So my parents just bought a new house and in the basement is a 550g+ tank built into the wall. It has a small fish room behind it which makes things nice.
Up until this point the largest tank I have maintained was a 90g tank and have used HOB and cannister filters.
The existing filter in this setup is a 55g rain drum which is full of bio-balls. The filter is fed by two standpipes in the tank. It is basically a big wet / dry filter. What confuses me is that there are two drain pipes on the bottom of the barrel that discharge into a small 35g sump and the pump returns the water from there back into the tank.
In my mind this seems easily susceptible to flooding if the pump were to ever go out. The stand pipes are about and inch or two from where the surface of the water would be. Given the dimensions of the tank (7'x3.5'x3.5') that is about 30 gallons of drainage back into the filter which is a little too close for comfort IMO.
I don't have any room for equipment underneath the tank and I MIGHT be able to fit another rain barrel beside the current one so I am a little restricted by the space I can use.
I was thinking of connecting the current rain barrel to another barrel that will serve as a settling tank and additional reservoir in case of pump failure. I would like to have a UV stage at some point in the system as well but I'm not sure where it would fit in in this situation.
Another option I was thinking of would be to use some equipment from the pond world and get an enclosed bead filter system which seems to work well, has low space requirements and includes the UV filter internally.
Any new ideas, suggestions or recommendations? I plan on stocking the tank with various African cichlids.
Up until this point the largest tank I have maintained was a 90g tank and have used HOB and cannister filters.
The existing filter in this setup is a 55g rain drum which is full of bio-balls. The filter is fed by two standpipes in the tank. It is basically a big wet / dry filter. What confuses me is that there are two drain pipes on the bottom of the barrel that discharge into a small 35g sump and the pump returns the water from there back into the tank.
In my mind this seems easily susceptible to flooding if the pump were to ever go out. The stand pipes are about and inch or two from where the surface of the water would be. Given the dimensions of the tank (7'x3.5'x3.5') that is about 30 gallons of drainage back into the filter which is a little too close for comfort IMO.
I don't have any room for equipment underneath the tank and I MIGHT be able to fit another rain barrel beside the current one so I am a little restricted by the space I can use.
I was thinking of connecting the current rain barrel to another barrel that will serve as a settling tank and additional reservoir in case of pump failure. I would like to have a UV stage at some point in the system as well but I'm not sure where it would fit in in this situation.
Another option I was thinking of would be to use some equipment from the pond world and get an enclosed bead filter system which seems to work well, has low space requirements and includes the UV filter internally.
Any new ideas, suggestions or recommendations? I plan on stocking the tank with various African cichlids.
I know how out of control this hobby can get with all the equipment out there so I want to keep it in check. If I can DIY something I will make the attempt but I am not against buying equipment if I need to. Thats why I like the rain barrel idea, they are cheap and simple.
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