Which External Filter?

[fishman3]

you shouldnt hi-jack threads seeing as you have your own already!

yeah i know i know sorry, just wanted someone to actually acknowledge i was alive, forget it i'll do some more research online, i guess if your face fits and all...........

 

[shaz-killie]

yeah please as advice on two totally different sizes of tanks will really mess my brain up after a very long day lol

you shouldnt hi-jack threads seeing as you have your own already!

yeah i know i know sorry, just wanted someone to actually acknowledge i was alive, forget it i'll do some more research online, i guess if your face fits and all...........

this forum is def not a case of if your face fits hun, I just joined a month ago and got great advice but people will only reply if they know the answer rather than guessing and possibly causing issues in your tank

 

[fishman3]

yeah please as advice on two totally different sizes of tanks will really mess my brain up after a very long day lol

you shouldnt hi-jack threads seeing as you have your own already!

yeah i know i know sorry, just wanted someone to actually acknowledge i was alive, forget it i'll do some more research online, i guess if your face fits and all...........

this forum is def not a case of if your face fits hun, I just joined a month ago and got great advice but people will only reply if they know the answer rather than guessing and possibly causing issues in your tank

a response that says i have no idea is better than none though do you not think? anyway sorry hun didnt mean to gate crash hope you get the advice you want / asked for...

 

[shaz-killie]

it's ok, well I have read your post and I don't have a clue, if you've not have a response bump the thread as some people only have time to read the the first few pages of threads i'm sure someone will be able to help.

anyway can someone tell me the basics of how a sump tank works and what I'll need or even a link to a page that will, thanks

 

[rabbut]

Basically, you have a tank below the main tank, that will take at least 20% of the water in the top tank. A pump sits in the bottom tank, and pushes water through plumbing, into the main one. The main tank then either has an overflow box (which tends to stall out and caurse a wet floor in a power outage) sat over the back to take water back down to the lower tank, or a hole drilled in the base/back (very reliable way of doing it, and cheaper too in most cases). All water pumped into the top tank "overflows" down the hole or through the overflow box, back into the sump. Often, you bace and back drill and install a calfo for near silent running

You would need space for a 132l tank beneth your's and a large return pump. You are looking at a 30g tall or similar there, with something along the lines of a Hoselock/Eheim/Aquarius pond pump for the return pump

In the bottom tank, water from the main tank passes trough some foam and floss typically, to remove debris, at the top and then it "trickles" over some biomedia, say bio-balls. This gives near enough 25g of volume to bio-media with arround 4000lph of flow over the media. This will handle bio-filtration very well. You might then place a couple of small powerheads in the main tank to lift dirt into the water colum long enough to be removed from the tank by the sump system The media is in contact with air most of the way down also, keeping things well oxygenated and hence further boosting efficiency.

HTH
Rabbut

 

[shaz-killie]

thanks kind of makes more sense all I knew before was that the water was filtered into the sump and filtered then pushed back to the main tank. think I might stick with externals though as I'm already concerned about the weight of the tank without adding that kind of weight in a sump. plus I need to remember throughout the house I have the weight of another 9 tanks and will need to add another 2 fry tanks.

 

[smegforbrains]

Reliability is key in a large Discus set-up, as if the filter goes belly up, so (most likely) will the fish if the back-up takes a while to catch-up to the increased load. For this reason alone, I'd go Eheim. Tetratec, my favorite brand, don't do a filter large enough to do a tank of that size, that is of reasonable price, even relative to Eheim

I take it you didn't bother looking for the EX1200 then?


Two of those are a lot cheaper than the equivalent Eheims.

 

[shaz-killie]

oh that looks like a good possibility

 

[Truck]

what about 2 * tetratec ex 2400's?

 

[shaz-killie]

anyone know anything about the aqua pro 4? or is it a waste of time. the X1200 I can get for £74 and the Ehiem 2217 for £85 so both look like good options

 

[rabbut]

what about 2 * tetratec ex 2400's?

You would probibly find them a bit more expencive that the equivelant Eheim... You would need 4 EX1200's, smeg, which would be better for cost, but think of the masses of hoses and wireing behind and benieth the tank

All the best
Rabbut

 

[shaz-killie]

I thought the EX1200 handled up to 500lt tanks so 2 would be enough?

 

[raptorrex]

I thought the EX1200 handled up to 500lt tanks so 2 would be enough?

the flow of am EX1200 is, around, 600lph. so 2x would be 1200lph. you need around 3800lph.

 

[shaz-killie]

ok re think then required, just there info said they handle up to a 600lt tank with a flow of 1200lph

 

[rabbut]

Tetratec's give half the spec'ed flow if you add media and hoses to the pump head

One will cope with 250l IMO, so for 660, you will just about get away with 3, but 4 would make things more comfortable

All filter manufacturers rate their filter with no media and no hoses to get their "maximum" flow rates, including Eheim. AquaOne and Eheim then give a "turnover rating" that is what it will do with the standord media set and a couple of feet of hose. Usualy, this looses 75% of the "maximum" flow value. When you add enough hose to fit a tank however, another 25% of the maximum flow goes "missing in action"...

All the best
Rabbut