Took the plunge on the bigger tank

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I'm figuring on dropping the water from my overflows straight through the socks and into the tub. Then, with the two pump idea, even though I've only got one pump with the dual discharge, use the one discharge to push back to the tank and the second to put water over the scrubbies. I'll valve that line to control the amount of flow. Even at the head I have from the basement up to the tank, I'll have at least 5 times turnover in the tank giving the rays some good flow. As Hannibal said on the A-Team, "I love it when a plan comes together!" :nilly:
 
DB junkie said:
Cleaning scrubbies might suck, but I also think there's better answers out there then bead filters. ;)
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There is more than one way to skin a cat and for the space I have and what I am looking to accomplish I decided this would be the best answer.

I wish I had unlimited space but it is just not reality right now. being just 24"x14" makes two of these filter fit REAL snugly under my stand. There was pretty much no practical way to put a DIY bio reactor in the same space trust me I thought about it.
 
johno27 said:
There is more than one way to skin a cat and for the space I have and what I am looking to accomplish I decided this would be the best answer.

I wish I had unlimited space but it is just not reality right now. being just 24"x14" makes two of these filter fit REAL snugly under my stand. There was pretty much no practical way to put a DIY bio reactor in the same space trust me I thought about it.
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Space may be an issue for some, for others it may simply be too tough to justify spending lots of loot on "another way to skin a cat" when that loot could go towards rays or a tank that will house them for life. There's no right or wrong in differing opinions.

I'm sure your rays will be very happy with the new filtration. Regardless of what we think about filters.... lol
 
Well said. My biggest expense is to get the tank and stand that will function for my rays for what I hope to be their life. Then, to build a completely functional filter system with the least expense possible without jeopardizing the fish. After my finances begin to come around from the initial investment, I'll begin to fancy things up a little. Better pump, better heaters...upgraded filters, etc.

You hear too many horror stories of people buying the rays and putting them in the small tank with hopes of upgrading and then it never happens.
 
johno27 said:
I tried to seal around the plexi but it did not take either because of the expansion of the tub or just because silicone really works better for glass. so I use a 500 gph submersible pump to supply water to the drip plate over the scrubbies. which you could also use for a uv ster etc... I am actually slowly coverting over to using 2 ultima II 1,000 filters for my bio because DB convinced me that cleaning the scrubbies (IF and when I have to) will be a giant pain. I am still using the 2 7" filter socks for mechanical and will probably convert the rest of the rubbermaid into a pothos type plant filter.

I will say this filter has worked great how it is setup but I like the idea of being able to backwash my bio media with one turn of a handle in about 10 minutes.
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Why do you have a pump between your overflows and the sump, is it to increase the gph of the overflows? Not criticizing, just curious to know.
 
I took it to mean that the 500gph pump is also in the sump with the return pump. One is pumping water back to the tank, the other is pumping filtered water back over the media. He wasn't' able to seal the plexi dividers in the tank to create flow over the media merely from the gravity feed so uses the second pump to achieve the task.
 
Yah, the pump only functions within the sump it draws and returns in the sump. It's only purpose is to provide water to the drip plate over the scubbies.

The only pump that returns to the tank is a 3600 gph reeflo dart

I hear you DB, I can't fit a bigger tank in my house and I don't feel comfortable adding more rays to my 300. Plus I work at a LFS part time so the filters where a little more affordable for me ;)

If this housing market ever rebounds maybe I can get a bigger house but for now I am stuck :irked:
 
when i set up my new tank i used a seperate heaters and stats the best thing i have ever done its sooooooo easy to up and down the tem when you want

i used 2 x weipro stats each can run 1000w of heater

i have 2 x aquamedic 500w heaters connected to each the heaters dont have stats
 
1. What is your head height (How far up does your pump in your basement sump need to push water)?
2. What GPH are you aiming for?

The pump you bought was cheap, but it is going to end up costing you a lot more money than a quality energy efficient pump. I ran some numbers for you using the national average cost of electricity of $0.11KWhr. Your pump drawing 673 watts (using $.11KWhr) is going to cost you around $53 per month! An energy efficient pump should only cost you around $14 per month.

Below is a comparison between your pump and a more energy efficient pump. You can see that even though the energy efficient pump cost a lot more than your pump ($350 vs. $85) it ends up costing you $209 less after only one year since it will save you about $475 per year on your electic bill.

[TABLE="class: grid, width: 500, align: center"]
[TR]
[TD]Watts
[/TD]
[TD]Cost to purchase
[/TD]
[TD]Annual Operating Cost
[/TD]
[TD]Total year one cost
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]673
[/TD]
[TD]$85
[/TD]
[TD]$640
[/TD]
[TD]$725
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]175
[/TD]
[TD]$350
[/TD]
[TD]$166
[/TD]
[TD]$516
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

I would recommend getting a more energy efficient pump ASAP. It will cost you more up front, but in just one year it should pay for itself.
 
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