Filter media Inside Overflow

[mapledalemolossers]

No such thing as too high! Haha. I guess there is depending on the setup. I like the safety of the magdrive pumps but I like the hybrid design. They really move some water. The pump I want for my next tank is rated at 6000 gph and its 372 watts. Plus mounting it outside the sump makes more room for media and baffling.

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

That sounds like a monster pump. It will run you nearly $400 a year to run it.

 

[mapledalemolossers]

Drop in the bucket compared to the heater I'll need haha

 

[mapledalemolossers]

I finally decided what to do with the overflows. I ordered some 4" sponge mat made by Poret. It's 10 ppi, so very coarse sponge. Today I installed it in my overflows. I cut it to size so it lightly pressed in to the tower. It occupies the entire 4 gallons of each overflow. I had to cut out space in one of the sponges because I also keep my heater in the overflow.

I downgraded to a 100watt heater from 150. Running full time it keeps the tank 74 degrees, and my house is around 60.

There are almost 8 gallons of coarse sponge in the overflows. That's twice as much as the total capacity of my fx5. Each overflow sees about 260 gph so bacteria can grow quite nicely on them. Now I can open up some space in my fx5 for other media.

If anyone is considering running a canister filter on their drilled aquarium, I highly recommend it. And you should also look into this 10ppi sponge from Poret to put in your overflows. Highly effective. I now have 3 times the filter media I had before with no loss of flow.

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

Just wanted to post this pic if this thread ever came back up.



This is what's in the overflow at my LFS. It's just some bio balls that the water can drain through on its way down to the sump.

 

[Danh]

The water isn't draining through the bio balls on the way to the sump. It's draining through the pvc pipe on it's way to the sump. Bio balls are a better media than foam imo though. I would keep a close eye on that foam for stagnant nastiness at the bottom of the overflow. How are you getting that heated water dispersed through your tank?

 

[Danh]

I. Highly effective. I now have 3 times the filter media I had before with no loss of flow.

Are you equating volume to its effectiveness?

 

[mapledalemolossers]

No pvc in my setup, currently. I specified earlier. Water flows over the lip of the overflow and all the way down to the bottom of the tank, where there is a 1.5 inch drain hole drilled by previous owner.

This thread details the many advantages of running a canister on a drilled tank. I love sumps, and am looking forward to building mine, but in the meantime this setup works better than most of the poorly designed sumps people try to utilize.