Large Tank Filtration

Hello,

I wanted to know does anyone have a 2m+ size tank or 1000 liter+ size tank.

I would like to know what type of filtration your have on your tank?

Canister\HOB\Sump? Size of filter? etc...

Planning on a large tank and would like some good advice.

Thanks,

 

On that size tank, a sump would be the only way to go

 

@Zoom, What size sump do you think would be needed?

 

@jwalker i would use anythng frm a 4foot and bigr say up 2 1.5m to gt a great surface area for bio filtration.

 

@Pleco102, looking at your reply, i gather the more oxygen the bio filter gets the better. My Q is, can you have glass covers on your sump to prevent moisture from rising and affecting your main tank\stand?

 

Hi. I have a 2.4m tank and use 3 Tetratec EX1200 canister filters. One in each corner and one in the middle for over a year now and no problems with the pumps. Still doing a 20% water change a week. Will look at a sump maybe in the future if it will help me doing a water change less often. If anyone has a nice sump idea for the 2m tank i would love to know.

Cheers

 

I have ZERO experience with sumps... (I use canisters) but the bigger you can get / fit the better

Absolutely. Oxygen is VITAL for bacteria. You could put a cover on the sump, but have the air pump pumping air into the sump. I've seem people running an air pump into all the different compartments of their sump.

I agree with gregorian that canisters are great... (I have 2 also with no problems)... however they do have their down side... they are very limited in the amount of oxygen they take in, during a power failure, a canister filter's bacteria is one of the fastest filters to die off... and maintenance on them is a hassle sometimes.

 

I have 2m upto 4m aquaria all under my care and guidance...maybe my advice works for you?

1)
above tank trickle filtration...either a single larger unit or 2(maybe 3) smaller units.
Fed by internal powerheads as prefilters..
OR
2)
An undertank sump...
If you employ brilliant media choices, within budget of course, your filter can be as small as 60L...larger is used mainly due to possible OLDSCHOOL Marine systems which have influenced larger freshwater aquaria...and even in marine aquaria, the sump just houses the filtration(well some of it anyway)..and isn't ACTUALLY the filtration METHOD.

I have set up, consulted and supervised at various stages on many tanks in the )1000L range.

I am toying with either selling or setting up a spare tank+sump 1750L volume, just idle at my place...
It ran flawlessly, with prefiltration in the overflow chamber, and biofiltration, and chemical media and heaters in a shallow 200L sump.
Incidentally I grew plants in the sump, which assisted with some Nitrogen and Phosphorus export

Erm, hope my ramble helps .
If not , give me a shout...

 

Hi @Altum
I am very interested in hearing more about the trickle filter. Every now and then, the name pops up, but I have never seen one, nor heard how it actually work. What is it consisting of? What does the design look like? Is it aerobic or anaerobic and why? I suspect it is a huge flat bed and anaerobic, which will assist in removing NO3. That is the main reason why I am curious. Please tell all!

 

i have a 2.5x90x80h tank with a 1.5x60x60 sump filled with bioballs and filter matting as well as 1x Eheim Pro 3 and Eheim Pro3E filters filled with some bio media and filter floss.

 

was wonderin would two 2 foot sumps be any better on a tank that is about 2.5m or is one bigger one better?

 

Morning.

As I have a tank filled with water, I cant drill any holes. I made a 600mm sump for one of my 1.2m tanks. I went on the web and had a look at the DIY PVC siphon systems. Check the website (http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=244598&st=0h).

Mine looks similar but does not feed from the top. It picks up the water from the bottom to get all the fish poop. I cant get mine to flow much. Say only have of the pipes flows with water and not very strong. How do you prime the pipe that it flows the full volume of the pipe. Hope you understand what I mean.

Any ideas on any other siphon systes or how to prime the pipe?

Thanks

 

@Tom.K @Altum
Dirk has thrown this name out there. I also do not know what it looks like, the design, or the difference between a trickle filter and a sump. When people ask for pictures of a trickle filter, or how it works, there seems to be this hush hush secrecy thing going on about it.

 

I also have a 2.5m 1200L tank and im running 2x Penplax cascade 1200's and one Resun UV canister 2800L/h with custom pre filter. Media- bio balls, ceramic rings sponges and filter floss. Taking the innitial cost of this filter i would rather go sump. Filter cost totalled almost 6 g's.

 

@Zoom

Hehe, you catch my drift!

 

i have a 1.8x60x80cms and i am running a 5ft custom sump on it, in term of bactria i wud say sump works well, I just roughly read through this thread, and never see the question what fish u want to keep? and how many in this tank, as these two things are the most imp when deciding on a filter for a tank.

 

Hi. I have a high fish load in my 2.4 as well. Around 800 liter to where I filled it up. I am running 3 cannister filters, but were toying with the idea of getting a sump

If I can use a sump (which has better bacteria filtration than my filters) and I can get a way with doing a water change every 2 weeks, I will get a sump tomorrow.

Just need to sort out a siphon system that will work as I am struggling to sort out one on my 1.2m. Any bright ideas out there?

Thanks

 

I believe if you search in the Professor's subforum in the threads there you will find a sump overflow system that works better than using the "drill through the base" method. I HATE the idea of drilling the base.. purely because the closer you drill to the edges, the weaker you make the structure. But it can be done.

 

Hi Zoom.

I used a PVC system similar to the one Proff had, but cant get the thing primed properly. I have check for air leaks as well, but not much luck. I just cant get the thing to flow more than half the pipes opening and it's suppose to flow way more than that according to some pictures I have found.

 

Hi @Gregorian, as I've said before... I've had ZERO experience with sumps. So I shouldn't even be commenting on this thread... just sharing what I've seen / heard.