New 180 Gallon - Need filtration advice

[cuda]

I am either getting a 125 or a 180 gallon. Tank will be viewed from all directions so I want it to look clean.

I would also like to keep the design simple if at all possible.

I prefer the eclipse tanks as they use bio wheels and are VERY clean looking. (eclipse 12 I feel is THE starter tank IMO).

But....I am going into a 125 or a 180 and thats new ground for me. This will also be a Cichlid tank. (rescue my poor convict and jack from a temp tank).

So....

I dont think HOB is going to work for me here. They are too ugly for where this tank is going to be. That’s worries me as I am a HUGE fan of bio-wheels for bio-filtration.

I DO NOT want a sump/custom wet/dry system either. I had one once upon a time and had some smell from it and too complex for setup and design and seemed to lack decent chem/phys filtration (I know I could fix this in a future design but dont feel like it).

Soooooo.....

That leaves me with the design I think I will attempt. Canisters. Money is not too much of a problem, have saved for this tank for ages and have close to 5K saved up and the tank plus furniture will be under 2K. I know the rest can go quick though!

I was thinking of this:

Have the tank drilled with 4 holes. 2 intakes, 2 outputs. Use 2 canister type filters. I prefer Eheim. Maybe one classic or maybe the new pro II or III. And one Eheim wet/dry canister. Intakes near the sides with some sponge pre-filters and both outputs near the center 10" from the bottom facing in opposite directions (different ends of the tank). Adjust flow to make sure no dead zones. Flow from the wetdry exiting to the side with the canister intake and vice versa.

Reason for this design is I am worried about bio with the canister. Can one Eheim cansister handle a 180? I would feel better if its outtake was over a bio-wheel but thats not an option unless the wheel can hang totally in the tank. So I figured the wet/dry canister would provide more bio and twin canisters would give me some redundancy and added flow. I dont mind the extra maintenance.

With this setup I would have decent water flow, decent filtration and I can somewhat hide intakes and outputs leaving a clean looking tank. With the wet/dry as well I should have enough bio-filtration as well.


Will this work? Ideas?

If using only canister types what are my options if not drilling? (on a 180) Pics of canisters and tanks would be nice.

Will I have enough 02?

I also plan to use inline heaters. Be nice if the only thing going up top was the light cord.

ANY ideas welcome.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Guest]

Hey there cuda and welcome to the site. I'll have to find the pictures for you but, I've seen a tank set up like the way your doing your before. where you can see throw the whole tank from either side or ends. Your not wanting to have filters to look around and to be seen.
The tank I'm going to look for the pics of has the filter lines running right beside the light on the top of the tank with the down tubes covered either by plants or drift wood. Then the center of the tank is heavltie planted and the front,back and ends are either open or light and low planted. It's a beautiful set up cause it's right in the middle of his living room and is the divider for his kitchen.
He to didn't want nothing to block the veiw of the tank. He ran a clear pvc pipe up one end of the tank and run it beside the light with pick up tube on one end of the light and return line on the other end of the light where the water was being taking from differnt ends of the tank.
Then he just run them under the tank stand into a emper xp3 canster filter with a inline heater. Looked great and worked perfect for where his tank was setting. I'll look in the morning nd see if I can find the pictures for you and see if that's something you'd like. If not good luck. I'm sure one of the other menbers has either seen or has something to what your looking for.

And Again welcome to the site!!!

 

[Guest]

here's the link to the tank i was telling you about. It a monster so injy it.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/photo-album/23361-medicinemans-260-gal-open-top-tank.html

 

[Tomiam]

Copy and pasting my reply in another thread as its on the same lines.


I have a 150gl (UK) OR 670 Ltr depending on what measurement you use.
I use an Eheim 2217 as my main method of filtration. It does 1000 ltr per hour and its fed back into the tank (angled slightly up to cause surface agitation) via a spray bar.
My second method of filtration is via another canister filter, an Eheim 2213 which comes with a heater inside.
The heating of the tank is shared between the 2213 and a 300w heater which sits at the opposite end of the tank to the return feed from the 2213. ie. The tank is being heated from both ends.

Both canister filters have ceramic tubes in them with the 2217 also having a fine foam disc to help filter out the finer particles.

Water clarity is superb with this set up and by that I mean it is crystal clear. I clean the surface of the sand twice a week (have a couple of messy plecs) and the front glass every week.

I have 23 tropical fish, with no fish being bigger than 30mm (3cm) in size.

Ammonnia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5 (which is what it comes out of the tap at).

Hope that gives you a bit of info on the type of set up I use and what benefit its been to me.

Have fun

 

[hc8719]

marineland, the makers of the biowheel. do make canister filters that come with a biowheel, of course you have to get the buy the pro package that comes with it and other stuff.

marinelands canister filters are the Magnum series (which i dunno where they got considering there Penguin and Emperor Penguin Series are birds)

visit marineland.com come and click on consumer stuff, and the next page will show you all their products

i really recommend marineland

 

[cuda]

How does the bio wheel work with a canister? Does the return just go up and dump on a bio-wheeel near the top of the tank?

 

[src]

How does the bio wheel work with a canister? Does the return just go up and dump on a bio-wheeel near the top of the tank?

From what I've seen, the bio-wheel is in an HOB unit. The cannister pumps into the HOB, which then flows the water back into the tank over the bio-wheel.

 

[Shelby_Tempo_GT]

180 gallon....


I'm jealous and I'm not afraid to admit it!