Th main tank is planned to house a mix of African peacocks and haps, probably medium stocking (cost dependant there, would love high density). I am unsure of how much bio filtration I will actually need and how to guess this? I do not plan on doing multiple W/C's each week. The plan would be a large, say 50%, W/C every 1-2 wks if I can get away with it.
I have a 6' 120 gallon sump that came with an 8' 300g tank that was previously saltwater. The sump had a couple of baffles with matala mat vertically between each baffle. 3 separate sections in the tank created by the 2 baffles. I'm freshwater and unsure how to set this up for maximum bio filtration with simplicity a key factor as well.
1 option was to have the sump wet and in the middle section between both sets of baffles rig up horizontal matting so that the water will move vertically through the media, then down (or up) the 2nd baffle and into the last chamber that would hold the heaters and the outlet to a reeflo hammerhead external pump. Both baffles would keep their media as well. Seems the simplest.
I'm now thinking of setting up a drawer tower (or 2) with media in the drawers and using the top skinny drawer to have flat quilting to be the mechanical filtration with the bottom of that top drawer drilled to create the tower as a trickle. The lower 2-3 drawers would have foam or matting for biofiltration. This would leave tons of open space un-utilized but I guess it may not be needed?
I can sit the drawer on the bottom of the tank (just slightly raised to allow water to flow out of the drawers) giving me maximal height therefore maximum media, or I can raise it up about 6" so the whole think is trickle. I will lose some media if I do this. I figure I will need about 6" of water in the sump when running so the outflow is always submerged. Overflow from the main tank if power is lost is about 5 1/2" or 17 gallons of water calculated at 2 inches of main tank depth. Only using about 1/2 of the sump height with this method. I will need to remove the baffles that are currently in the tank, creating 1 large compartment.
If I only use 1 set of pull out drawers for the bio, then I don't see why I can't get away with using a 75 or 90 gallon 4' tank. This would give me extra room/storage under the main tank as the 6 footer and the pump take up the entire 8 feet basically. Wondering if I should look for a cheap 75 and use it instead and try to sell the current 6' sump (might be a tough sell as I can't imagine many are set up to house such a big sump). I just bought a 55 and 65 that got filled today that are to be grow out tanks.
Any ideas, insights, or suggestions appreciated.
I have a 6' 120 gallon sump that came with an 8' 300g tank that was previously saltwater. The sump had a couple of baffles with matala mat vertically between each baffle. 3 separate sections in the tank created by the 2 baffles. I'm freshwater and unsure how to set this up for maximum bio filtration with simplicity a key factor as well.
1 option was to have the sump wet and in the middle section between both sets of baffles rig up horizontal matting so that the water will move vertically through the media, then down (or up) the 2nd baffle and into the last chamber that would hold the heaters and the outlet to a reeflo hammerhead external pump. Both baffles would keep their media as well. Seems the simplest.
I'm now thinking of setting up a drawer tower (or 2) with media in the drawers and using the top skinny drawer to have flat quilting to be the mechanical filtration with the bottom of that top drawer drilled to create the tower as a trickle. The lower 2-3 drawers would have foam or matting for biofiltration. This would leave tons of open space un-utilized but I guess it may not be needed?
I can sit the drawer on the bottom of the tank (just slightly raised to allow water to flow out of the drawers) giving me maximal height therefore maximum media, or I can raise it up about 6" so the whole think is trickle. I will lose some media if I do this. I figure I will need about 6" of water in the sump when running so the outflow is always submerged. Overflow from the main tank if power is lost is about 5 1/2" or 17 gallons of water calculated at 2 inches of main tank depth. Only using about 1/2 of the sump height with this method. I will need to remove the baffles that are currently in the tank, creating 1 large compartment.
If I only use 1 set of pull out drawers for the bio, then I don't see why I can't get away with using a 75 or 90 gallon 4' tank. This would give me extra room/storage under the main tank as the 6 footer and the pump take up the entire 8 feet basically. Wondering if I should look for a cheap 75 and use it instead and try to sell the current 6' sump (might be a tough sell as I can't imagine many are set up to house such a big sump). I just bought a 55 and 65 that got filled today that are to be grow out tanks.
Any ideas, insights, or suggestions appreciated.
