Ok, my next tank project will involve the use of a sump tank - first time I have done this. I have read for a while about easy to make DIY wet/dry trickle filters, and how the design can be adapted to a heavily planted tank by removing the wet/dry part and making some minor changes (to avoid CO2 gass-off).
I need to start putting this together asap so any suggestions are appreciated. First thing is what is a good brand of return pump? The main tank is 240G and the sump will be a 75G tank. It will be heavily planted so I dont need a 10X turnover or anything, I am guessing 3X or 4X turnover would be plenty. I currently have an unused quiet one 3000 pump, not sure if this brand is reliable and quiet? I figure for redundancy and since I have two overflow chambers anyhow, that I will use 2 return pumps. What I am looking for are reputable return pumps that are fairly quiet and fully submersable. I might put a passive canister in the return line like the lifegaurd modular ones or maybe an ocean clear. Would this be a good idea for added filtration?
Here is a basic design so far. My scanner broke so I tried to whip up something with my 3d software.
Nothing set in stone yet and not everything is shown but the basic idea is I'll have two drain lines comming down on the right hand side that are submerged (to avoid surface agitation and CO2 gass-off). Then will be a low-pass thing that as I understand will confine buble to the first chamber. Then a filter pad of some sort for mechincal filtration. Then the main chamber will probably have the heaters (not shown). There is a small pump and UV filter (above the sump) in the picture as well. Then a spot were the water flows over a short wall, under another wall then back over a short wall. In the bottom of this section would be some bio media (pot scrubbers or something like that)? And lastly would be a pair of return pumps. Like I said above I am thinking about extra filtration in the return line like an ocean clear filter or lifegaurd modular setup (on one return line or both). If I use an inline canister I might not even have any bio or mechanical filters in the sump (other than UV), would simplify the design. Any suggestions appreciated! And in the meantime I'll keep searching for design ideas using the search.
I need to start putting this together asap so any suggestions are appreciated. First thing is what is a good brand of return pump? The main tank is 240G and the sump will be a 75G tank. It will be heavily planted so I dont need a 10X turnover or anything, I am guessing 3X or 4X turnover would be plenty. I currently have an unused quiet one 3000 pump, not sure if this brand is reliable and quiet? I figure for redundancy and since I have two overflow chambers anyhow, that I will use 2 return pumps. What I am looking for are reputable return pumps that are fairly quiet and fully submersable. I might put a passive canister in the return line like the lifegaurd modular ones or maybe an ocean clear. Would this be a good idea for added filtration?
Here is a basic design so far. My scanner broke so I tried to whip up something with my 3d software.
Nothing set in stone yet and not everything is shown but the basic idea is I'll have two drain lines comming down on the right hand side that are submerged (to avoid surface agitation and CO2 gass-off). Then will be a low-pass thing that as I understand will confine buble to the first chamber. Then a filter pad of some sort for mechincal filtration. Then the main chamber will probably have the heaters (not shown). There is a small pump and UV filter (above the sump) in the picture as well. Then a spot were the water flows over a short wall, under another wall then back over a short wall. In the bottom of this section would be some bio media (pot scrubbers or something like that)? And lastly would be a pair of return pumps. Like I said above I am thinking about extra filtration in the return line like an ocean clear filter or lifegaurd modular setup (on one return line or both). If I use an inline canister I might not even have any bio or mechanical filters in the sump (other than UV), would simplify the design. Any suggestions appreciated! And in the meantime I'll keep searching for design ideas using the search.