Need some advice on planning out pleco breeding rack

[Harris.]

Hi guys,

planning out a sumped breeding rack for plecos and want an easy drain and fill setup, here is my current idea. Any tips or ideas from people who have experience would be greatly appreciated.

here is my current idea
LxWxH
- 5x2x1
- 5x2x1
- 5x2x1
- 5x2x2 Sump
6inch gap between tank and next shelf, enables me to get 4 tier with a larger sump.
Was thinking of getting tank split up with siliconed glass dividers with each section having a drilled drain hole which then drains down into tanks below and so forth all the way to the sump which pumps back to the top.

then maybe have a T off the sump pump for water changes and just flip it over to that line to drain sump using sump pump and then fill sump back up with fresh water for a water change.

Any tips or tricks would be great. Haven’t done anything like this before.

thanks

 

[aussieman57]

Following.

 

[Fishman Dave]

If you have the space then stagger the second tank down 6” to the left , then the next tank back in line with top one and the sump aligned to second tank down. 6” gap between tanks is not much at all and won’t give you enough room to add decor. The 6” sideways stagger gives room to get pipes or bog wood in to the space between the wood supports rather than in from the front, giving you probably 8-10”. BUT you need to take the stagger into consideration when drilling.
Note also that with pleco breeding tanks it’s sometimes better NOT to have them all linked. Baby plecs easily find their way into overflows and hence into all tanks and the sump.
Note also that if you have silicon dividers, you turn all tanks into lots of individual tanks. Harder to work out return from sump to go back to all top row individuals but on a plus you can regulate which get higher flow.
Thinking of doing something similar in part of my fish house but considering individual 18”x18”x18” tanks.
In your way you could have the sump as a usable tank with pump to feed top row if you put air driven filters in each tank.