Eheim 2028 or DIY bucket sump??

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malawi500

Candiru
MFK Member
Sep 29, 2011
319
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UK
I have an 80 gallon tank and running one Eheim 2028 although I'm not too impressed with the water clarity.

I have caught the fish bug and been reading up about wet/dry sumps.

If I were to ditch the Eheim 2028 in favour of a DIY sump would I be mad to do so?

Having read up on DIY sumps I think it is something I could easily knock up using 1" pipework and a simple overflow system.

The Eheim is capable of 277gph so I would need something more powerful than that. I was thinking along the lines of 400gph ie. a turnover rate of 5x per hour.

According to this sticky here:
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?205645-Pipe-Sizing-Charts-and-Flow-Rates

1" pipework would give me a flow of 600gph and I am confident I could knock something up.

The only space I have for a sump however would need to fit in 12" x 14" x 24" (high) cupboard underneath the tank.

If I were to use a bucket type sump as per this youtube vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkT9EiY9v60

and fill the bucket with pot scrubbies and filter floss as the pre filter, would this offer better filtration over and above the Eheim?

I'm tempted 'just because I can' but wondering if the gain is worth the effort?

If I were to do this I'd sell the Eheim to fund the project.

Advice appreciated.
 
Before getting too worked up on filters and sumps:

Has your tank properly cycled? What stock is in it? I ask because you mention water clarity and a little more info will help determine if the filter is the real issue.

That said, the DIY Sump is a good idea just for experience. Try it out and if you don't like it, switch back.
 
I think the problem isn't the canister, its the turn over rate. The recommended turnover rate is 8x per hour, with your setup you get, about 3.5....Adding another canister filter or some other type of filtration would definitly help with the water clarity
 
The tank has fully cycled, it's been set up for over 4yrs by the previous keeper.

There is one large parrot fish, a large plec and ~20 smaller malawi's.

I cannot add another filter even though I have a spare Eheim 2028 lying about due to space constraints, the other cupboard is in use and don't want further intakes and outlets.

So if I adopted a bucket sump with 640gph turnover would this be far superior to the single Eheim?

And where have you got the 8x turnover figure from? I have read 3-10x depending on stock etc.

When I mention water clarity, I mean I can see fine particles floating round the tank despite using filter floss.

Also would an overflow siphon be better than taking the water from 6" from the bottom at present?

I have fine gravel/sand and the stock like to dig.
 
6, Preferably 8 is ideal for freshwater. Even an ugly HOB rated filter will definitly clear things up for you if you don't have any room for another canister. If you do a sump, same thing, 8x being awesome, even more being awesome(er)? haha. So yes a properly done sump with 640 gph would be superior to the single canister at 270gph.
 
thanks for your response. What size should the sump be? In an ideal world? 10g? Would a sump be better for mechanical filtration ie. the smaller particles or is it only better for bio?

I'm possibly considering building a new stand....
 
get rid of the pleco they make to much poop
 
I haven't got space for anything to hang on the side particularly as the tank is in the living room, don't want to put anything on top of it either.

If I get rid of teh pleco, what could I substitute it with? I'd want something active andto get on with the others...
 
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