Filtration of large tanks

R

rushikova

AC Members
Jul 24, 2006
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Hi, I posted in the DIY forum about making a stand for a huge tank. I'm also going to need some serious filtration on it - I'm thinking pond filter + pump, but it's the volume per hour thing that I'm not sure about. I've read from 1 tank vol. filtered per hour up to 4 or 5, what's best? Here's the setup-to-be:

96" x 36" x 30" tank (heated to 24C, 73F I think)

Catfish:
1 sun cat
1 liposarcus pardalis
1 hypostomus punctatus
1 unknown plec (adult at 5")
1 LDA 8 (4")
6 peppered cories
1 pearl catfish
1 syno. robbianus
5 megalechis personata
1 hoplo. punctatum
2 jelly bumblebees
2 dwarf bumblebees
2 pseudomystus siamensis

Barbs:
7 lemon-finned barbs
2 large-scaled barbs (10" adults)
9 clown barbs
5 spanner barbs

So quite a lot of fish to be accounted for - my stock list hails back to my days working in my LFS, darn that discount!! they aren't all full grown, but I will want a filter that'll cope with them when they are. I *might* set up a 60g (my current tank) for the spanners, clowns, cories and smaller bumbles, but I'm not sure yet. Assume they're going in this tank for now! I already have all the filter media necessary of course, it's just that the fulval externals I'm using simply won't cope - they're starting to struggle now.

So, what capacity filter should I look for? I know the filter will need to be pressurised, obviously getting a pond filter above this tank would be an issue!
Oh, water change will be 50g once a week, I'll be draining water out the ktichen window and pumping it back in from a water butt so the water sits for a week before I use it.
 
Too much filtration is pretty much always better than not enough.

With that said, I would consider doing at least 5x per hour, esp with the amount of fish you are planning to have.

Have you considered using a sump system for your tank? They work great on huge tanks and can make it a lot easier for you to do top-offs, etc. I haven't seen your stand, but well built stands are normally great "cover-ups" for sumps. The other benefit of a sump system is that you could build yourself a refugium for future breeding purposes!
 
Check into putting a wet dry trickle filter, with bio-balls, you could even make your own check out this guys, Only downfall would be either drilling your tank for an overflow or buying a siphon overflow.
skip the beginning just check out the pics near the bottom.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=887977

You could mod his idea or make it larger, 2 of them.

This way you could use a large canister filter with the sump. Or a big pond filter would do the trick, depends on how much your willing to pay.
hope this helps
 
I have tried the pond pump thing before. They tend to be pretty noisy. I had one that pumped 526gph, and once I put it in a filter box with media, water movement was nonexistant. You need something with huge pumping power if you want to be able to power water through even a moderate amount of media (which you will need with how many fish you are planning). I wouldn't reccommend it.

That being said, I have a pond pump that powers out 526gph that I can sell you cheap.
 
I use a magnetic drive pump on my sump..I think mine is 800 gph for my 75.

they aren't reallly all that noisy..the impellar is in a magnetic housing and you can't hear it at all..the only thing you hear is the motor turning.

dr fosters has some of the pumps on sale..

I am getting a quiet pump for my 110 but the tank hasn't been set up yet.
 
Thanks all!

I've toyed with the sump idea, really what it comes down to is price. The setup's going to cost me a fair bit as it is!

Still, I've got some research still to do, and looking at meaneuvering space at the mo I may need to cut the tank to 7' - so I may have a bit extra for a sump perhaps.
 
I have a 210 with a huge sump tank and a 2400gph pump. Its very simple to set up and very uncomplicated in process. It seems to do a tremendous job. A great pond sized pump like that will definitely cost you over 100 dollars though.
 
Okay, I've been doodling a bit over the last couple of days, and I think I am going to do a sump - I have a 30" x 12" x 15" tank that won't be in use, so I've worked out where to put dividers for different filter media and so on.

But, how do I go about working out the in/outflow rates? Pump size etc? Assuming 5x volume an hour, so about 1800gph (US g), and the water will need to be lifted roughly 4ft from the sump back to the tank. I've seen some DIY siphon threads elsewhere so I've got a fair idea how to do that, it's just the flow rate that I'm having trouble getting my head round.
 
This guy is the master of sump building, search the whole site and you will learn alot.

http://www.melevsreef.com/


As for your flow you first have to figure out how you are going to get the water out of your main tank. There are 2 options, drill the tank and add bulkheads, or buy a overflow, which is basicly siphon tube in a controlled setting.
 
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