canister or existing overflow/sump system?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
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bermuda

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 15, 2005
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Colorado
okay guys, i'll admit the only time i come on this forum is when i have no idea whats going on; generally i absorb exceedingly large amounts of info on the fish that i currently have, and how to keep them alive, and i'm terrible at anything more than that. :) on that note, you guys are always very nice and helpful to me, so thanks. so here i am again, with a totally new problem, haha.

i just got a 55 gal corner aquarium with a stand off of craigslist. i realized when i went to pick it up that i has an internal overflow setup, but i had prematurely and excited bought a fluval 305 canister off ebay months ago cuz it was a *steal*. i was planning on using the fluval on a 40 gal, so the 70 gal rating seemed fine to me, but now i'm worried it's not technically enough, as i've always heard that in the aquarium hobby, bigger is better, etc. :D i'm not sure what do to now. can you run the overflow into the canister, or does that entirely defeat the purpose of the overflow?

i seem to be the only person i know who enjoys fish at all, and even then it's only as a hobbyisy, not an outright enthusiast, as i've come to see some of you guys are, haha. :) so, can anyone tell me what i'm supposed to be doing right now? i tried to be intelligent about it and google all this myself but i like the diy spirit of MFK and i thought you guys could give me a more straightforward answer.
 
neat! i had hoped that was a viable option! so then, help me here, as i'm a blue-blooded noob: the correct way to do this would be to put the tubing from the bottom of the overflow into the intake assembly of the fluval, and then i can hook the output nozzle onto the tank side? that's okay right? *sheepish grin*
 
seriously, i've never seen a forum that moves this fast, lol. :) bump, in hopes of getting more awesome help? once i get a tank running i'm very good at maintaining it (who isn't? lol) but i'd really appreciate the help!
 
hey sorry to be annoying, but i'm bumping this again.

i've read mixed reviews on connecting the overflow to a canister, namely that the canister might try to pull more water than the overflow can deliver, but then others said that the water pumped back to the tank will determine how fast the water is pushed over the edges of the overflow. i guess i could diy a wet/dry to go with, but i have this canister that i really want to use, lol, and not just as a separate entity. am i just making this more difficult than it needs to be? i don't see why it would be a problem but i don't want to run the canister dry and ruin it. :'( halp.
 
If you want you can just plumb the overflow into the canister. Just set it up so the intake is below water level at all times (compensating for evaporation) and make sure the outlet is pushing water away from the overflow. Since the intake will be submerged at all times because of the sealed system you won't have to worry about making a durso standpipe or any noise an overflow would make.

It will depend on your stock as to whether that will be enough filtration so I really don't know if that's gonna do it. Are you going to keep bigger messier fish? If so you might want to think about a sump instead. I can't find this thread where somebody on here did that but if I do I'll go ahead and post the link.
 
i was planning on a cichlid tank, i'm new to bigger tanks and i just want fish that come in a variety of fun colors and some variety in shapes, but won't get too big that i'll have to upgrade real soon. do you think that's okay? and thank you for finally answering my question, i was going on ahead with setting it up anyway, but i like to hear that i wasn't about to f up a hundred dollars worth of stuff i've never used. :P
 
Since the 305 is rated for a 70 gallon tank it should be sufficient for what you have. It still depends on which cichlids and how many you pick as far as whether it will be enough. Do you have any cichlids in mind? hmmmm as far as your parameters for the kind of fish you want maybe you would like african cichlids. They can be pretty colorfull and from the ones I used to own they were pretty active. I don't think they would out grow a 55 either if I remember right. I wouldn't quote me on that though. Good luck with the set up and feel free to ask more questions if needed.
 
not any particular species. i'd like lighter/brighter color ones. i have a few that i think are beautiful, but i'm sure they're hard to come by in my area, etc. i don't have access to a huge selection, so i think i'll stalk d&g pets and this other shop across town and see if anything unusual pops up.

last night i got the tank filled up, and this morning i got the canister running off the overflow. :D there is some water leakage i think from the place where the canister's intake hose is clamped to the fitting from the tank's drilled outlet thingy, but once the water stabilizes there is no more water coming out, so i'm not sure if it's something i should empty the tank for. the fittings are all dry right now. maybe i will slather on some silicone while it's dry.
 
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