right size wet/dry

[TCZeli]

Hello all,

I am looking to get a larger tank soon, actually a couple of them. I want to get a 260Gallon and a 400G. What size wet/dry do you need on those sizes. Do the wet/dry even have a standard sizes.
Also I am very new to the whole wet/dry filters and have read everything I can find on them but still do not get some stuff. For one it is said to make sure the "overflow" is big enough to handle the water incase the electricity goes out. All the diagrams I have seen show the "overflow" as in the main tank???? Are the referring to the filter its self? They say its important not only for if the electricty goes out but even if the pump stops (not sending water back into the tank) in that case wouldnt not matter how bit the filter is if the water from a 400G is going to keep sending water into the filter wont it spill over eventually no matter waht? unless the filter is bigger then the tank itself? If the pump breaks would the filter know to stop filtering water? I am very confused and would appreciate any help on this matter

 

[Dr Joe]

What's hard to understand? It's just Newtonian physics (doesn't that sound better?).

:j/k:

Rule of thumb is sump (Wet/Dry) = 1/3rd the size of the tank. Now that can very up to +/- 50% depending on your stocking level and type of critters housed (messy eaters etc.).

O-V-E-R-F-L-O-W, OK, just being dramtic here. These are not syphon systems. They return only the amount of water (to the filter) that the pump in the filter put into the tank...overflow. Get it?

You should also have a syphon break hole in the retun pipe just below the water level so thet it doesn't syphon back thru the pump. (2 1/4" holes 180 degrees apart).

Your tank water level should be such that if the overflow flow got clogged the tank could hold all the water from the filter.

Hope this helps a little.

Keep us posted,

Dr Joe

.

 

[TCZeli]

OK let me tell you alittle about myself, I am alittle slow

I think what your saying is that the tank will not take any water from the filtration system that it hasn't put in the system to begin with. SOOOOOOOO the part of the filter thats in the aquarium will take a certain amount of water and send it down to the lower tank, and in return the filter will only put that same amount of water back in the aquarium??? So if the electircity goes out and everything stops, the water from the filter is still going to be put back in the aquarium??????? Let me know if I got it right or if I am even SLOWER then i thought i was. If I infact do have it right, does that mean that I should not fill my aqaurium to the top incase this happens? OR does it not matter because the water of the tank below wont make it into the aqaurium just into the part of the filter that is resting in the aqaurium?
IN OTHER WORDS.......
The total amount of the water in the below filter should be able to fit in the part of the filter that rests in the aqaurium?

if that is the case then how do I determine that the ratios are correct? (that there isn't to much water in the below tank?

Sorry but your talking to a guy who got kick out of college twice lol.

 

[Volenti]

Dont think of the tank as "doing anything", it's passive, the pump in the sump pumps water up into the tank, this raises the water level untill the "overflow" begins to drain water back into the sump.

If the pump stops the water level in the tank will drop a little bit, 1/3-1/2'' depending on the capacity of the overflow, and the water level in the sump will raise by a similar amount (a little more usually since the sump is smaller than the tank)

The water level in the tank remains more or less the same, as water evaporates the water level in the sump will drop.

An easy way to find the right water level in the sump is to set the system up, fill the tank, and keep filling it untill it overflows into the sump, stop when the sump is about half full, trial and error from there to get the best sump water level.

 

[TCZeli]

So the concern isnt that the tank will overflow its that the sump will? So if the pump fails, then all you have to make sure is that the sump can handle the rest of the water the over flow will be sending to it?

 

[Volenti]

So the concern isnt that the tank will overflow its that the sump will? So if the pump fails, then all you have to make sure is that the sump can handle the rest of the water the over flow will be sending to it?

Yes and yes

The only way the tank can spill over the sides is if the overflow is blocked or if the pump is too strong for the overflow to handle. (over powerfull pumps can have their output restricted or diverted with a T to mantain the desired flowrate.)

 

[TCZeli]

Yes and yes

The only way the tank can spill over the sides is if the overflow is blocked or if the pump is too strong for the overflow to handle. (over powerfull pumps can have their output restricted or diverted with a T to mantain the desired flowrate.)

Meaning that the pump is putting more water into the tank then the overflow is sending to the sump?

also is there anything you can do to prevent the tank spilling over if the overflow fails? Because that would be alot of water if the entire sump will be pumped into the tank without anything going back down.

 

[Dr Joe]

...(did that make sense? )

Volenti got it right.

Using a very course sponge filter in or in front of the overflow to keep it from clogging.

You can install 2 overflows for peace of mind.

Dr Joe

.