KreativJustin
Aquarium Advice Freak
I'm planning on starting a pleco tank, thinking of a 40 gallon tank, and loading up about 5-6 plecos that range 6" or less.
I want to build a custom tank (I can cut the glass and silicone, been there done that) but put a piece of glass towards the back that would divide the back and the front. The back would be used for filtering and hiding the heater. Pretty much like some of the Fluval tanks, however they describe it as a "pump".
I do have a few 'sump' pumps around, but they tend to be pretty hefty, and push out a lot more GPH than needed. I think my smallest one pushes 350+. So I was wondering if I could use a powerhead instead, so that way it would be smaller, and push 160 gph.
So, I would be treating the back of the tank like a very small wet/dry filter. A few small holes drilled into the divider piece 1/2" or so (I would do testing to see how much water would be dumped as much as pumped) , which would run into a bio ball area. Run under into the gravel area that might have a small plant, then fall into the prefilters (maybe even design the back to be the width of filters that are premade for HOB's), which the pump would sit under that. Then the pump would run back up and connect through another predilled hole (obviously on the other side of the divider).
So to sum it all up:
1) I want low GPH without having to turn a sump all the way down.
2) Size does matter in this case
3) Low current, sumps can really push it out
Can I use a powerhead instead of a sump?
--Edit--
The hose would be less than 2" of travel.
I want to build a custom tank (I can cut the glass and silicone, been there done that) but put a piece of glass towards the back that would divide the back and the front. The back would be used for filtering and hiding the heater. Pretty much like some of the Fluval tanks, however they describe it as a "pump".
I do have a few 'sump' pumps around, but they tend to be pretty hefty, and push out a lot more GPH than needed. I think my smallest one pushes 350+. So I was wondering if I could use a powerhead instead, so that way it would be smaller, and push 160 gph.
So, I would be treating the back of the tank like a very small wet/dry filter. A few small holes drilled into the divider piece 1/2" or so (I would do testing to see how much water would be dumped as much as pumped) , which would run into a bio ball area. Run under into the gravel area that might have a small plant, then fall into the prefilters (maybe even design the back to be the width of filters that are premade for HOB's), which the pump would sit under that. Then the pump would run back up and connect through another predilled hole (obviously on the other side of the divider).
So to sum it all up:
1) I want low GPH without having to turn a sump all the way down.
2) Size does matter in this case
3) Low current, sumps can really push it out
Can I use a powerhead instead of a sump?
--Edit--
The hose would be less than 2" of travel.
Appreciated.. does anyone know of any issues that I may run into?
