Question about a DIY sump

[Gus]

In the pursuit of simply my cichlid tank (currently running an AQ110 and a Wisper 60) I found this on eBay:

AQUARIUM OVERFLOW BOX WITH PRE FILTER AND RETURN PUMP - eBay (item 260699344156 end time Dec-27-10 09:50:37 PST)

The question is, would this and an old 10 gallon tank that I have laying around would be enough to replace the two filters? I am also looking forward to install the heather in the sump.

Thanks!

Gus

 

[mr_X]

what are you going to use the sump for gus? just extra water volume and to hold the heaters? what you should do is construct some sort of trickle filter or look for a cheap/used wet/dry.
maybe something like this-
Wet and dry filter 55gallon - eBay (item 120661945548 end time Dec-23-10 10:22:00 PST)
otherwise, i wouldn't say your 10 gallon would replace the 2 filters.

 

[Gus]

It would be for a 55 gallon cichlid tank. I just want to simplify the setup. I was thinking in converting the 10 gallon into a sump, I do think the 10 gallon tank has more media holding space than the two filters together though, why wouldn't it work? I would like to get rid of the wires/noise that comes with running the filters constantly.

 

[mr_X]

yes, it has more media holding space, but it will take some major construction on the inside of the tank to get it to filter water efficiently.
you'll have to make some sort of partitions that will have holes that filters fit into. you would want water to be forced through filter material, like it does in your HOb filters.

it can be done, but it's not something you can throw together in a few steps.

i suggested the wet/dry because they are constructed to have multiple purposes- the water falls into an area first that has filter material and is forced through that, and then into the bio ball area (a lot of surface area for bacteria, which is dripped on instead of being fully submerged) , and then it also increases water volume.

here is some info on them-
About Wet/Dry Trickle Filters - What Are Wet/Dry Trickle Filters and How They Work in Saltwater Aquarium Systems

it's really a simple design. perhaps you can turn your 10 into one.

all you really need is to build a chamber to hold the bio balls and another to hold the filter media, and also keep the bio balls wet, by drilling a bunch of holes in the bottom.
here's a pretty simple design-

btw, overflow boxes can also be noisy, and your replacing a HOB filter with another thing that hangs off of the tank...and then you have a return line that's also hanging off of the tank.

 

[Gus]

Oh I see, that's what I had in mind. Make one partition to hold the bio material from the filters, and use the pump to return the water back to the tank.

Wouldn't the wet/dry also use a overflow box to get the water to the filter, and pump to pump it back to the tank?

Thanks!

 

[mr_X]

yes it would.

 

[Gus]

So I still would need the overflow box and the pump, it all changes when you start installing baffles and all that (that's the difference between sump and wet/dry filter?)

 

[mr_X]

no matter what you do there will be stuff hanging off of the tank.

a "wet/dry" or "trickle filter" get's it's name from the way it drips water on the bio balls, which always stay wet, but are not totally submerged.
that's the difference.
a sump is just another container of water that is connected to the main tank.
it's not like you could throw a bunch of bio balls in a 10 gallon tank and you'd have a wet/dry.


wet dry info:
A wet/dry filter, also referred to as a trickle filter or a bio-tower, is an aerobic filtration method. For those of you that may not understand the term aerobic, it means occurring or living ONLY in the presence of oxygen. In other words, it can only work when oxygen is present. For this type of filtration, the more oxygen saturation it gets, the better it functions. Water is pumped from the aquarium, then by means of a drip/trickle plate or rotating spray arm the water is dispensed or "trickled" down over and through a biological material source contained in the wet/dry filter chamber, but not before the water is pre-filtered by means of mechanical filtration, which can be accomplished with the aid of a protein skimmer or by placing a pre-filter material such as filter floss, a filter sponge, or micron filter felt on top of the drip/trickle plate area. When the water falls through the holes of the drip/trickle plate onto the bio-media, this allows for aggressive oxygen saturation of the water. Remember, aerobic! The clean filtered water is then deposited back into the aquarium either directly, or first into a sump or some type of water containment area and then returned.

 

[mr_X]

* in the above images, that trickle filter is full when the water level is just barely covering the bottom of the bio ball compartment.

 

[Gus]

Oh man, this is getting complicated, lol

 

[Gus]

This is what I had in mind:

 

[mr_X]

well, i suppose this would work. you will want that return pump to be on the tank bottom and not raised up like that.
i think the maintenance will be a bit more than the HOB filters though. i believe you'll have to remove and rinse those ceramic rings off every so often or detritus will accumulate. maybe if you could make a box like those wet/drys have so that all of the water is forced through the filter floss before it hits the rings, it might function better.

 

[Gus]

cool, thanks