300g+tank questions/suggestions

[duanes]

I agree with David R, having a sump off to the side makes life much easier.
I have sumps under tanks, and 1 off to the side, that one is totally open makes maintenance a breeze. Access to pumps, media, heaters without contortion is fabulous. I also have the water cascading 4 ft thru fractionating bio-towers into the sump.

You may also want to design a water change system where waste water goes directly to the yard or garden.
I have it set up so I open a valve and instead of overflow going to the sump, it drains to the yard.

I can drain 300 gallons down 2" PVC in a few minutes, close the valve and fill tanks (watering and fertilizing the tomatoes at the same time).
The entire water change in less than 20 minutes, with little effort.

 

[ikkie78]

There is a lot more to a sump than the overall gallons. Figure out what you're going to do for mechanical and biological filtration, how much media you want to have, anything else you'd like to incorporate (refugium/fry/planted area, drains for water changes or drip system etc), how much space you'll need for heaters and pump, and most importantly how much space you'll need spare after all that stuff to hold the "skim" when the pump switches off and the water drains back to the sump. Then you'll know how many gallons (and what shape) it needs to be. There is certainly more than one way to skin a cat when it comes to sumps!

Also, if you're going for an in-wall set up with the tank and gear contained in a room behind it consider putting the sump beside the tank in the room, rather than directly under it. This makes it a hell of a lot easier to get to the sump for maintenance and cleaning, and allows you to build the stand how you want and to what ever height you want your tank without having to give consideration to how much space is under the stand. IMO I see too many big tanks too high off the ground, my personal preference is for the stand to be about 450-600mm high so the tank is at eye level when you're reclined in a comfy armchair, rather than when you're standing in front of it.

Yeah I was looking at having the sump off to the side of the tank possibly because I didn't want a tall stand...like you I want it eye level when I'm relaxing in my chair! The only way I would find something for under the tank is if I didn't end up building it into the wall...then I would probably go with internal overflows as well rather than external.

If you go with Midwest, keep us posted. I'm hopeful on ordering a 225 wide with external overflows from the this fall.

Haha...you'll have yours long before mine then...I'm looking at next year most likely...gotta get a house this spring yet. So let me know how you like yours!

My 300 Midwest is by far the nicest and highest quality tank I ever owned. Great folks to deal with, built it exactly the way I wanted and delivered early.

Tank has a 75 gallon sump and they put the overflows pretty much wherever you want.

Tank in my sig....


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Yeah I read your whole thread! Love your tank and setup. I've heard good things about Midwest and seeing yours made me decide to use them. Also I want to setup my sump similar to yours...really liked how you have yours done...very clean and open for maintenance.

 

[Jc1119]

Thanks! My sump is underneath on this one because of real estate. Tank is the hallway basically, so it made sense as its a taller tank to begin with.

My sump on my 120 is beside the tank and it is a little easier to get to, but as long as you put the socks up front, it shouldn't be much of an issue.

I like both underneath and side sumps. Each have an advantage depending on your location and tank height.


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[ikkie78]

You may also want to design a water change system where waste water goes directly to the yard or garden.
I have it set up so I open a valve and instead of overflow going to the sump, it drains to the yard.

I can drain 300 gallons down 2" PVC in a few minutes, close the valve and fill tanks (watering and fertilizing the tomatoes at the same time).
The entire water change in less than 20 minutes, with little effort.

I definitely want to setup an auto waterchanging system...I'll have to wait and see what I have to work with and not sure if i'll be able to drain it to the outside since it'll be going in a basement but maybe I can pump it out somehow...hate to waste the water and have it just go down the drain if I could find a way to use it.

 

[ikkie78]

Thanks! My sump is underneath on this one because of real estate. Tank is the hallway basically, so it made sense as its a taller tank to begin with.

My sump on my 120 is beside the tank and it is a little easier to get to, but as long as you put the socks up front, it shouldn't be much of an issue.

I like both underneath and side sumps. Each have an advantage depending on your location and tank height.


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I'll have to see how big of a room I have to work with behind the tank and I'll have to decide if I put the sump under or next to the tank...and I'll have the socks up front like yours...I'm not a tiny guy and would prefer not to crawl in to change them lol!

I want to look into the Apex units like you have as well...would love to be able to adjust and monitor things remotely...also want to setup a simulated sunrise/sunset with the dimming feature of the lights.

 

[Jc1119]

The Apex is pretty awesome and can do alot of different things. The dimming lights are kinda pricey but they look really nice.

Pretty cool being able to monitor the whole system from my phone anywhere there's wifi. Not necessary, but as much as I travel, it's pretty cool.


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[ikkie78]

The Apex is pretty awesome and can do alot of different things. The dimming lights are kinda pricey but they look really nice.

Pretty cool being able to monitor the whole system from my phone anywhere there's wifi. Not necessary, but as much as I travel, it's pretty cool.


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I work 12 hour shifts so it would be nice to be able to keep an eye on things when I'm gone...and i'm kind of a gadget geek too sometimes so it would be cool! haha! What kind of lights are you using with the dimmer system?

 

[ikkie78]

Also still trying to decide on some stocking options...this is way bigger than i've ever done before so there are so many options...I love catfish so any suggestions on a larger catfish that would do well for its whole life in a 96x36x30 (think that is the size I'm looking at)?

 

[Jc1119]

I work 12 hour shifts so it would be nice to be able to keep an eye on things when I'm gone...and i'm kind of a gadget geek too sometimes so it would be cool! haha! What kind of lights are you using with the dimmer system?

I'm just using regular t5's and a handful of basic strip lights and just overlap on and off times. The dimming lights are pretty expensive but you can go from sunrise to sunset, program the actual daylight cycles in relation to the time of year. Damn thing can even simulate a storm lol.....

I haven't gotten that deep in yet. It pretty overkill for most freshwater systems but the programming is really cool .....

Saltwater... This thing is a godsend. Dosing automation, pump automation, ph, 02, salinity ......it's a powerful tool for the tech junkie.




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[ikkie78]

Yeah I thought that would be cool...saw the storm simulation in a video and it was pretty neat! Like you said kind of overkill sometimes but a cool toy to play with! I'd at least eventually like to get the dimmer system and set it up for daylight cycles...probably not right away but would be cool eventually.