I am new to a larger tank, but wife gave permission to go ahead with new tank. Have a 60 gallon FW with Fluval 404, that stays greenish. Probally am going to remove the 60 gallon and replace it with the 150 gallon. I understand of the added weight so I have to add some support to the flooring, luckily I have about 3-4 foot crawl space under the room. I have mainly questions about filter system. I have a 55 gallon tank that is currently not being used and was considering using this as a sump or wet dry filter. Could someone possibly give me some ideas or suggestions on how to build this sump or wet dry, using bio material and how much, what kind or size return pump(s) to use, and calculating head pressure. The stand for the 150 is roughly 40 inches in height, tank is roughly 28 inches in height. The 55 gallon tank would most likely sit in the bottom of the 150 wood stand. The overlfows on the tank are I believe 1 inch out and 3/4 inch in, but will have to make sure on that. There are a total of two overflows, one in each corner. I have the possible interest in the future to switch over to salt fish only tank, so any suggestions possibly keeping this in mind. Thanks for helping, would rather take advice from someone who has already been there and done that as they say.
Setting up 150 drilled tank, suggestions?
- Thread starter bowwow-1
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You want at least 5-10x turnover rate so you will need a pump rated at least 900-1500gph but need to calculate head loss, Get a ball valve to adjust flow, the Overflows will have to be rated as high, for instance if your overflows or rated at 1200gph thats max pump
Saltwater you can get 175lbs of Live Rock or better yet to save money get 100 lbs of live and 75 lbs of dead rock(base), in time the rock all will come live.
There is a calculator somewhere to get head loss.
I like eheim 1262 pumps as they dont release alot of heat and are strong or you can go with Mag 12
Remember though your overflows need to be rated at least 1200gph, possibly you can make 2 returns
Go to melevs reef for some sump examples.
Saltwater you can get 175lbs of Live Rock or better yet to save money get 100 lbs of live and 75 lbs of dead rock(base), in time the rock all will come live.
There is a calculator somewhere to get head loss.
I like eheim 1262 pumps as they dont release alot of heat and are strong or you can go with Mag 12
Remember though your overflows need to be rated at least 1200gph, possibly you can make 2 returns
Go to melevs reef for some sump examples.
jsoong
Aquarium Advice Addict
With a drilled tank, your limiting factor will be the drilled holes rather than the overflows. <Most internal overflows have rakers that are spaced wide enough to handle many more time the capacity of the standpipes.>
If you have 2 1" return pipes, you should be able to safely handle at least 1200 gph of flow. <Note that a 1" bulkhead fits into a hole that is 1.75" big.> You can force a higher flow through the drains if you increase the driving pressure. (Have your standpipes low in the overflow so you can collect a high column of water in the overflow itself as needed to drive the water through. This is relatively safe with an internal overflow (not HOB's) .... although it is better to have a 2nd safety relief drain.)
For FW, a 10x turnover is more than enough for pretty much anything you care to have in the tank. <you can prob. get by with half that for most community tanks.> Reef tanks may need higher flow requirment for the corals, so you will likely need some upgrading if you switch to SW in the future.
There is no set calculation for head loss. Each pump is different. You can find headloss tables for the pump you are interested in. It is usually printed at the side of the box. This is an example for the Mag Drive:
marineandreef.com/ Reef Aquarium Supply (Aquarium Lighting, Coralife light, Aquarium Light, Power Compact, Compact Fluorescent, Metal Halide Lights, Aquarium Chillers, Aquarium Pumps, Coralife lighting, UV Sterilizer, Reef Aquarium, Current USA AquaP
The head height is the difference in height between the tank water level & the sump water level. In your case, it is prob going to be 4'. Then look at the table for 4' head & find a pump that has the flow you want. According to the table, you are looking at either a Mag 12 or 18 to give you your 1200 gph. You can find tables for other pumps that you are interested in as well.
This:
Melevsreef.com - What is a Sump?
is a good start on sump design. (Look at other pages there as well.) But for a FW, you don't need much. A simple compartment with a distribution plate to hold your bioballs or other media in addition to the sump proper is all you really need. <And if you keep your media compartment off to one side, you will have room to add other compartments - fuge, skimmer, etc. that you will need for SW.>
If you have 2 1" return pipes, you should be able to safely handle at least 1200 gph of flow. <Note that a 1" bulkhead fits into a hole that is 1.75" big.> You can force a higher flow through the drains if you increase the driving pressure. (Have your standpipes low in the overflow so you can collect a high column of water in the overflow itself as needed to drive the water through. This is relatively safe with an internal overflow (not HOB's) .... although it is better to have a 2nd safety relief drain.)
For FW, a 10x turnover is more than enough for pretty much anything you care to have in the tank. <you can prob. get by with half that for most community tanks.> Reef tanks may need higher flow requirment for the corals, so you will likely need some upgrading if you switch to SW in the future.
There is no set calculation for head loss. Each pump is different. You can find headloss tables for the pump you are interested in. It is usually printed at the side of the box. This is an example for the Mag Drive:
marineandreef.com/ Reef Aquarium Supply (Aquarium Lighting, Coralife light, Aquarium Light, Power Compact, Compact Fluorescent, Metal Halide Lights, Aquarium Chillers, Aquarium Pumps, Coralife lighting, UV Sterilizer, Reef Aquarium, Current USA AquaP
The head height is the difference in height between the tank water level & the sump water level. In your case, it is prob going to be 4'. Then look at the table for 4' head & find a pump that has the flow you want. According to the table, you are looking at either a Mag 12 or 18 to give you your 1200 gph. You can find tables for other pumps that you are interested in as well.
This:
Melevsreef.com - What is a Sump?
is a good start on sump design. (Look at other pages there as well.) But for a FW, you don't need much. A simple compartment with a distribution plate to hold your bioballs or other media in addition to the sump proper is all you really need. <And if you keep your media compartment off to one side, you will have room to add other compartments - fuge, skimmer, etc. that you will need for SW.>
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