against the bottom glass and the back glass and but a little overflow above it. how's that sound to you?
150G Tank Setup
- Thread starter Ayden Nguyen
- Start date
run the pipe against the glass would not look as bad as run it straight from the bottom to the water surface specially i'm going to paint the pipe black.
This is 100% true IF you are talking about commercial canister filters, like Marineland 350 sunsun, fluval, etc. However, a canister technically is just a sealed sump that uses the water pressure in the downpipe to cancel out most of the head, to give you almost 90% of your pump's GPH rating at 5' of head.
A 55 gallon drum, or a 30 gallon cooler, or a homemade sump setup so the top can be sealed even under pressure can work. I will admit that a sump wins in that it can house aquaponic grow beds, but if you put windows on your canister you can put in a refugium, which is almost as good. Also, from personal experience, grow beds do best in overhead sumps or HOBs anyway.
The fish I keep I need daily access to my filters to change mechanical filtration...plus I'm a firm believer in surface skimming...pretty tough to do that with a canister filter. I stand by sumps over canisters. I own several canister filters, they sit unused in storage now that I've built sumps for all my systems. Most of the pumps I use now days are rated in thousands of gallons per hour, not worried about minor head loss or anything like that. Small price to pay for more efficient, easier to maintain filtration.
Thank you guys so much for all the information. I currently have 2 canisters. They are cascade 1000. I can only afford that much. It seem like it is not enough for my fish. That's why i'm thinking if switching to sump. I went to a local fishstore (not petco or petsmart) and they recommended me fx5 or fx6 which i can not afford. I guess sump is the best option i have.
Overall, the sump will way out perform an FX6 for less money. I recently built a 50 gallon sump from scratch that moves 2200 gph for a 500 gallon system. Spent around $150. That's including pump, media, drip system components and everything else! Way more filtration than an FX6!
I repeat. A kitty litter bucket/old cooler = free
An inline pump = $12-$100+, depending on brand & output.
packing peanuts, yarn, whatever = free
2 bulkheads = $7
old shirt/stocking for mech = free
vinyl hoses = $5
And you will get more out of your pump than in a sump!
I have never built one, but i have seen them, they work as well or better than an fx6.
you can attach it to an overflow box like a sump, and put your mech in the overflow box, so you can have easy access.
If you aready have a submersibke pump, you can attach the outlet end of the canister to a bucket at the height of your tank and drive it by pumping water from that bucket to your tank.
The reason to use a canister is that it allows you to get the nessacary flow from a small pump so that:
a)you can buy a cheaper pump
and
b)you use less electricity.
An inline pump = $12-$100+, depending on brand & output.
packing peanuts, yarn, whatever = free
2 bulkheads = $7
old shirt/stocking for mech = free
vinyl hoses = $5
And you will get more out of your pump than in a sump!
I have never built one, but i have seen them, they work as well or better than an fx6.
you can attach it to an overflow box like a sump, and put your mech in the overflow box, so you can have easy access.
If you aready have a submersibke pump, you can attach the outlet end of the canister to a bucket at the height of your tank and drive it by pumping water from that bucket to your tank.
The reason to use a canister is that it allows you to get the nessacary flow from a small pump so that:
a)you can buy a cheaper pump
and
b)you use less electricity.
