Wet Dry Filter

[TrooperVinny]

Hi all,
I want to set up a saltwater tank (FOWLR) and have decided to go with a wet/dry trickle filter system. All I have so far is a 90 gallon glass tank, an overflow box, glass cover, stand and 1 powerhead. This will be my first sw tank and was wondering: are all of the wet/dry filters pretty much the same or are there brands I should look for and or avoid. Also, I would like to put all the other things like protien skimmer, heaters or whatever else in the filter tank. What would you guys recommend for a filter for me? Would the size of the overflow box have any bearing on the size of my filter? I have an area in my stand under the tank of about 40x14x24. Thanks

 

[crazyelece]

If you have a single overflow drain you need a trickle tower with one intake. If you have two then the sump needs to have dual intakes. For every overflow drain you should have 600gph flow back into the tank, so plan for that with the return pump size. Also take into acount the head pressure when calculating the return pump size. As far as what size wet/dry - the bigger the better. I would get the largest one that will fit in the area as it makes it easier to upgrade later. Also many people suggest to replace the bio balls in the wet/dry with live rock rubble. If you are doing FOWLR it isn't a neccessity but you will have to do more water changes

 

[Aquascaper]

For every overflow drain you should have 600gph flow back into the tank, so plan for that with the return pump size.

This of course depends on the diameter of the piping, larger piping will have a larger flow and vice versa. What size pipework do you have?

 

[TrooperVinny]

Not sure of the size, I'll have to check. I put a pic of it here: http/www.putfile.com/troopervinny so you can see what I have to work with. It looks like 1 " pipe...I'll measure it in a little bit.

 

[TrooperVinny]

Not sure of the size, I'll have to check. I put a pic of it here: http/www.putfile.com/troopervinny so you can see what I have to work with. It looks like 1 " pipe...I'll measure it in a little bit.

Ok, I just checked it, It's 3/4"

 

[Aquascaper]

The best way to measure the through put of your overflow is to fill the tank and measure how fast it drains, simple but this isn't always possible so a high output pump with a varible inline valve would be my second choice. By doing this you can adjust the flow rate manually until you have it optimised. I think NAv had a way of actually working the flow rate out but I could be wrong