Contact time with the media has no bearing whatsoever on a mechanical filter and thats what this additional cannister is for. The FX5 runs 935gph empty and well over 750gph full. The wet/dry system can then be cut back to a bio-filter only by removing the micron bags and only providing a small pre filter to keep junk out of the sump.
Help me pick a canister...
- Thread starter cvermeulen
- Start date
Wolf3101;1069534; said:
That's exactly what I'd like to do... change the filter bags out for 500 micron mesh bags or even coarser if I can find them, then run the canister off the same collection chamber that overflows onto the drip plate.
The only real problem I see with that plan is starving the FX5 because of limitations to your overflow. If it can keep up...and I have serious doubts about that...then fine.
If it was me..I would just use the intake and return lines that come with the canister. It'll still do a great job of mechanical filtration and you can still run a less restrictive pre-filter on your wet/dry or even none at all. They don't have to be in sieries to be effective.
If it was me..I would just use the intake and return lines that come with the canister. It'll still do a great job of mechanical filtration and you can still run a less restrictive pre-filter on your wet/dry or even none at all. They don't have to be in sieries to be effective.
Wolf3101;1069763; said:
OK don't get me wrong, I really appreciate your input, but I have a few problems with your comment:
Why do you have serious doubts about the capacity of my overflow? I've not mentioned any specs at all for it... so on what basis have you formed your "serious doubts"?
I can't actually run a seperate line because of space and installation conditions. I'd love to run more lines, but there just isn't room.
I'm not talking about running the filters in series... maybe I wasn't very clear. What I want to do is have the overflow feed the collection chamber in my sump through coarse filter bags that will be my prefilter. This chamber filled with screened water will have one overflow that feeds the drip plate and bio area of the sump, and a submerged bulkhead that goes to teh canister. The canister will do it's thing and return water to the return manifold that goes back to the tank. The sump will also feed water into the return manifold and go back to the tank.
So, all the water goes down one overflow, gets seperated, filtered in either the sump or the canister, and then returned to the single return manifold - so they will run in parralel. The sump flows 1200ish GPH, so if the canister does 900, it will have a total circulation of 2100 GPH, all going through one overflow and one return, but split between two filter systems.
If my overflow can't handle 2100GPH, I will dial back the pumps in the sump a bit until it flows nicely.
Eheim 2260. Nothing fancy about it which means its reliable, easy to use and easy to maintain. Of course the lareg bucket mean you can add all your favourite types of media too it too.
Overflows are gravity fed and sized according the tank capacity. I've seen a similar system set up on a 750 gallon tank and they had problems with the FX5s running the level of the water down below the pick up tube and losing prime. Might not be an issue with the way you have yours set up. I was thinking in terms of the cannister in series with the intake. in this case the prefilters were in the overflow and that had a lot to do with the problem.
If you start with a certian water level in the sump and then pick up and return the water from the cannister to differant parts of the the sump then nothing will change no mater how much water the cannister moves. You shouldn't have to change your return pump at all. If I understand it correctly this is what you have in mind and it would work very well.
Sorry for the misunderstanding.
One last note... you asked about noise... I can't hear an FX5 running outside the stand but then I am a Bass player... LOL
If you start with a certian water level in the sump and then pick up and return the water from the cannister to differant parts of the the sump then nothing will change no mater how much water the cannister moves. You shouldn't have to change your return pump at all. If I understand it correctly this is what you have in mind and it would work very well.
Sorry for the misunderstanding.
One last note... you asked about noise... I can't hear an FX5 running outside the stand but then I am a Bass player... LOL
Thanks again for all the input. I need to do more research, but it'll either be an FX5 or an XP4. Locally I can get the FX5 for 330CAD, and the XP4 for 260CAD, so for the $70 difference the FX5 seems like a better deal. The only thing I don't like about the FX5 is the electronic purge timing... seems to me like if it was designed properly it shouldn't need to do that, but I need to look at it more closely.
I will be drawing from the inlet chamber of the sump into the canister, but I'll just be adding the outlet flow to the main return line, not to another part of the sump... the whole flow dynamics part I have worked out, If anyone is really interested I can draw a crude diagram, but it really doesn't help with the canister selection
I will be drawing from the inlet chamber of the sump into the canister, but I'll just be adding the outlet flow to the main return line, not to another part of the sump... the whole flow dynamics part I have worked out, If anyone is really interested I can draw a crude diagram, but it really doesn't help with the canister selection
I guess the only question that I haven't really found a good answer to is how much space an FX5 occupies? I'm pretty sure the XP4 will fit, but the FX5 is pretty bulky lookin'. Anyone feel like measuring theirs?
Bah, it won't fit anyway 
so unless I feel like re-jigging my sump setup (hmmmmmmmmmm...) I guess it's the filstar
so unless I feel like re-jigging my sump setup (hmmmmmmmmmm...) I guess it's the filstar