Plans for DIY filter

[Pacu Man]

I've read a whole lot of post's about making a filter from scratch but I can't find schematics from start to finish and I know there is a great deal of real knowledge on this site , so if anyone here can point me towards some easy to read diagrams and instructions on building a filter system for a 125 gallon tank that will be home to a Silver Arrowana and maybe 2 other different species of compatible tankmates. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Dr Joe]

Sump or W/D?

 

[JioFreed~alias~]

Here's a schematic I drew on paint not sure how accurate it is but I believe it covers all the main points of a wet dry for a tank without overflows

my idea was to use a 10 gallon tank for the container

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/2346/wetdrymf5.jpg:nilly:


although I dont know what to use to make the shelves plastic panle of some sort epoxied in would probably be superb

 

[JioFreed~alias~]

cut the out of the url

 

[cichness]

for 125 gal tank you need something much bigger than a 10 gallon....

a rough estimate is for a properly stocked tank you want to use at least 1/4 the total size of the tank for the w/d housing.

also you want to use as much space in the w/d for the bio media. you can never have too much space for potential BB.

 

[Jgray152]

my idea was to use a 10 gallon tank for the container

If your building a wet/dry sump, you will need a 40-50 gallon sump. Depends on the water level drop you will have when the pump shuts down. A 40 gallon sump can hold enough bio media (roughly 60 liters) for a 470 gallon aquarium and a 50 gallon can hold (roughly 85 liters) enough for a 600 gallon aquarium. You will only need roughly 20 liters of media. You can get away with less.

 

[Dr Joe]

for 125 gal tank you need something much bigger than a 10 gallon....

a rough estimate is for a properly stocked tank you want to use at least 1/4 the total size of the tank for the w/d housing.

also you want to use as much space in the w/d for the bio media. you can never have too much space for potential BB.

aboout 30g, heavier bio-loads should go 1/3 of tank size roughly 40g

Dr Joe

.

 

[JioFreed~alias~]

My design was a basic schematic that could grow.
The 10 gallon idea was for my current tank [can never have to much filtration right?]
(originally for my 20g and just for the sake of killing boredom)

But enough of that my schematic seems to have hijacked the thread....

So lets concentrate on helping him design his.