Need Advice on my Future DIY Wet/Dry
- Thread starter arkmann
- Start date
Should I just ditch bio-wheels and the first and second baffle? That way, I will have close to 23 gallons bio-balls space. I am thinking of doing bigmonster's idea except that I will not have the first baffle. Water will go straight to foam coupled with quilt batting and from there it goes to the drip plate then to the bio-balls.
Would that be a better idea?
A perfect example is djlancer's filter.
Would that be a better idea?
A perfect example is djlancer's filter.
.arkmann;1606514; said:
Now your talking about having a bio-tower
.A) You want a sizable pre-filter
B) You want to drip (albeit at a high rate of flow) over the bio-material which is partially submerged.
Aeration = put an airstone under the bio-material.
Based on his photo, the water comes into contact with the tower on the drip plate first. Then the water comes into contact with pre-filters/batting. Then another drip plate at the bottom and then water drips to the bio-balls. Like you said, I will aerate it with a set of air stones or bubble wands then the water will go to the sump to be pumped up back to the tank.
Does that plan sounds good? Is 12000gph way too much for the drip plates? I am thinking of utilizing 2 1" overflows for the tank.
I have a Rio 26HF which is rated for 1590 gph so it might be a bit too much. Which pump should I get?
That's fine but...
Let's get our decimal points in the right place first.
12000gph = 3.3 gallons per second, that will turn your filter over every 10 seconds, your tank over every 33 seconds, that's a bit excessive (and too much for a 2" pipe to handle).
Your Rio pump handles 0.44 gallons per second @ 1ft. as a comparison, and would turn your tanks over approximately 13 x @ 4ft. Your right, too much.
You want to turn your aquarium (tank) over anywhere from 2 - 8 x per hour depending on the bio-load (fish). So 200 gph - 800 gph @ either 4ft or 5ft. A Rio 17hf or 20hf will work and you can by-pass some of the pumps output to regulate the flow rate.
Use 1.25" pipe for the overflow.
And use limewood air stones as they produce a finer bubble.
Dr Joe
.
Let's get our decimal points in the right place first.
12000gph = 3.3 gallons per second, that will turn your filter over every 10 seconds, your tank over every 33 seconds, that's a bit excessive (and too much for a 2" pipe to handle).
Your Rio pump handles 0.44 gallons per second @ 1ft. as a comparison, and would turn your tanks over approximately 13 x @ 4ft. Your right, too much.
You want to turn your aquarium (tank) over anywhere from 2 - 8 x per hour depending on the bio-load (fish). So 200 gph - 800 gph @ either 4ft or 5ft. A Rio 17hf or 20hf will work and you can by-pass some of the pumps output to regulate the flow rate.
Use 1.25" pipe for the overflow.
And use limewood air stones as they produce a finer bubble.
Dr Joe
.
Dr Joe;1606677; said:Now your talking about having a bio-tower
A) You want a sizable pre-filter
B) You want to drip (albeit at a high rate of flow) over the bio-material which is partially submerged.
Aeration = put an airstone under the bio-material.
Project will be underway this weekend. Can you elaborate on the sizable pre-filter part please. How can I achieve that in a bio-tower?
Based on djlancer's design, I am thinking of using about 2" inch of combined filter foam and quilt batting as a prefilter. From there, the water will approach a drip plate and then to the bio-balls. I think I can afford to do that because I have a 30 gallon tall with 2/3 of it most likely being filled with bio-media.
