Building wet/dry for my 450g

[indiana hurricane]

OK to start off I am going to be using the 100g rubber maid and 3 drawers as a DIY.

I have drilled out the bottoms of the three drawers, which was some trial and error of how big to drill the holes. I drilled the holes in a grid pattern, I am using Chomper's design. I filled up the rubber maid and ran the pump back to the top of the drawers and got the water flowing thru the drawers.

I have 2 1 1/2" holes drilled in the overflow. I was also thinking of drilling a 1 1/2" hole near the bottom for water changes and to drain in the the filter while I am there watching so if power goes out there will not be a complete drain of the tank.

I was thinking of having 4 returns (2 at each end) 1".

The tank will house a RTC (5" right now) and his tank mates (don't have any for him yet).

Oh I bet you are wondering about the pump, I have a spare pump for my pond that I am planning on using. It pumps out 3600gph.

 

[Pharaoh]

Pics of the design would help. (plus the tank because I want to see it.) I ran something similar to this at one time.

You will have a lot of evaporation and it will take more heater power to keep it warm.

 

[indiana hurricane]

pic of tank. I haven't built the stand yet. I should be able to build it by next week end.

 

[Pharaoh]

Sweet tank. This setup might be somewhat loud as well. Hopefully you have it in a fish room.

 

[Clay]

Your returns should really be based off of the output of your pump. If you are splitting that, do it properly and size down accordingly. 1.5" pvc = (2) 1" pvc pipes. The drains should be oversized for the return pump.

 

[indiana hurricane]

Sweet tank. This setup might be somewhat loud as well. Hopefully you have it in a fish room.

It will be in the basement.

Your returns should really be based off of the output of your pump.

I am used to building ponds. So I am kinda figuring the same way with the tank and filter. The pump pulls the water out of the sump and dumps it in the tank. Then that water rasie's the water level and comes out the overflow into the filer, and then the process happens over and over a lot in a hour. Is this ?

I have always used canisters on my tanks and this will be my first large tank, with a wet/dry.

 

[indiana hurricane]

Pharaoh, the only place's I know around Indy is the Reef and UB's. I tend to stay away from UB's, but I do go in once in awhile. I love the Reef and will get my bulkhead fittings from there. Are there any other place's here in Indy???

 

[Pharaoh]

Yes, there's a place on the SE side. Premium aquatics. They are normally on-line only, but they open to the public on Fri & Sat for a few hours.

 

[Clay]

Jason and Jeremy are very helpful (PremiumAquatics). I try to give them my business when I can.

 

[indiana hurricane]

Well I plan on going down there(PremiumAquatics) this saturday and see what they have.