180 gallon filtration with overflows

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CarpCharacin

CarpCharacin

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Sep 20, 2014
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I have a 180 gallon that I haven't set up because I still have to build a stand for it, but it is drilled and it has two corner overflows. Originally I was planning on building a sump out of either a 40 gallon breeder or a 55 gallon tank, but I'm thinking that would be a lot of work, and when I built my pond filter, I had to make a few revisions to the filter to get it working right. Anyway, I was wondering if I could use the overflows as an intake for a canister filter. I'm wondering if I could make it work with one more powerful canister filter, or if I would need two smaller canister filters, one for each overflow. Thoughts? I am planning on just having one Jardini Arowana in the tank.
 
When you say overflow, do you mean just a hole drilled for a bulkhead, or the tube coming up from the bottom hidden behind the corner piece thing? Not really sure how to visualize it.

If it was me however, I'd try to have one side as the intake and one side as the outflow because I like flowthrough designs. I'm visualizing the tank drilled for bulkheads on the back glass near the top, but idk if that's what you actually have or not.
 
I think there are two holes drilled on the bottom of the tank on each side, so 4 holes in total, and there is a black plastic overflow box in each back corner. I think I removed the overflow plumbing and the bulkhead fittings, I am going to have to replace the bulkheads anyway since I had to cut them to remove the pipe on the bottom of the tank that prevented me from setting it down on the bottom.
 
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Ok cool.

I'd do two outflows and two inflows; each inflow/outflow pair with either a canister or multiple canisters in series on each loop. Both the outflows on the left, both the inlets on the right. That's the kinda setup I like.

You could just as easily have other plumbing arrangements that would work just as well. Me? I try to fit as much filtration on a tank as I can. I don't believe that overfiltering is a thing.
 
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CarpCharacin said:
I;ll post a picture of the overflow boxes tomorrow. What kind of canisters should I use?
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If budget allows two FX6s......the Aquatop Forza FZ13 is a good alternative. Two FX4 would also probably be good. Everyone has there favorites but for bigger tanks you cant beat a pair of FX6 for cannister filtration. Not saying better than a good Sump though.....
 
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CarpCharacin said:
What kind of canisters should I use?
Click to expand...

Now there's a question that could result in a couple dozen pages of heated discussion lol

I'm a fan of Fluval FX series filters. Can't really go wrong with an Eheim either though. I've also got a gigantic Wlim glass filter that I adore, but I freely admit that it is a pretty dramatic case of overkill.
 
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CarpCharacin said:
Two FX6s I think would be kind of expensive. I'm going to try to get some work done on the stand for the tank over the weekend.
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A sump is cheaper and better than two fx6s, If you could make it I would highly recommend it as they are the best filtration method imo. You could also buy a 2nd hand fx6s but that can be a risk
 
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