# DIY filter design for 150 gallon tank



## JoeARein (Dec 28, 2009)

20 years ago I had a passion for African Cichlids. Marriage came along and left me fish less for 20 years. I am now wife less and the passion for African Cichlid has returned. I saved all my tanks in my basement and would now like to activate a 150 gallon tank that measures 48 inches long, 24 inches deep and 30 inches high. 20 years ago Eheims were the filter of choice but I would like to try a Wet/Dry filter on this tank. I am using an old 45 gallon tank that measures 48 inches long 12 inches deep and 18 inches high. I have included a link to a design drawing of my proposed Wet/Dry filter and was hoping to get feedback from the community about the design. My design has two inputs and one return. My thinking is that I can maintain biological filtration by servicing each side on an alternating basis. Thank in advance for any and all comments.

http://www.ctpr.biz/sohoadmin/program/m ... w.ctpr.biz


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Can't access your link without a login.


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## JoeARein (Dec 28, 2009)

http://www.ctpr.biz/Fish.php?nosessionkill=1

Please ignore dog related header and sidebar!


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## CITADELGRAD87 (Mar 26, 2003)

I am way new to this, I just built a sump out of a 60G long I picked up off CL, it looks good but I would suggest putting the sponges, or some mechanical filtration before the bio balls, otherwise they are going to gunk up and you are going to have to do something to clean them, which of course you don't want to do.

I found that in my single intake unit, cheapo filter batting that you buy by the roll can be cut to sit on the drip tray and will even out the flow so that water seems to be going throughout the entire filter.

EDIT:

OK, my display here at work is..substandard. I see that you already had provisions for what I suggested in your original design, so I speculate that my input has been somewhat less than helpful.

The design looks good to me.


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## JoeARein (Dec 28, 2009)

The following link corrects several flaws in my original design. The updated design has each side of the filter independent of the other. I have replaced the filter socks with a coarse floss. The floss above the drip tray is fine. The Bio ball volume has been increased to 960 cubic inches on each side and the operating water level has been increased to approximately 20 gallons. All comment are welcome.

http://www.ctpr.biz/Fish.php?nosessionkill=1


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## BigDaddyK (Nov 6, 2006)

I can see that by design you have separated your sump in two. I'm not sure I follow as to why. I can appreciate the separation to the point of the pumps. At this point my concern is that the pump 'bay' is not large enough and evaporation will happen quite quickly. This potentially leaves you with an empty bay and a burnt out pump.

Personally I would run just one pump in that center section and let the flow happen as it will from both sides.

This is just my opinion. Please take it as such


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## S14Swap240sx (Jan 3, 2011)

BigDaddyK said:


> I can see that by design you have separated your sump in two. I'm not sure I follow as to why. I can appreciate the separation to the point of the pumps. At this point my concern is that the pump 'bay' is not large enough and evaporation will happen quite quickly. This potentially leaves you with an empty bay and a burnt out pump.
> 
> Personally I would run just one pump in that center section and let the flow happen as it will from both sides.
> 
> This is just my opinion. Please take it as such


Using 2 ball valves off one pump can restrict the flow on the shorter pipes aswell to get an equal flow.. I feel like you are loosing a lot of space by having two separate places for pumps.

The sump i drew up has both drains on one side, going into 2 or 3 coarse socks, trickle down into 3 fine socks, across a refugium of hydro sponges which can be removed easily for qt tanks, into a 10g bio wet dry with filter pad over the top.. and then that goes into a chamber with heaters and filter bags with crushed coral and whatever else.. finally into pump chamber..

i had the drawing and measurements in my car.. god knows where it is now.. i will pass it along to you and hopefully it can help your decisions

i rmb reading its better to have it simple, but then again alot of people mentions how sumps do a bad job polishing water.. im trying to get both


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## chrispeck (Jun 4, 2011)

one thing that has not been addressed is the noise you will get dumping in water near the top of the sump. you would be better off without the very first eggcrate/filter floss area, and add a pipe to the bottom of the sump. THis will cause the sump to be much quieter.


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## JoeARein (Dec 28, 2009)

Based on the input I have received I've come up with a revised design. I consider it a work in progress. Your comments on the updated design are all welcome. I am specifically looking to find faults in the design. Thanks

Click on the following link to see filter design

http://profile.imageshack.us/user/joearein/


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## chrispeck (Jun 4, 2011)

That tank in the picture looks pretty full. Make sure to leave enough room for the overflows to empty into the sump without overflowing in case of a power outage. The rest of the design looks good though, I think.


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