Sponge filter and use the bulkheads for water changes.
You can set up a whole system to drain and fill
You can set up a whole system to drain and fill
Ideas for how to filter 40 tanks
- Thread starter timmycat
- Start date
I'm going to be opening a pet store . So I will have all kinds of fish . Are sponge filters really that good . Could they really keep a tank clean?
I suppose if I went the sponge filter route. I could use the bulkheads to run a heater . One heater might cost less than putting a heater in each tank .
I would put them all on one sump, (I usually run 300 to 500 gallons to each sump) run by 1 pump, with the heater(s) in the sump.
For water changes, I would tee off the main line to the sump, so all it would take to do a water change is close the sump line, and open a valve to the outside.
That way old water is sent to the garden, then have the fill line (not to tanks themselves) but directly to the sump. In that way, it is mixed before heading to tanks.
This is the way I did tanks in my house, and was able to change a coupe hundred gallons in a few moments. I would drip treat tap water for chlorine as it entered the sump, and monitor temp as it entered the sump.
If I open the red valve below, water was sent to the garden
Incoming tap water temp is monitored with a teed off restricted line (in winter tap water in Milwaukee could be as low as 38'F, so a mixture of hot/cold was needed)
Water liner-send old water change water to garden
I like multiple sized down heaters to prevent cooking fish if 1 malfunctions
For water changes, I would tee off the main line to the sump, so all it would take to do a water change is close the sump line, and open a valve to the outside.
That way old water is sent to the garden, then have the fill line (not to tanks themselves) but directly to the sump. In that way, it is mixed before heading to tanks.
This is the way I did tanks in my house, and was able to change a coupe hundred gallons in a few moments. I would drip treat tap water for chlorine as it entered the sump, and monitor temp as it entered the sump.
If I open the red valve below, water was sent to the garden
Incoming tap water temp is monitored with a teed off restricted line (in winter tap water in Milwaukee could be as low as 38'F, so a mixture of hot/cold was needed)
Water liner-send old water change water to garden
I like multiple sized down heaters to prevent cooking fish if 1 malfunctions
I'm Planning a breeding project and this is what I have in mind maybe this can help you get some ideas on what you want to do
Why 4 separate pumps? The single pump going to the top is doing all the work you need and you can just overflow into all the tanks below. You will lose maybe 20% flow by using one pump but you will improve your pump energy efficiency by 400%!
The down the line tanks will tend to be dirtier but once you get the flow to an adequate level and make sure to clean that later tanks better it won't have any other negative effects.
The down the line tanks will tend to be dirtier but once you get the flow to an adequate level and make sure to clean that later tanks better it won't have any other negative effects.
Just a thought, if you are opening a pet store then you might want to have multiple systems because you can avoid all of them getting infected at once. I would think that it would be pretty devastating to have all of the tanks infected at the same time.
Totally agree here. If you have new fish coming in constantly, that opens you up to disease and loss.
If this were a breeding project, then a central filtration system would make more sense.
I did like another member's idea of doing 4 separate systems of 10 tanks. You can reduce your risk of disease but be prepared to have 10 tanks get wiped out at once...
Also, how are you going to do water changes? You may want to consider some sort of quick drain/quick fill in the tanks to save yourself hours of sucking on a siphon tube.
