600 tenecore tank. Need help on filtration ideas

[CyberPunk]

For best turnover your filter needs to be at the same level as the tank. A sump or overhead filter require the pump to push water up against gravity. That costs you turnover. An internal partition filter would achieve that.

Hope this helps.

Would you go with the 40 gallon internal box it has or drill and put a 100 gallon sump below?

 

[Clay]

Depends on what you're going to stock, really. However, I have always preferred the versatility of a separate wet/dry over the internal ones. One option could be to have mechanical filtration in the 40g area - polishing the water all the time.

 

[Griller]

Would you go with the 40 gallon internal box it has or drill and put a 100 gallon sump below?

The filter size rule of thumb that I always use and works on my heavily stocked tanks is that your filter needs to hold media equivalent to 1/20th the capacity of your tank. So you need 27gal of media.

I think your 40 gal box filter is more than adequate and leaves some room for messing around. It'll save you $$$ in power to achieve the same turnover as a sump. You also won't have to worry about the problems sumps have. You miss out on increased water volume, surface area and (like Clay said) versatility.

I would run with the box, it is there and it will do the job.

God I am envious of that GORGEOUS tank!!!

 

[CyberPunk]

The filter size rule of thumb that I always use and works on my heavily stocked tanks is that your filter needs to hold media equivalent to 1/20th the capacity of your tank. So you need 27gal of media.

I think your 40 gal box filter is more than adequate and leaves some room for messing around. It'll save you $$$ in power to achieve the same turnover as a sump. You also won't have to worry about the problems sumps have. You miss out on increased water volume, surface area and (like Clay said) versatility.

I would run with the box, it is there and it will do the job.

God I am envious of that GORGEOUS tank!!!

What would you use in that box? Like what media, how would you stack the media and how and what pump would you use???

This would be my first attempt at a wet/dry or sump system.

Thanks for the compalment on the tank! Its dirty right now but my better half is going to clime in the thing for me and shine it up (Will make for an interesting picture, lol).

 

[Griller]

What would you use in that box? Like what media, how would you stack the media and how and what pump would you use???

This would be my first attempt at a wet/dry or sump system.

Thanks for the compalment on the tank! Its dirty right now but my better half is going to clime in the thing for me and shine it up (Will make for an interesting picture, lol).

It looks to me like the left chamber is designed to hold a pump and return pipe and the right chamber holds the media. I can't tell exactly from the picture so please let me know if I'm wrong.

You need a 5400gal/hour+ submersible pump to achieve 10x turnover through your filter and it must fit inside the left chamber. You need to measure the chamber and hunt down the right pump. You could alternatively use several smaller pumps, as long as they fit. Run a return pipe from the pump into the tank. Personally I would be going for half that turnover and add a recirculation pump.

I would put a square of egg crate sitting on that lip at the botton of the right chamber and stack nylon pot scrubbers on top. I'd fill most of the chamber with the scrubbies.

I'd put a thin layer of sponge on top of the scrubbies then add any chemical bags (I like biochem Zorb because I hate tannins).

My prefilter would sit on top of the lot where I can get it out easily for cleaning. I'd have a layer of sponge, then felt, and batting on top, like I did here:
How to build a monster mechanical filter box with fine particle remover for under $60

Bear in mind that the water level in the chamber will be lower than the tank when the pump is running, giving you a partial trickle filter effect.

These box filters are old-school but work quite well.

I'm looking forward to that picture - there is something just wrong about making your woman clean your tank

 

[CyberPunk]

http://tech180.com/600tank/4.jpg

It looks to me like the left chamber is designed to hold a pump and return pipe and the right chamber holds the media. I can't tell exactly from the picture so please let me know if I'm wrong.

You need a 5400gal/hour+ submersible pump to achieve 10x turnover through your filter and it must fit inside the left chamber. You need to measure the chamber and hunt down the right pump. You could alternatively use several smaller pumps, as long as they fit. Run a return pipe from the pump into the tank. Personally I would be going for half that turnover and add a recirculation pump.

I would put a square of egg crate sitting on that lip at the botton of the right chamber and stack nylon pot scrubbers on top. I'd fill most of the chamber with the scrubbies.

I'd put a thin layer of sponge on top of the scrubbies then add any chemical bags (I like biochem Zorb because I hate tannins).

My prefilter would sit on top of the lot where I can get it out easily for cleaning. I'd have a layer of sponge, then felt, and batting on top, like I did here:
How to build a monster mechanical filter box with fine particle remover for under $60

Bear in mind that the water level in the chamber will be lower than the tank when the pump is running, giving you a partial trickle filter effect.

These box filters are old-school but work quite well.

I'm looking forward to that picture - there is something just wrong about making your woman clean your tank

Thanks for the reply and the good info!!!!!!!

One question for you. Is there a way to run this box and some sort of over flow to a sump below without drilling? I was just thinking it would be nice to have the sump to keep all my reactors, heaters and auto waterchange/top off stuff in, and also geting that extra water volum too. That stand is HUGE and plenty of room for the sump so figure I might as well use it uh???

Thanks again for your help!!!

 

[Egon]

Thanks for the reply and the good info!!!!!!!

One question for you. Is there a way to run this box and some sort of over flow to a sump below without drilling?[/I]

Just drill it, it's super easy. Acrylic is the same as working with wood as far as tools go. Get a hole saw from home depot. I would go with a 1.5" or 2" bulkhead fitting. Go with the largest hole you can fit in the bottom of that overflow box and still have room for the bulkhead fitting. Get the bulkhead before you drill, a 2" bulkhead will need close to a 3" hole and around 4" of clearance. Once your measured and your confident you have enough clearance for the bulkhead then your ready to drill. I use a spray bottle on the mist setting and wet the area before I drill. Then as I'm drilling I mist the drill bit/hole saw and the acrylic. After 3o seconds the hole saw is going to get gummed up with melted acrylic. Just pull it out and scrap the teeth clean with a flat head screwdriver or your fingernails. Then spray the area again and start drilling till the hole saw gets gummed up again then clean it again. Takes about 10 minutes to drill through 1/2".

 

[deeboi]

would def go with a huge sump...but there are also other filters which i don't know much about but would recommend if you had the money....i've seen pond filteration (huge canisters) and also lifeguard systems that really look like dollar wise they match the tank they filter..i would look into that..even tho local public aquariums use such type filteration, (freshwater), but also many lfs stores incorporate both massive wet/drys, and also huge canisters..but dont' have much exp. with those so if you have the moneys...

 

[Sonny503]

How to build a monster mechanical filter box with fine particle remover for under $60

great topic...

 

[nfored]

It's something else to get these big tanks, one would think you would be happy, but then as your looking at stock, your mind starts thinking about the next monster setup, all the way up to 50K Gallons .