Filtering a 150-185g

You can also go for the more simple idea of having the wet/dry filter above the tank which makes the plumbing much more simple. Even under the tank setups aren't too difficult with a syphon overflow, etc...

With the FBF I imagine you would want a prefilter of some sort, but otherwise they are maintainence free - only really a problem if the power goes out I guess...

I don't think you 'need' a wet/dry, but for me it's the cheapest and easiest way to go. In my part of the world they charge up to $200 at the lfs for an AC500 And canisters are $200-$300... So a homemade wet/dry looked really good
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W/D above the tank, like they did back then ... theres nowhere on my wall to put it, and its unsightly. The XP2, XP3 and AC500 should get most of the junk, and i can always prefilter the intake to the FBF and power here is very reliable.
Prices there suck, eh. I paid $50 for mine.
 
I'd recommend 2 Filstar xP-3's and be done with it.
A large AquaClear could be added, or susbstituted for one of the xP-3's.
 
spartan said:
Hi all,

It will house about 10 bichirs 6-10 inches (eventually hitting 1-2feet)along with one lima shovelnose ~8 inches (eventually hitting 1.5 feet).
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That's going to be a nice bioload when they mature. I would recommend setting up a FBF for they have been known to handle ammonia well. As said before, a prefilter is all that is needed to keep it maintenance free. You will have to get a good one way valve so during shutoff, the sand will not backflow for easy restartup.
 
I'd recommend 2 Filstar xP-3's and be done with it.
A large AquaClear could be added, or susbstituted for one of the xP-3's.
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The nice thing is i already have the AC500 and XP2 running. If i were to do it again, i would have bought the XP3 instead of my current XP2.

That's going to be a nice bioload when they mature. I would recommend setting up a FBF for they have been known to handle ammonia well. As said before, a prefilter is all that is needed to keep it maintenance free. You will have to get a good one way valve so during shutoff, the sand will not backflow for easy restartup.
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The large bioload is the reason i chose a FBF. Could you elaborate on the one way valve?
 
Usually when you purchase one, they come with what they call a 'check valve' and you usually place it on the line going to the filter. But sometimes their checkvalves aren't the greatest.

If you ever looked at the design of a FBF, water usually flows starting from the bottom of the filter and travels up through the sand and out the return line to the tank. When you shut the filter off, there is alot of pressure (from the sand) and the sand wants to backflow up through the input line. A check valve would prevent that from happening and on restartup, there is no pressure to fight against.

This is what I used on my FBF and never had any problems on restartup:
http://www.bradyproducts.com/documents/checkvalveinstructions.pdf
 
Spartan,
I sent you a PM.
 
it is VERY easy to build your own FBF or Wet/Dry.....it will be WAYYYYY cheaper and you can make a NICE sized FBF easy!! Google "DIY Fluidized bed filter" and there are tons of articles....Good luck!!

Just make sure and prefilter the FBF input VERY good, because they are a PITA to clean out, and the sand will start clumping when muck gets in it.
 
Well it depends on where the FBF is, if it was attatched onto a sump, idealy you would have a diverter that would allow the output of the sump to recirculate to the input side of the sump, so when youre changing the water you open the diverter and the water recirculates in the sump only (so the water level in the main tank means nothing) and the FBF can still run its heart out without stopping, but i would think you wouldnt want to keep it like that for too long or the bacteria will start suffering.....but that brings up the good point of FBF's is that the bacteria colony can grow FAST.

Also if you have a HOB FBF(or the way mentioned above) you could just turn it off, as long as it has a check valve on it so it stays full...it would be kinda like floating your bio wheel while the filter is off, just dont do it for tooo long.

And about power outages its pretty much the same, as long as they have a check valve they will be ok for as long as the bacteria can go without "food"....or you could go buy a UPS power backup, those can run a pump for a good little while and arent that expensive.


This is a diagram of my sump, and ideally I would put the pump for the FBF in the refugium area.

sump.jpg
 
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