guppy said:
I think most people do, as it disperses the water and drips water over the bioballs evenly.
Canister Filters
- Thread starter shookONES
- Start date
I think most people do, as it disperses the water and drips water over the bioballs evenly.
Since filtration is the name of the game, figure I'd post. What size sump would you guys use for a 180g? How many gallons of bioballs would you add to the sump?
The things you have to think about are...
How often do you want to add water to the sump? if you are doing weekly water changes this is less of a concern.
What will the bio load be? My 265 has a huge bio load on it and I filter 2500gph. In the sump I'm using 10 gal will bring the water level to the bottom of the bio balls. I have around 2.5-3 gal of bio balls.
I lose 6-7 gal a week in evaporation so if I miss a week I'm sucking air.
Remember if you are building your own sump you will need to drill a hole in the return line just below the waterline to prevent siphoning ( I've seen after markets without this so be shure to check ) a HUGE amout of water back into the sump and onto your floor ( heard about a guy who got 50gal on his floor...guy looks a lot like me..
) in case of a power outage or when you shut the pump down to service the tank
You can never have too many unions and shut off valves...be shure you can get the pump off without cutting pipes...also be shure you can stop the flow of water from your overflows.....If you are using PVC pipe have you seen the PVC pipe cutters? They look like pliers with a blade ,cost like $10 and they will cut pipe up to 1-1/4"> They cut it straight and clean ....They are a must.
http://www.plumbingsupply.com/pvccutters.html
Menards has them cheaper.
Always make shure the overflows can out flow your pump...and I don't mean if your pump can put out 1500gph get overflows that can flow 1550gph...you need more like 1700gph or more.
That should give you some things to think about.
How often do you want to add water to the sump? if you are doing weekly water changes this is less of a concern.
What will the bio load be? My 265 has a huge bio load on it and I filter 2500gph. In the sump I'm using 10 gal will bring the water level to the bottom of the bio balls. I have around 2.5-3 gal of bio balls.
I lose 6-7 gal a week in evaporation so if I miss a week I'm sucking air.
Remember if you are building your own sump you will need to drill a hole in the return line just below the waterline to prevent siphoning ( I've seen after markets without this so be shure to check ) a HUGE amout of water back into the sump and onto your floor ( heard about a guy who got 50gal on his floor...guy looks a lot like me..
) in case of a power outage or when you shut the pump down to service the tankYou can never have too many unions and shut off valves...be shure you can get the pump off without cutting pipes...also be shure you can stop the flow of water from your overflows.....If you are using PVC pipe have you seen the PVC pipe cutters? They look like pliers with a blade ,cost like $10 and they will cut pipe up to 1-1/4"> They cut it straight and clean ....They are a must.
http://www.plumbingsupply.com/pvccutters.html
Menards has them cheaper.
Always make shure the overflows can out flow your pump...and I don't mean if your pump can put out 1500gph get overflows that can flow 1550gph...you need more like 1700gph or more.
That should give you some things to think about.
repair-you've been a huge help. When the time comes to build one, I'll definetly get it touch. I'm actually considering a 5x2x2 ~150g RR instead of the 180g. What size aquarium should I use for the sump? Bioload isn't going to be tremendous: 1-2rays, 1 tig, 1-3 dats, and that's about all I can think of. Granted ,there will probably be a few more, but IDK what. Also, what pump would you recommend? I'm looking for something quiet, reliable, and a bargain.
how much does it cost to build one of those? I saw them priced in a local shop for about 2-300. Just wanted to compare.
I have been leaning toward upgrading to canister (from hang on back filter) and wanted to know if I should skip that and go straight to the wet dry system. I am new btw.
Thanks.
I have been leaning toward upgrading to canister (from hang on back filter) and wanted to know if I should skip that and go straight to the wet dry system. I am new btw.
Thanks.
rodneybur said:
Keep this in mind if you change from an over the back to a canister you don't get the oxigen transfer from the water passing through the air on it's way back into the tank.. On one of my tanks I had a canister filter that keep the water CLEAN but I noticed that the fish would gulp air so I asked a friend about it and he told me about the lack of oxigen transfer so I added an aquaclear 110 and the fish stop gulping within an hour
If you want to add a canister...while not a favorite of mine....do it in addition to the over the back back filter.
Tainted Glory...... you are on the right track.... Give me a week or so and I'll write an artical and show pics and prices to build your own wet/dry..... I'm not an expert but I've got a clue
I'm going to base my design on something from this site.
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/wetdry.htm
Only deviation I can think of is I don't plan on using an overflow box, as a reef ready tank is what I'm shooting for. I've got a ton of questions I'll post when the time comes, though.
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/wetdry.htm
Only deviation I can think of is I don't plan on using an overflow box, as a reef ready tank is what I'm shooting for. I've got a ton of questions I'll post when the time comes, though.
People are afraid to try to build wet/dry's for some reason?? I got super pissed at the pre-made wet.dry's the stores were selling, give me a Godamn break!!! $300 for a little wet/dry?!?! what a bunch of rotten pricks!! I built my wet/dry out of a 29 gallon aquarium and a couple sheets of plexi. The indtructions are pinned at p-fury. I am a complete, drunken, imbosil and yet I managed to build one so you sure can too. Mine holds 10 gallons of bio-balls, houses 2 heaters and use 2 mag 7's for returns. I buy that cotton batting crap from the local sewing/craft place by the roll and it's cheap. Not counting the pumps or bio-balls, I only spent like $60 to build it and it holds way more media than the ripoff commercial ones. Power to the PEOPLE!! 
