Sicklid
Aquarium Advice Addict
Okay, so I am full of questions here... tank is glass 55 gallon, looking to make a wet/dry full of bio-media out of a 5 gallon bucket, no sump, just several inches of water in the bottom of the bucket.
1) How close to the top of the tank can a hole be drilled for a bulkhead? I am looking at like 1" from the top edge of the hole to the top of the tanks' inside plastic black lip... There is more glass under that plastic, I am guessing another 1/2"? Hole diameter will be about 1 5/8" for a 3/4" bulkhead fitting.
2) Is a 3/4" bulkhead fitting large enough to make an overflow drain with a 1" to 3/4" reducing 90 elbow with notches pointing up to skim the top of the water?
3) If it is big enough (it's only for a filter, not a big sump) then what flow rate/size pump should I get for the return, and is there a bulkhead fitting that can go on the curved wall of the bucket for the external pump? Or should I raise the bucket a bit and have a bulkhead coming out of the bottom with a short internal standpipe inside the bucket? I am thinking about an Eheim external pump as they have an adjustable flow rate to fine tune this contraption, and also in the future, I will be putting a sump on this system. These pumps have a 1/2" inlet and outlet.
4) Does the height of the outlet on the bucket wall (if I can indeed put it there) make a difference as to the water level inside the bucket, as it's my understanding the last bit of bio-media should be somewhat underwater.
Thanks in advance from all of you pro's.
1) How close to the top of the tank can a hole be drilled for a bulkhead? I am looking at like 1" from the top edge of the hole to the top of the tanks' inside plastic black lip... There is more glass under that plastic, I am guessing another 1/2"? Hole diameter will be about 1 5/8" for a 3/4" bulkhead fitting.
2) Is a 3/4" bulkhead fitting large enough to make an overflow drain with a 1" to 3/4" reducing 90 elbow with notches pointing up to skim the top of the water?
3) If it is big enough (it's only for a filter, not a big sump) then what flow rate/size pump should I get for the return, and is there a bulkhead fitting that can go on the curved wall of the bucket for the external pump? Or should I raise the bucket a bit and have a bulkhead coming out of the bottom with a short internal standpipe inside the bucket? I am thinking about an Eheim external pump as they have an adjustable flow rate to fine tune this contraption, and also in the future, I will be putting a sump on this system. These pumps have a 1/2" inlet and outlet.
4) Does the height of the outlet on the bucket wall (if I can indeed put it there) make a difference as to the water level inside the bucket, as it's my understanding the last bit of bio-media should be somewhat underwater.
Thanks in advance from all of you pro's.