DIY VS Commercial

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Low Budget

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 21, 2010
16
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Grand Rapids MI
Hey Everyone

New to the site but not so new to fish. I have kept several tanks throughout my life. I have been out of the hobby for a few years and I recently jumped back in head first. I have a 180 gallon glass (6x2x2) that I had drilled and put in corner over flow boxes. I.am building a custom stand and canopy and I hope to have it done very soon. I am putting black Colorquartz S grade and have 600# of Texas Holey rock that is going in it. I will be housing all male Peacocks and Haps.

I have been bouncing around the idea of a DIY wet/ dry but after doing lots of reading here I’m not so sure it’s worth the trouble and it seems in some cases it cost more. I was hoping to get some pros and cons to the DIY set up vs a commercial Wet / Dry.

My LFS has their wet/ dry custom made. They are 36x12x23 (approx 42 Gallon) Comes with approx 10 Gallon of bio balls, drip tray and flexible drain lines for $349. This is about 5 gallons larger than the standard Eshopps wet/ dry that is sold.

My second question has to do with the pump. I was originally going to get a Mag 12 but the LFS says a Mag 18 will work much better. I plan to plumb the return lines as follows

¾” PVC
24” rise
PVC T fitting
Approx 30” Horizontal run (X2)
Approx 40” Vertical run to nozzle (X2)

So that is approx 164” of ¾ PVC for the return lines

What pump do I need for the above plumbing with a tolerable current for Cichlids (Peacocks and Haps)?

[FONT=&quot]Any and all comments and suggestions greatly appreciated![/FONT]
 
$350 is ridiculous for a sump. Also, I say forgot about a conventional wet/dry. All you need is a used 40-55g glass tank and some ceramic bio media. By using ceramic media, you don't need make any dividers, drip trays, or baffles. Just drop the media in some plastic baskets or mesh laundry bags, and you're done! Add a filter sock(s) where the water comes in, and drop your pump in on the other end.

And there's your sump for next to nothing :)

10g sump on my 57g



 
jcardona1;4542262; said:
$350 is ridiculous for a sump. Also, I say forgot about a conventional wet/dry. All you need is a used 40-55g glass tank and some ceramic bio media. By using ceramic media, you don't need make any dividers, drip trays, or baffles. Just drop the media in some plastic baskets or mesh laundry bags, and you're done! Add a filter sock(s) where the water comes in, and drop your pump in on the other end.

And there's your sump for next to nothing :)

10g sump on my 57g



Click to expand...

That would make it much easier! Will I need to add any other filters? How much ceramic do I need and where do I get it?
 
Low Budget;4542383;4542383 said:
That would make it much easier! Will I need to add any other filters? How much ceramic do I need and where do I get it?
Click to expand...
No other filters needed! The filter socks will take care of your mechanical filtration and you can even buy some that will pull out 1 micron particles. Get your filter socks here: http://www.mcmaster.com/#filter-bags/=98coz7 I would run 50 or 100 micron socks, or both at the same time, with the 100 sock inside the 50 micron sock.

As for the ceramic media, one of our vendors has great prices on it, see here: http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=315551 As to how much you need, I don't know. It's hard to calculate, so people tend to overfilter and not worry about it. I would say 2-3 mesh laundry bags will be good for most bio loads
 
These are the laundry bags I'm talking about. This was a 90g sump for my old 400g tank. You can find the bags at walmart/target/etc



 
<--- as long as it's the good stuff, see my avatar! ;) :cheers:
 
jcardona1;4542395; said:
No other filters needed! The filter socks will take care of your mechanical filtration and you can even buy some that will pull out 1 micron particles. Get your filter socks here: http://www.mcmaster.com/#filter-bags/=98coz7 I would run 50 or 100 micron socks, or both at the same time, with the 100 sock inside the 50 micron sock.

As for the ceramic media, one of our vendors has great prices on it, see here: http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=315551 As to how much you need, I don't know. It's hard to calculate, so people tend to overfilter and not worry about it. I would say 2-3 mesh laundry bags will be good for most bio loads
Click to expand...

Hey those links don't work. Do you have the item #?
 
Low Budget;4542500;4542500 said:
Hey those links don't work. Do you have the item #?
Click to expand...
Well they come in different diameters, lengths, and micron rating. For a 55g sump you may want to use the 7x16" socks. This item # for the 100 micron sock is 5162K39
 
So...I've got a 65g with a rena xp3 on it. I'm thinking about adding more filtration and was leaning towards an ac70. Would a 10-15g sump like yours be spot on for it? Would I need to drill an overflow into my tank or use an overflow box? Do you have a construction thread somewhere?

I'm intrigued now :p

Other option...I could put a 10g sump like that on my 20g, and move the magnum HOT from that tank to my 65...takes care of both issues....
 
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