Fish Room Need Help Please

[Chago09]

Ok I am planning on building a room with 8 x 75 gallon tanks.

I am planning on using the simple metal stands sold at pet stores which hold on tank on top and one on bottom. I will be attaching 4 tanks per sump. Here is a drawing, I know it looks very professional LOL

1.) OK first question is as you can see the sump will be on the floor(foam underneath) The top of the bioballs will be only a few inches below the bulkhead of the bottom tank, will this be fine??? like will gravity take effect here for the drain???

2.) Ok you can see the top two tanks will attach into the same line as the bottom tanks that way only 2 pipes enter the bioballs not 4. Is this ok??? if power goes out will the top tank drain into the bottom tank???

3.) The one pump will need to pump the water up to the "T" which will send water in two directions. Then those two will be split again. I assume there will be different flows in each of the 4 tanks???? is this bad??? any better ways to make all 4 tanks getting the same flow?

4.) How powerful of a pump will be required??? how many gallons should it be rated for??? Will this be enough turnover??

5.) how many bioballs will be needed for this system???

Thanks for all your help

 

[muckieman]

1gallon of bio balls treat 30 gallons of water i would go with 15-20gallons bio balls. i'm not sure on other stuff though.

 

[wattheconheo]

1.) OK first question is as you can see the sump will be on the floor(foam underneath) The top of the bioballs will be only a few inches below the bulkhead of the bottom tank, will this be fine??? like will gravity take effect here for the drain???

As long as there is a drop from the bottom tank into the bio ball compartment than you're okay.. The question is how much of a drop will you have and how much will flow (drain) out? The deeper the drop, the more flow (drain) you will have. I believe it may be weak since it doesnt have a far drop...

2.) Ok you can see the top two tanks will attach into the same line as the bottom tanks that way only 2 pipes enter the bioballs not 4. Is this ok??? if power goes out will the top tank drain into the bottom tank???

It might drain into the bottom tank, since the "T" connecting them is on the same level as the drain on the bottom tank. I would make a drop from the bottom tank and than connect both drains, that way you dont have backwash from the top tank going into the bottom tank. I would also add a inline ball value somewhere along the drain from the top before it gets to the bottom tank. That way you can shut it off just in case you need to. I would strongly recommend it cause I have had my sump overflow and a room flooded.

3.) The one pump will need to pump the water up to the "T" which will send water in two directions. Then those two will be split again. I assume there will be different flows in each of the 4 tanks???? is this bad??? any better ways to make all 4 tanks getting the same flow?

I would personally have 2 pumps pushing for this design. With 1 pump you are not getting a high flow for the tanks (due you head pressure and 4 different disbursement). I would add 2 pumps with balls values on the top tanks to regulate the water flow so that your bottom tanks get a good amount also. If this was my design I would run 2 W/D systems so that it would be alot easier and that the sump isnt overloaded. Maybe get 2 and turn them so they sit side by side...

4.) How powerful of a pump will be required??? how many gallons should it be rated for??? Will this be enough turnover??

Well it depends on how high the top tanks are. The pumps have to push as high as the top tank and from there it will have to divide into however many tanks you decide. If you go with 2 pumps (1 pump for every 2 tanks) than I believe that 2 Rio 32 Hyper Flow Water Pumps will do. At 6ft you will have a flow of 1300gph and that should be enough for (2) 75 gallon tanks. Even at 500gph per tank, your tank will turn over at least 5-6 times per hour. Just remember the longer the pumps have to push, the less pressure you will have.

5.) how many bioballs will be needed for this system???

Thats like saying how much money can I have??? The more you have the better it is for your tank.






Are these tanks for breeding?? If so I would look intoa couple of Sponge filters for each tank. You can run alot of sponge filters on 1 air pump... I use 2 big air pumps for my koi pond

http://www.enkoi.com/subcat19.html




I hope this helps.. I could be wrong on some stuff, so if somethings needs to be corrected... Please anyone and everyone chime in to help him out

 

[Chago09]

awesome, thanks for the reply

 

[zdoo2]

use pot scrubbies instead of bioballs or a mix