WET/DRY: DIY or REAL!

[T]

i got a real wet/dry that is about 20 gallons
and then im thinkn about doing a 50 gallon diy wet/dry
both will have a 1200 gph pump running.
which one would be a better choice?

 

[CHOMPERS]

Which is the better choice depends on what it is going on. If the 20g wd is big enough, that is the better choice because the work is already done and you already have it. If it is too small or you want to stock your tank heavily, then the 50g is the better choice. Factory built wet/dry's often have extra space in the bottom where you can add extra media to expand their work capacity. DIY filters are customizable so that you will never reach their capacity. For this reason, I have not followed the above advise. I have a factory built w/d on the shelf in my garage and I am running DIY wet/dry's.

 

[ethnics]

tong, make a wd out of the 50gal. its the best idea i've heard u come up with haha. a store bought wd is the same thing dude, it had to be made by somebody. its still made by someone, might as well make it ur self so you can design it the way u want. im gonna use my 60gal as a diy wd within the next few months, u gonna use it on ur new 180?

 

[cbfreder]

Engineering consulting charges:

get your hourly wage
estimate least amount of time, average amount of time, and worst case.
1/4*least + 1/2*mid +1/4*most + 2* cost of parts

that should give you a nice price break level. If it costs lest, buy it. If the commercial version costs more or you like building, build it.

Personally, I say DIY all the way. Just think about it real hard to make sure you can't flood your house.

Brandon

 

[prophets]

DIY is the way. You can customize it to you whatever specs you want.

Although I have made a DIY W/D out of a 20G high myself for my hopefully freaking soon 125 g (waiting on delivery..slow turds) I made it where the bio media will hold approx. 7gal of bio balls. Also put on top of the tank/sump a plastic 2 drawer tray that is about 3 inches tall each drawer. These will hold (top) filter pads and the bottom any other media, planning to put 1 liter of Azoo bio glass, 3 chemi-pure, and if need be some CC to help buffer the water down the line.

Now that comes out to about 8 gal of bio media, which should be more than enough for a 125 g. Going to use 2 mag 7 pumps, one for each return, since the 125g AGA has dual megaflows built in. You can never have enough filtration.

The possibilities with a DIY is endless, and its cheaper in the long run to build it...plus the big factor is, a sense of satisfaction from building it yourself.

With the 50 you plan to use, you'd can do so much with that baby.

Get some egg crate plastic, its pretty cheap from HD, a 2x4 sheet, if you want some acrylic sheets and either cut them to size or get the biggest sheet you can afford and cut it yourself, some aquarium safe silicone and some of your spare time ...then you're good to go.

Don't forget to get some ball valves, so you can adjust everything while testing it out.
1" ball valves are about 7-8 bucks at HD, and 3/4" around 5-6 bucks.

 

[T]

i forgot to mention. that i alreadi have the 20 gallon sump. and if i wanted to do diy i would have to build it. more importantly im wording if a 20 gallon sump will work on a 180 with a 1200gph pump?

 

[prophets]

Well, when my 125 shows up, I'll let you know how a 20g high does. I'm using 2 mag 7's..thats 1400gph @ 0 head...so I figure I'll probably have about 4' head for each pump and that will cut it down to about 500 or gph per pump.

Since the All Glass Dual Megaflow tank has a rating of 1200gph total for both overflow (600 each), I may be pushing it with a 20 gal sump...BUT...after looking at some of the W/D on the market that is rated for this size of tank, the dimensions of a 20g tank is same as the sump for these commercial W/D, with the exception of my DIY will hold more bio media, and I added 7 inches to the top of the tank for the extra filter media.

For 180, the 20g might be really pushing it.

 

[softturtle]

i forgot to mention. that i alreadi have the 20 gallon sump. and if i wanted to do diy i would have to build it. more importantly im wording if a 20 gallon sump will work on a 180 with a 1200gph pump?

My 55 gallon sump almost fills up to the top when the pump turns off in my 300 gal system(it is a tub so more surface area). 180 is a little more than half of the volume of my main tank, and 20 is a little less than half of my sump. So I imagine that you might run into problems. Like I mentioned though, my 300 is a tub and has a lot of surface area to drain out before it stops, so you might be alright.

 

[rottbo]

DIY is the only way to go in my book unless of course I won the lotto them I would run eheim wet/dry on all of my tanks....

 

[prophets]

DIY is the only way to go in my book unless of course I won the lotto them I would run eheim wet/dry on all of my tanks....

Hell, custom made tanks and filtration!