# 55 Gal Wet/Dry Filter (Pic Heavy)



## mikeandannie (Jun 4, 2008)

Hello everyone this is my first post but I have done lots of reading on this site, Don't have huge monster tank but it is 195 gallon with 55 gallon sump, I have just recently finished my wet/dry filter design and so I thought I would share it with you all.

Sketch Of Overall Design:

















OverFlow Box 2 of them On Main Tank:

















Return Pump will be upgrading system can handle alot more:









Some Arcylic took me about 10 pieces to complete, Ball Valves for Silent Overflow, Some handles and Hinges, Silicone took me about 6 of them:









Some pot scrubbies for bio media, that is only 25 out of the 100 packages I bought, more handles and hinges.









Dirty water from main tank enters here:









Big Bio area..









1 Panel missing there 2nd drip plate was not finished yet.









Hinged tops for access and to silence system

















Another Angle:









Tank was dirty with some old measurements on it









Bio chamber only half full it took another 50 packs to fill rest up









Also here are some videos I put on youtube..

1st Vid Was fisrt test run not near complete





2nd Vid Drip Trays in Action





3rd Vid Overall Complete Just needed to hook it up to tank





I will be makeing a 4th vid sometime in future of it all hooked up, but I do have system running right now its silent sump, and ball valves are great for a silent overflow, I am very happy with my design so I figued I would share it with you all and couple of other sites slowy but surely


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## cevvin (May 2, 2008)

That beautiful, I might have to overhaul my sump if I find a larger cheap tank, very nice, thanks for posting.


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## mikeandannie (Jun 4, 2008)

cevvin said:


> That beautiful, I might have to overhaul my sump if I find a larger cheap tank, very nice, thanks for posting.


Thank you much, yea its hard to find large cheap ones out there besides craigslist here and there, Also got some more pics to add here:

Main Tank:









Sump:









Lt Side Sump:









Rt Side Sump:









Overflows:









Our Oscars:


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## ZachDees (Jun 28, 2008)

that Looks Fan Being a Fish in that Tank 
Because you provide them with Such an awsome Live


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## mikeandannie (Jun 4, 2008)

> that Looks Fan Being a Fish in that Tank
> Because you provide them with Such an awsome Live


Thx ZachDees, also to make them happier I am in the process of doing a DIY Coil Denitrater, I just finished plumbing it, has small leak right now, its pressurized system, so doing repair on it.

Took some pics of DIY Denitrater needs little more paint and another pressure test when dry but here is what I have so far

1: 4 inch wide 24 inch tall pvc
1: 3/16 ball valve
3: 3/16 Barb connectors
1: 3/16 Barb w/Threads
2: Air line Check valves
2: 4 inch Knock Out Plugs (each end its like a cap)
1: Tube of Silicone
100 Ft of 3/16 Poly Tubing

Final Tally, $35.32 Thats assumeing you have small pump or power head, paint, piece of Plexiglas for base,

This is paint pic before I built it:









Materials









Pump:









Siliconed Line to Pump Connection I recommend anoter tube or something that converts to differnt size there but I was lazy and knew this would work.









75 Ft of 3/16 line you have to coil inside of the 4 inch wide piece of pvc like so:









This is one of the 4inch plugs I just drilled holes in the top (Make sure there a tight fit) then siliconed them and waited for them to dry before touching again:









Bottom View:









Top View and Drying:









Other 4 inch Plug and silicone:









Putting Siliconed Cap on Bottom:









Squishing it down:









Clean up Access:









Back to Top, fill chamber with bio ball or Pot Scrubbies:









Connect Top Coil Line to Bottom Valve:









Silicone 4 inch plug into spot:









Needle Valve that I used:









Far view not setup yet still curing after paint job:









Closer View:









Should have more sometime later today or tomorrow


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## mikeandannie (Jun 4, 2008)

sorry triple posted can't figure out how to delete my replys cpu was running slow so i clicked submit and it submitted last post 3 times


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## mikeandannie (Jun 4, 2008)

don't know how to delete this reply


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## Intermision (Sep 14, 2007)

I'm not sure I understand how that tower works, can you please explain why you need 75ft of tubing?


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## gordonrp (Mar 23, 2005)

Intermision said:


> I'm not sure I understand how that tower works, can you please explain why you need 75ft of tubing?


yeah how come you didnt just go in the bottom side of the de-nitritor and out the top.. instead of using all the tubing?


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## mikeandannie (Jun 4, 2008)

The system works by creating an oxygen free environment. The water is very slowly drawn in and DOWN the coil to the main chamber, which is completely submerged in water. The idea being once it gets there the nitrifying bacteria in the tube have exhausted the O2.

also heres a website I got alot of info about it at.

What Is a Coil Denitrator, and How Does It Work?http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/nitratecontrol/a/aa092702.htm

How to build, http://saltaquarium.about.com/library/blank/bldondiydenitratornew.htm


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## Intermision (Sep 14, 2007)

So pretty much the same as a deep sand bed.


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## mikeandannie (Jun 4, 2008)

Don't know how a deep sand bed works but it seems like the same concept, but the coil can be controlled


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## Intermision (Sep 14, 2007)

Just surious why don't you use a dosing pump instead of an impeller style pump. Many of them are adjustable, and then you wouldn't have to throttle it down as much.


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## mikeandannie (Jun 4, 2008)

yea i could for sure that would be a good idea, but i started this project with not much cost in mind, i figure if i can do it with things laying around the house then may as well, that also would help the flaw in my design, i am getting too much pressure inside coil, so instead of ball valve at output, i need to put ball valve at input, hence wont build as much pressure in the coil


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## Intermision (Sep 14, 2007)

Gotcha, I thought you bought the parts. I would have tried that too if i already had it.


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## mikeandannie (Jun 4, 2008)

System is finally leak free and is on a drip of 3 drips per second as of now, I'm just gonna let it flow threw a couple of water changes then slowly drop the rate after awhile..

Added a Youtube video of 195 tank and 55 sump and my other 120 tank with 29 sump.


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## D-007 (Jan 3, 2008)

Very nicely done. The Denitrater is very interesting - will have to check out those link and see how easy it is to build.


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## enviraMENTAL (Jan 12, 2005)

I was just wondering about the de-nitrator - 3 drops per second in such a big tank- do you think it makes any real difference?


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## mikeandannie (Jun 4, 2008)

Thank you D-007, The denitrater is really easy to build, and cheap

Also enviraMENTAL

I think it will make a difference, any nitrate reducer will help IMO, I'm not sure how much it helps, 
I am not getting any results as far a nitrate drop, but I have read it takes at least 6 weeks to see any results, I turned it down yesterday to about 1 drip per second, I have not done any of the math to see what the GPD is but from what I remember reading is the denitrater only has to go threw your gallons of tank water once ever 20-28 days, so I figure with a 1 drip per second it will hit that mark, you can't have it drip too fast or system will not work it will allow air to get to bottom of the chamber, so that's really only reason it is set at such a slow drip rate.


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## AnDr3w (Oct 22, 2007)

Love what you did, but I would REALLY appriciate if you ould help me.

I have tha 4"x28" pvc pipe, 75 ft of 1/4" line, small pump, and basically everything. I just don't understand how you get the powerhead to get water into the pvc. I see where the coils attatch to the bottom valve, but I don't understand what the other valve on top does. Thank you for your help.


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## fishwolfe (Mar 27, 2005)

cool i was just logging in to look for this thread and BAMM! there it was at the top of the list.im gonna copy you,the sincerest form of flattery


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## AnDr3w (Oct 22, 2007)

Oh ok. I got it. Now i have a different problem. How can I get the coils in there nicely? Or can I just shove them in?


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## mikeandannie (Jun 4, 2008)

thanks fishwolfe if you have any questions just ask, glad you liked

AnDr3w, thank you, warm the line in warm water will soften it up and make it easier to coil up, it took me a good 30 mins back and forth on the top and bottom before i was happy with the way it coiled i just made sure none of them overlapped just like wrapping up a hose or electrical cord, i would say to not just shove it in it might kink up..


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## fishwolfe (Mar 27, 2005)

what do you have to do to get to the blue pads to change/clean them?
i used to sell these 
http://www.coilhose.com/uploads/products/Page%207.pdf
now i need to go get another one.i was thinking 1/4" x 25' or would i need 50'?


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## mikeandannie (Jun 4, 2008)

yea that's the coil i was going to use in the first place but i was at lowe's and didn't see any so i just went with the 3/16 water line, good idea using the coil you have i would go with at least 50 foot. if you have a short line your drip rate will have to be slower because you don't want air to get to bottom of the chamber, i look at it like the more the line the more room for bacteria to grow.


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## fishwolfe (Mar 27, 2005)

what does changing the blue pads entail?


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## mikeandannie (Jun 4, 2008)

for me to change the blue pad in the sump i shut down pump let water fill sump, close my 4 ball valves so no water from the overflow drips down, then i wiggle out each of the 4 drains and place them into a small bucket or a towel to catch access water, then lift the hinged top and take out the pad.


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## AnDr3w (Oct 22, 2007)

Thanks for the help MikeandAnnie


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