Wet dry or cannister

[blakeoe]

Please help me decide! I have been "building" a wet/dry filter for my 55 gallon and have had numerous problems. The overflow isn't fast enough to keep up with the pump, it barely fits in my stand, it's hard to take apart, etc.,etc. I just returned the pump i bought because it is too big and now (hopefully) i have to make a few more adjustments and get a new pump and i think it will work. While shopping for a new pump i noticed that for not allot more i can buy an ehiem 2217 or fluval 404 cannister filter. What should i do? What are the advantages/disadvantages of each type of filtration? Should i just scrap my project and spend a few more bucks on something i know will work? or should i try to trouble shoot the diy one? Please give me some opinions and facts to help me decide im torn!
P.S. Im actually doing all this b/c i am planning on converting to saltwater soon.

 

[rallysman]

If you're doing a DIY wet/dry for the cost of an ehiem canister, it had better be a really nice wet/dry. Personally I like wet/drys a lot better than any type of filtration. post some pix of your system and we can help you figure it out.

If your pump was pumping too much for your overflow you could have put a ball valve after the pump......or you could have got a bigger overflow.
There is always a solution

 

[blakeoe]

the new pump cost about $60 a mag 7. I first bought the mag 9.5 and tried to restrict it with a ball valve but i was told this shortens the life of the pump and also it was REALLY noisy when restricted as much as i needed it too. The overflow i built is made of 1 inch pvc pipe and i was told it can handle about 600 gph but this seems inacurate. The cannisters i saw are both around $90. Depending on which provides better filtration i am willing to spend $30 extra for something i know will function properly rather than having to trouble shoot the wetdry every day. I am also scared that if something goes wrong i will flood my apt.

Here's some pics of the setup i made 1st is the drawer system i used 2nd is the "overflow" 3rd is the return and 4th is the system under my tank it sits in a 10 gallon aquarium that BARELY fits in my stand.

 

[toxicfish]

yup just use a ball valve after the pump....U always want your pump to over power your overflow box, just turn it down with the ball valve.....


I have a 1" ball valve on my magdrive 2400. I just have to turn it down about a 1/8th turn to equal my overflow, which has two 1.25" u-tubes I can close it half way and it doesn't make any more noise than normal...

I have learned that if the pump is not fully primed it will be louder. I just allow it to back siphon before turning it on. Also my pump is fully submerged

 

[Utaka]

Keep the big pump! There is no need to down size or restrict your pump to control return flow rate and I'll tell you a simple way how. Plumb it like this...from the pump going back into the tank install a tee so that you have a straight line going back into the tank, and the tee will go back into the sump with a ball valve installed between the tee and the line dumping back into the sump. If the pump is flowing too much just crack the ball valve and let the residual flow just go back into the sump instead of restricting your pump. The disadvantage of your siphon set up is that there is no surface skimming action like you'd have with a conventional overflow box.

 

[blakeoe]

i have already mailed the big pump off :/ but when i tried restricting it with the ball valve it vibrated allot and was very loud. The idea utaka mentioned sounds pretty kool if i decide to keep the wetdry ill try that. How loud should i expect a wet dry to be? I am running 2 penguin 350's now which are virtually silent is a wet dry more or less noisy than a cannister?

 

[dr_sudz]

Keep the big pump! There is no need to down size or restrict your pump to control return flow rate and I'll tell you a simple way how. Plumb it like this...from the pump going back into the tank install a tee so that you have a straight line going back into the tank, and the tee will go back into the sump with a ball valve installed between the tee and the line dumping back into the sump. If the pump is flowing too much just crack the ball valve and let the residual flow just go back into the sump instead of restricting your pump. The disadvantage of your siphon set up is that there is no surface skimming action like you'd have with a conventional overflow box.

You took the words right out of my mouth!! When I do my monster tank im going to do a simular set up so that i can control the flow rate in the tank. I would use two ball joints one for the sump side and the other at the tank side just to have the most control over the whole system, altho im sure that its not intirely needed but I like to have all my bases coverd.

 

[blakeoe]

any ideas on how i can get some surface skimming action going? This design works really well for me because i have a fiberglass DIY background that was made around the intake of a power filter so the 1 inch pipe fits in that space almost perfectly. Again thanks for the ideas with the dump line and ball valves i will def incorporate this in if i fix the wetdry. Another thing im worried about is flooding. If the overflow fails the pump will empty the contents of the sump into the main tank causing overflow and flood. How can i prevent that?

 

[blakeoe]

one thing i wanted to share with anyone who may be thinking of makeing a filter like this. If you use a sterilite container like i used do not drill holes in the plastic. It will crack on you. I bought a cheap $5 wood branding tool from the craft department at walmart and melted my holes and it worked great. Just make sure you do it in a well vented place b/c burning plastic is toxic.

 

[toxicfish]

Too keep a wet/dry quiet add foam to the inside of the stand and also under the sump tank itself. And I always put a sponge under the pump or any spots that it touches another surface.

I'm bored so I took some pictures to show the foam