filtration?

I just find myself comparing filters to wet/drys which I should try to stop doing.


When I think of easy cleaning, i dont want to have to shut it off, disconnect, reconnect, dump, fill, prime, take stuff out/put stuff back in..... I want to take the prefilter off of the running filter, put new material on, and walk away. I just think there are better ways to filter your tank for the same amount of money.
 
Rally, in a post on Friday, you recommended Eheim over Fluval. I take it you do not like canisters, but like Ehiem over Fluval, and you prefer wet/dry...? Which Eheim do you have (had)?
 
I've never owned one personally, but delt with them in friends houses and at our LFS. Canisters arent bad, but they just arent for me. The quality craftmanship of an eheim is obvious just by handling and looking. They are very well made.
There is a thread on another site talking about the longest lasting equipment, and there are a few people claiming 15+ years out of an eheim with no problems. Even though I dont have much use for them, that's pretty impressive! lol
 
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See your point. Seems the canisters are like UGF/RUGF, you either love 'em or hate 'em. I am a die hard Magnum 350 guy. The others look contemporary and sleek, but too many parts for me. Have a couple homemade wet/dry for heavy tanks. And I'll never give up on RUGF.
 
One thing I don't undertand with wet/dry filters

My tank does not have any overflow capabilities, so I assume that I'll need to syphon the water into an overflow box on the back of the tank, and then run an overflow tube from that overflow box to the wet/dry.... do I just need to make sure I use large diametre tubing for all overflow stuff to make sure it can gravity flow at least the amount that the return pump is going to pump back into the tank?

Since I have a 100gal tank, I'm assuming I'm going to want a return pump that pumps around 400gal per hour...

How do I know actual pump output, rather than maximum/advertised? how do I measure it?
 
You'll need an overflow box. I dont know the flow rates of certain diameter tubbing but your correct in that your overflow and hoses will need to be rated at or probably higher than your pump capacity. Usually pumps will list thier flow rate with regards to the hieght your moving water up too. I have not ever measured a pump to see how close this comes in reality... not sure if anyone else here has gone that far? I suppose you could assume some loss over time and maybe if you have a filter on the pump intake. I would think if you keep the pump clean and dont use an overly restrictive filter on it, you should get close to the advertised rating.
 
I use a DIY PVC siphon that acts like an overflow (never loses prime) on my tanks with wet/drys and drip systems. The 1" PVC can flow 600 gph easily. The pumps ratings are usually at 0' head pressure. They will list their rates at other head pressures, and are generally close to what they claim. I can get pictures of my setup sometime in the near future, because explaining my overflow is almost impossible lol.
 
if you could provide photos/description or article on net if you got your design from somewhere? I will be looking to make one very soon...

Very interested, any help appreciated... I spent most of this morning reading about DIY wet/dry's and I understand it all a lot better now.
 
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