Critique my wet/dry set-up...

[Lil_Stinker]

OK, your wet/dry is totally wet.. there sill be no air on your pot scrubbers, so you loose a whole bunch of bio filtrations there.

stage 4 at least has air being pumped in to help, but I think making a drip plate over it & lowering the water line will be better..

My thoughts.. start with a filter bag in area 1 & 2, over flow into stage 3 but move the drip plate to area 4 overflow from 3 to 4 via the drip plate & raise the wall between 4 & 5 to allow water under it allowing the bio area to be a true wet/dry with a lower water level..

your current config will require cleaning of the pt scrubbers in area 2 often

I can make a sketch if you like

 

[railNtrailcowgr]

OK, your wet/dry is totally wet.. there sill be no air on your pot scrubbers, so you loose a whole bunch of bio filtrations there.

stage 4 at least has air being pumped in to help, but I think making a drip plate over it & lowering the water line will be better..

My thoughts.. start with a filter bag in area 1 & 2, over flow into stage 3 but move the drip plate to area 4 overflow from 3 to 4 via the drip plate & raise the wall between 4 & 5 to allow water under it allowing the bio area to be a true wet/dry with a lower water level..

your current config will require cleaning of the pt scrubbers in area 2 often

I can make a sketch if you like

Could I see a sketch?

Although now I'm having second thoughts. When I started I was thinking this was what I really wanted to do. Now that I have a sketch and I have been pricing ALL the components and things I will need I'm not sure this is what I want to do any more. I hade a rough estimate of tank and glass I would need. However, today when I started looking at overflows, pumps, plumbing, and other misc needed for the build. :eek3:

I'm starting to think that I have made it this long with my current set up I probably could make it a little longer and just get creative with hiding my HOB filter intake and heater and put all that money to better use with driftwood, plants, and livestock for the new tank.

 

[Lil_Stinker]

Here is the general concept...

Stage 1; a pre-filter mesh bag or similar (first wall is optional)

Stage 2; staged filter media from coarse to fine. bottom layer is egg-crate, to hold media off the bottom.

stage 3a; a drip plate sealed on the inlet side, but on the far side to allow spill over.

Stage 3b; wet dry, see how the level is lower fo allow media fo have water trickle over it..

Stage 4; sump area, heater & pump, this is the area (with 3) that will change levels due to evaporation..

Hope this helps understand my idea.. the areas sizes can change to suit your desires.. the usual maintainance is only in stages 1 & 2..

If this is in an area that is not seen, you can use a rubbermaid tote, rather than a tank

 

[railNtrailcowgr]

Thanks so much! I will definatly keep this in mind. As of right now I'm doing some more shopping around, trying to decide if this is really worth all the work (and $$) now.

 

[mattmartindrift]

I built a mini full-wet sump for my 29g; i've posted in some other threads.

it's made of:

1/2" pvc piping
some 1/2" pvc ball valves (for siphon-flow control)
2.5g glass aquarium
acrylic baffles
fluval bio-filter media
marineland sponge media
quiet one 1200 pump.



So far, everthing works great. I did have one overflow issue when our power went out and the pump quit, but, I fixed that with a siphon break (drilled a hole) just below the water line.

I also have a float switch that i will be installing so if the water in the sump goes too low the pump will shut off.