quick question on sump filtration...

[Acura_RSX]

alright .. picking up the new 220 gallon tank tomorrow .. comes with stand, light and 100 gal fiberglass sump already set up .. comes with pipe .. fittings etc. i have to get some media but thats beside the point .. pump and heaters are the two things i need to get in the end. my main question is about the pump.

the guy has a pump which pumps 1500 gph but he paid over 500 for it so it wud cost a fair bit to get him to throw that in with it (also he said he used it for saltwater but where im going with freshwater thats more gph then i need anyways .. not sure about all that) so im not going with that option. he said that he has a powerhead that he thinks i could use instead .. im not sure what the difference is at all. he said its brand new .. hes not sure how many gph it wud be or anything but i dont get the difference between pump and powerhead etc. so not sure if i shud pay an extra $25 CAD for that or not take either and worry about the pump after myself.

second smaller question is .. how many watts of heat do i need? spread out over how many heaters etc .. and can the heaters be put in my sump as opposed to the tank itself or?

 

[bitteraspects]

is the tank drilled or does it have a HOB overflow?
was his pump submersable or attached to the side of the sump?

you dont want a powerhead, you actually need a pump. powerheads arent made to handle the head pressure of pumping the water vertically back up to your tank.
you can get a QuietOne pump for relatively cheap online.

QuietOne5000 - 1330GPH
QuietOne4000 - 980GPH

 

[turtlesrock]

a power head is not for pumpin upward into a tank, it is built just to make more flow in your tank. if you use a powerhead for your sump than its not going to pump nearly as fast as it is rated.. also it will not last near as long as a normal pump because of all the wear and tear. i used a 600gph pond pump on my 100g(overstocked) and it works great.

about the heaters...if you find a heater at the LFS rated for 50 gallons, i would buy 2 and put one in the tank and one in the sump (im useing one 20gallon heater for a 100 gallon tank.. it works but it will probubly burn out in a year or so)

 

[Pharaoh]

I just bought a Mag 18 (1,800gph) for $115. You should look into something like this. I wouldn't go with the power head as mentioned above.

As far as the heat. You are probably going to need somewhere in the neighborhood of 2-3 watt per gallon. This is strictly a guesstimate as I do not know how warm the room is that you are putting the tank. GARF has a nice calculator if you can find it on-line.

 

[Acura_RSX]

is the tank drilled or does it have a HOB overflow?
was his pump submersable or attached to the side of the sump?

you dont want a powerhead, you actually need a pump. powerheads arent made to handle the head pressure of pumping the water vertically back up to your tank.
you can get a QuietOne pump for relatively cheap online.

QuietOne5000 - 1330GPH
QuietOne4000 - 980GPH

the tank is already drilled and im not sure about his pump .. im looking to not spend anymore then $100 cad on a pump if possible seeing as how every last cent i have right now is being spent on the tank and any gifts i buy are being put on visa .. i wont have any money left over to buy the pump at the moment but will have to wait a lil bit to get it hooked up. .. what is the minimum gph i could get away with .. hoe many times an hour would the whole tank have to be cycled? would 880 gph ish be enough .. 4 times an hour? i dunno exactly how sumps work .. never used one before.

how much wud the 980 gph one be approximitly?

and still a bit confused on the heaters ..

 

[bitteraspects]

ive seen the 4000 online for well under $100. $70ish if you shop around. and the 5000 you can get for just over $100

depending on how you plan to stock your tank, 5x turnover should be your minimum IMO. more if youre planning on a heavy bio-load. so i would suggest going with the 5000 if the sump is going to be your only form of filtration on the tank.
some people do go with 3-5x, but i personally would suggest 5x as a minimum.

if you cant afford to set it up right, its better to just wait till you can. its hard sitting on an empty tank, but trust me, its better in the end. when you try to cut corners, you just end up with more problems.

 

[SpeshulEd]

I wouldn't buy his pump. I just bought a 5800gph for $400. 1500gph for $500 seems a lot overpriced. You can find cheaper on the internet.