Help with large tank design for Arowana

[blkdrgn]

We are ready to purchase our 270g acrylic tank. We have 3 black arowanas about 6" long but I only want to house one. The dimension of the tank has to be 6'L x 3'D x 2'H. No choice on going longer or wider but the height can be higher so if it's better please let us know. I'm thinking it will be harder to clean if it's too deep.

Basically I want something that's pretty clean. It's going against a wall but I want to design it like it's going in the middle of two rooms as a divider in case I move it in the future. I will build the stand myself and have it finished on both sides. I really don't want to see any pipes or tubing if possible.

I heard that wet/dry/sumps are the way to go with big tanks. Will overflow chambers on the sides still work for FW?

This was my design for saltwater a long time ago before I cancelled the project.

We were thinking something simple like this? Left side is the drain with maybe a durso pipe and the right side pumping it back to the tank. The right side would have a holes plumbed in the sides like the salt water setup.

What if we only put two holes on the bottom of the tank, one for in and the other for out without any chambers? Any other ideas on how to hide the pipes?

 

[blkdrgn]

oh and yes i'm a noob for freshwater.

 

[blkdrgn]

sorry i didn't feel like designing a drawing. i was thinking something like this for the sides. would it be best to have the outflow towards the top, center, or bottom? I know that the arowanas like to swim at the top.

 

[arvicanthis]

Hello Mate,

I am stumped, so you want your water to flow out of the left hand side of the tank. through a weir? Then it will go down to your sump, through I guess a simple but effective design (e.g. prefilter either box or sock, then to a bio / bacteriasl filter medium, then over a heater , adding oxygen) and back to your tank through pipes on the right. All seems fine with that idea. where are you going to add oxygen, airline in the tank? or in the sump? I would recommend both, oxygen for your bacteria and oxygen for your fish. The way you have hand drawn the last pics looks like it should work fine. your only issues to iron out are the water flow rates and returning it to the tank. I mean to say what pumps, how are they rated ( and probs have a spare hanging around incase one blows / breaks. Oh and arowana hate heavy water flow so bear that in mind maybe direct the in flow against a side wall or something.

I have a sump thread up and running feel free to post your finished sump there for me to steal ideas from, haha.

What bio filter media are you going to use?

all the best,

Guy

 

[blkdrgn]

Sorry it's hard to describe. Yes I want the left side to have a weir. I didn't do any research yet on the type of wet/dry sump I want to have. Can I pump air in the side chambers in the top tank and the sump? That way the hoses will not show. I didnt do any research yet on the flow rates, pumps, or bio filter media. I just wanted to see if the basic layout of the tank is correct. thanks.