580 Gallon Aquarium Filtration Ideas

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Joey822 said:
I just might do that. Do you have pics of the filters and of the tank?

Sent from my ADR6350 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
Click to expand...


Going to be tough. Pics aren't going to show you plumbing. Plus I use an overflow for my sump, so your still gonna have to drill for that.

But for the ultima 11, determine if u want 1 1/2 in or 2 inch plumbing, and then get a hole saw. Best to take bulkhead with u and match the correct size Drills like butter. Works better if u can keep it cool.
I went 5 inches below water level and drill through overflow front panel and out the bottom.
Then I went with two 5 ft. spray bars out the top.

If u go with a sump, u still have to drill for some kind of overflow. Even if u use 3 in. PVC, go right through the bottom standing up. That way water has to go up and over to get in the sump.

If u use a drip, your going to need a drain pipe, that drains excess water out. Not hard to figure that one out.

Forgot to mention, for my sump inlet I use a float valve. Not only in case of power outage, but if my return pump slows down, it still keeps the correct water level in sump..

I'll see what kinds of pics I can get u tonight after work.
Sent from my DROID4 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 
Is the tank going indoors in a temperature controlled area or is it going to be setup in a garage?

In the winter, that 200W sterilizer should be fine, but during the hot days of summer out in Tracy, running it may raise your temps too much (if it's going in a non-air conditioned area).

On the flip side, in the Winter time, if the tank is going in an unheated area (i.e.- Garage), keeping the temps up is going to require ~1,500W+ of heaters. The more you insulate the better.

After dealing with cleaning filter socks for the past few years, the ease of maintenance of an Ultima sounds really nice. From what I understand, flushing/cleaning them requires several hundred gallons, so you would want your intake to be lower than the mid-point of the tank's height.

Also, keep in mind that per their website, the recommended flow rate through the filter is 2,000 to 4,500GPH, with 4,000GPH being ideal.

http://www.aquaultraviolet.com/products/filters/ultima2/4000

Looking forward to seeing your build. Please post lots of pix. :headbang2
 
If you back flush the ultima once a week, it'll usually take about 50 to 80 gallons or so. Just use the sight glass to see if the water us clean enough.

Here's my overflow with strainer to the ultima11

Sent from my DROID4 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

uploadfromtaptalk1380579982282.jpg
 
Maybe I’lljust do a sump with a drip system. But with the drip, what would be a good GPD.I was thinking 45GPD nothing too much, the reason why I would think 45 GPDwould be ok, would be, the drip would do my 50% WC weekly for me. All I wouldhave to do is replace the filter sock in the sump, which brings me to my nextquestion, I can get 100 micron and under filter socks for real cheap from mydad’s work. Would I be able to use a 25 micron filter sock in the sump? I amjust worried about the filter sock filtering out the essential bacteria and notbeing able to cycle the aquarium properly. So what would be the smallest micronrating you guys would go for a filter sock? I really don’t care if I need toclean it every other day, I can do that, I mean, I at least need to do something,I mean the drip is doing my WC for me:). So what do you guys say??
 
I was planning on doing both a closed loop filter system like the Ultima, except I was going to go with the glass bead filter Wlim makes, and running a sump with a drip system. It's the best of both worlds. Massive bio-filter in the sump and great mech filter in the bead filter. WC are taken care of in the sump, and if you need to drain the whole tank you could with the backflush of the bead filter. Both systems complement each other well IMO, and both bring their advantages. Of course two filters bring additional costs and for now the budget cant afford to do both for me, so I'm going to go with the sump and drip. But I'll pre-drill the tank for the bead filter down the road and just plug the holes for now.

Filter socks will NOT filter our your beneficial bacteria. 99/9% of the BB is in the media, on the substrate, glass, etc. It is not free floating in the water. Smallest micron rating I would go I think is 50microns. I think that'll be the sweet spot. Depending on your stock levels and how much you feed you would probably have to change them out every 3-4 days.
 
spiff44 said:
I'd vote for the canister... much simpler and easy to keep up.
Click to expand...

Simpler than changing filter socks once a month and never doing water changes again with a drip? Or simpler than doing a back flush once a week? For big messy tanks Canisters suck :p
 
Joey822 said:
Maybe I’lljust do a sump with a drip system. But with the drip, what would be a good GPD.I was thinking 45GPD nothing too much, the reason why I would think 45 GPDwould be ok, would be, the drip would do my 50% WC weekly for me. All I wouldhave to do is replace the filter sock in the sump, which brings me to my nextquestion, I can get 100 micron and under filter socks for real cheap from mydad’s work. Would I be able to use a 25 micron filter sock in the sump? I amjust worried about the filter sock filtering out the essential bacteria and notbeing able to cycle the aquarium properly. So what would be the smallest micronrating you guys would go for a filter sock? I really don’t care if I need toclean it every other day, I can do that, I mean, I at least need to do something,I mean the drip is doing my WC for me:). So what do you guys say??
Click to expand...

GPD depends on stock levels and such. I use 40 GPD on my 180 and 80 on my 360 when I had it and my nitrates stayed below 10 ppm. the stock is medium to heavy on the 180. I use 100 micron socks and wish I would use 50's, the only problem with 50's is they have to be changed a lot more. Some people double socks and that helps.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom