300 gallon setup

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Isaiah Shipp

Isaiah Shipp

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 11, 2016
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Hey guys, this will be a long post so just bare with me! I am familiar with how to set up some of the smaller tanks 100 and smaller. But I am wanting a 300 gallon freshwater setup but I know that most setups have sump pumps and all the other bells and whistles. Which I have no idea how to maintain or where to get one. I guess my question is, what do I need as far as plumping and Euipment to have a healthy 300 gal. I don't think I'll be able to do water changes for something so big so is there something that will substitute for that? Thanks guys!
 
Find a used 60 or 70 gallon tank for a sump and an old 20g or 2 for baffles and cut then to what you need. I would go with a trickle tower style sump and run a dc pump like a jebao or deepwater. As for the water change issue I would make a drip system and drill your sump for an overflow for old water to be drained from the tank
 
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For a 300 gallon tank u would want a pump with 1500-3000 GPH rating. Then drill two holes (at least 2"+) into the tank. Heres my setup. U actually dont even need an aquarium as a sump, anything that holds water is considered a sump (rubbermaid containers). Drip system is ur other option for water changes. I personally just have hoses to suck out the water, hose from sink to tank for return.

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I've got an old acrylic box i use for a sump, but like mentioned you can use anything that holds water. You can use the plastic drawer systems for a sump filter and bio balls or scrubbies with lava rock for filter media. There are tons of videos on you tube on how to make and plumb sumps. Just curious how are you filtering your 100 gallon? In the stickies they have the calculations for the flow rate of the various size pvc tunes you can use for drains and returns. Give me s sec and I'll snap some pics. Probably cost me $100 to build my filter, another $200 for the pump. Tank is about 200 gallons.
 
Isaiah Shipp said:
Hey guys, this will be a long post so just bare with me! I am familiar with how to set up some of the smaller tanks 100 and smaller. But I am wanting a 300 gallon freshwater setup but I know that most setups have sump pumps and all the other bells and whistles. Which I have no idea how to maintain or where to get one. I guess my question is, what do I need as far as plumping and Euipment to have a healthy 300 gal. I don't think I'll be able to do water changes for something so big so is there something that will substitute for that? Thanks guys!
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Just curious why you think you wouldn't be able to do WC for something that size? Drip systems and all are great, and I'd like to do one too, but I think manual WC for a 300G is within reason. I too have thought auto water changes, but at some point I'm not sure if some sort of substrate vacuum is unavoidable (assuming you have substrate). Other factors are your stock/feeding and how often you'll need to WC if you go manual. Just wanting to get more information so that we address the right concerns.
 
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millerkid519 said:
Jeez I figure there would be more opinions by now
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Tired of typing the same thing over and over. Pumps 8-10 X turnover--300X10 is 3,000 GPH. Overflow/drains need to be able to drain that much water. Jaws777 just posted that PVC drain rate graphic today in another thread. If you want the tank to be quiet, do a Herbie style drain with a gate valve.

Get a box/aquarium/sump/bucket/rubbermaid that is 20% of the size of the tank or bigger. Put bio media in laundry bags. Rig up some filter socks for mechanical filtration. Don't need any baffles in a freshwater tank.

Call thefilterguys.biz and tell them you want a chloramine filter setup. They'll tell you the part number for the system you need. Buy that, change the filter cartridges every 4 months, and you don't have to do water changes anymore.

So just gravel vac turds off the bottom and clean the filter socks every few weeks. Feed the fish every day or so. Email Jeff Rapps for fish -- or cichlidsoftheamericas.com. Watch em fight. After a year or two, they'll be big and colorful.

Maybe stock Nitrofurazone and Kanamycin, PraziPro, and some epsom salt for meds.
 
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Wouldn't try it with your stock? Why's that? Some inadequacy you see lurking there that is dangerous to fish?
 
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