Sumpin'fishy
01-23-2003, 8:11 PM
I am building a DIY tank, stand, and wet/dry setup. The tank I'm making will by 5'x2'x2' (outside measurements). This comes out to be somewhere between 110 and 125 gallons (depending which online calculator you use). I will make this tank out of plywood on bottom and 3 sides and a glass front.
Anyways, I have two spare glass tanks laying around (15H and 20H). I was wondering if they would work as sumps? I am going to make a separate biotower with plumbing leading down into the 20 which will be heavily planted. I will put 2x40w flourescents above this and probably inject CO2. I am thinking of running 3x 1" pvc pipes linking the two tanks together via syphon (15gal and 20gal) and place the pump in the 15 gal. I'm assuming the water level will usually be 3/4 full in the 20 gal (only 15 gallons effectively). Since the 15 gallon is taller than the 20 I would assume the water level will be at about half full level in this aquarium (effectively 7 1/2 to 10 gallons). I'm looking at somewhere between 20 to 25 gallons total between the two sumps, but only 15 will be planted. Is this enough to even worry about with this large of a tank? Do I need to build my own DIY sump also since I'm building a tank? I never really use these tanks, and would like to put them to use as sumps, if possible. If I do build my own sump, it will be something like 36"x15"x15", is this necessary? Also is it wise to have a glass side to see into the sump? Usually you can't see well into tanks from the top, especially if heavily planted?
Another question is that If I use these as sumps, I've read that you don't want too much water current going through planted Refugiums (maybe 10 to 15 times/hour). Should I go with the Mag Drive #5 - 500gph (will be about 350 to 400 gph after my 4' of head), or even lower? I will also be using two aditional filters for mainly mechanical filtration. I'm thinking of 2x AC500's.
I'm housing a Jack Dempsey, a Blackbelt, an Electric Blue Crawfish, and a Sailfin Pleco. I don't plan on adding any other fish so this should be more than enough space for these fish to thrive in! I currently keep my nitrates below 20ppm and would like to keep them below 10ppm to really make a healthy environment (hence the planted refugium). Does anyone see a need to add some algae crew to the refugium? I wouldn't mind some little critters to occasionally feed my main tank (like snails) but I'm not big on the idea of thousands of snails all over my tank either! Ghost shrimp are probably a good addition, but they won't do much for algae, and may not survive the pump to the main tank.
Any other insight, people?
Thanks
Anyways, I have two spare glass tanks laying around (15H and 20H). I was wondering if they would work as sumps? I am going to make a separate biotower with plumbing leading down into the 20 which will be heavily planted. I will put 2x40w flourescents above this and probably inject CO2. I am thinking of running 3x 1" pvc pipes linking the two tanks together via syphon (15gal and 20gal) and place the pump in the 15 gal. I'm assuming the water level will usually be 3/4 full in the 20 gal (only 15 gallons effectively). Since the 15 gallon is taller than the 20 I would assume the water level will be at about half full level in this aquarium (effectively 7 1/2 to 10 gallons). I'm looking at somewhere between 20 to 25 gallons total between the two sumps, but only 15 will be planted. Is this enough to even worry about with this large of a tank? Do I need to build my own DIY sump also since I'm building a tank? I never really use these tanks, and would like to put them to use as sumps, if possible. If I do build my own sump, it will be something like 36"x15"x15", is this necessary? Also is it wise to have a glass side to see into the sump? Usually you can't see well into tanks from the top, especially if heavily planted?
Another question is that If I use these as sumps, I've read that you don't want too much water current going through planted Refugiums (maybe 10 to 15 times/hour). Should I go with the Mag Drive #5 - 500gph (will be about 350 to 400 gph after my 4' of head), or even lower? I will also be using two aditional filters for mainly mechanical filtration. I'm thinking of 2x AC500's.
I'm housing a Jack Dempsey, a Blackbelt, an Electric Blue Crawfish, and a Sailfin Pleco. I don't plan on adding any other fish so this should be more than enough space for these fish to thrive in! I currently keep my nitrates below 20ppm and would like to keep them below 10ppm to really make a healthy environment (hence the planted refugium). Does anyone see a need to add some algae crew to the refugium? I wouldn't mind some little critters to occasionally feed my main tank (like snails) but I'm not big on the idea of thousands of snails all over my tank either! Ghost shrimp are probably a good addition, but they won't do much for algae, and may not survive the pump to the main tank.
Any other insight, people?
Thanks