New tank 84x36x24 ... Time for a Stand build!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Lol. The bottle was cool but I was a bit confused on how to turn it into a filter.

So I'm looking through the other videos, and that is a bio reactor huh?

So I need some sponges, some K1, and 2 glass baffles for an input chamber and an output pump chamber ...
And I have lids on my 75 gallon so I can just use that ... I have silicone already.

As far as the air, airline tubing seems to be working the best for him ... Perhaps I could silicone some airline tubing around the perimeter of the tank but what size pump would I need? I really don't want to use a giant pump like he has! Maybe it just LOOKs bulky. Any ideas on what size air pump I should get or should I just get one rated for 75g?

Can I use something other than K1 or that basically the best choice?

Someone suggested the Mag drive 24 pump ... Any other suggestions or is this a general consensus?



Thanks for being so helpful ^_^
 
K1 seems to be popular, I think there are other similar options. No idea on pump size etc., I haven't used this approach myself, but it needs to provide enough air to fluidize the media so it will be bigger than just a pump you'd use to run a bubble wand. May be best to throw up a new thread on the filter side of things.

As to the pump, IMO a mag24 might be overkill although your stand sound like it might be quite tall (you said 3-4') so you do have extra head pressure to overcome. This page: http://www.aquatictech.com/pumps.html has a good list of pumps and gph for different amounts of head pressure. Basically decide what kinda turnover you want (e.g. 4x on a 300 gal tank is 1200gph) then find the pump that fits your requirements at the head pressure you'll end up with. Were it me, I'd also be looking at the watts these pumps are using to move the water. My 8x3x2 tank has two smallish pumps running but my stand is only 24" tall so I only have 4' of pressure (and if the frickin' tank wasn't drilled in the bottom I'd raise the filter up to reduce the pressure, which is what I intend to do with my next tanks).
 
The stand is ~40 inches tall. The tank is 2 feet tall. Therefore about just under 6 feet total.'

Thanks for the info, that helps a lot. I'd like something with lower wattage but I can't have everything ^_^
I am going to be running at least an fx5 in conjunction with this tank, and originally was going to use the aquatop 500uv filter as well, but who knows now. That might be extreme overkill.

Alright, bigger air pump, check.

Will be doing some research today for sure :)
 
I am in the process of building a K-1 sump. I tried to do a mock up in a 10 gl., the K-1 in a 10 gl. tank with 2 whisper 60 s equals squat. This stuff needs mass air flow 1 liter air per liter of K-1. I ended up getting 2 coralife 65 watt/ 65 lpm. air pumps. they are fairly loud so they may go in another room to muffle the noise.

There are other options that will work as well or better,Ultama 2 may be another option. you will have to figure out what type of media will work for your app. and sump size. Our tanks are the same size and I am using a 135 for the sump and it seems a little small for the K-1, seachem matrix, heaters and pump.
 
Well I read it takes about 48 hours to sink properly when fluidized. But other than that I think ill start out with 25L of it. I have fx5 running in the mix too for more bio.
 
That's correct, it takes a couple of days and I am betting that after the K-1 gets a good bio film on it's internal surfaces it will fluidize even better.
 
Cool. I'm going to order the 25L and start there, and possibly add more later if I have room. And your recommendation is to go with at least 25L of airpump rating?
 
Yes at least 25 l. of air. The smaller air pumps just dont have the volume of air needed to properly fluidize the media.
 
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