Filtering solutions for a 135 gallon show tank?

[hotpink]

Hey, folks:

So, my husband and I keep african cichlids. About 12 tanks worth
currently in our 'fishroom' (down from twenty at the old house;
hopefully we'll get back up to about 20 next summer once the real
fishroom is built). We're sponge and box filter fans, although we keep
around a big Magnum that gets used in addition to other filters on a
heavily loaded or sick tank.

We have some fronts that are rapidly outgrowing their current 65-gallon
tank, and we have a 135 gallon tank + stand/hood that was purchased to
be a "show" tank in our living room. We are looking for a filtering and
heating solution that'll put the majority of the cords and
tubing/piping into the stand. Our older 135 gallon tank ran on two
sponges + an undergravel filter, and we'd rather avoid the cord
messiness and noise that that solution produced. Our hope is to find a
solution that will allow us to run two tubes/pipes from the tank into
the stand, and for everything else to be hidden in the stand itself.
(Excluding the cords for the lights in the hood, of course.)

The tank is not drilled for an overflow (we weren't thinking about that
when we purchased it six months ago) and we're not willing to drill it,
so we've been trying to figure out what sort of sump-type solution we
can come up with despite that limitation.

We don't need a pre-packaged solution (which our local pet shop would
be quite willing to sell us for much money). I'm just looking for
stories or suggestions on how to put together an uncluttered and
"quiet" arrangement for the living room. The tank will be receiving
30-50% water changes once a week, and will be housing four fronts
(currently 4-5 inches), two synodontis eruptus, and a 7-inch male
nimbochromis linni. (For now; he gets along with the fronts quite well.
We have other homes for him should problems arise or when the fronts
decide they want to breed.)

Thanks!
-hp

[NetMax]

"hotpink" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hey, folks:
>
> So, my husband and I keep african cichlids. About 12 tanks worth
> currently in our 'fishroom' (down from twenty at the old house;
> hopefully we'll get back up to about 20 next summer once the real
> fishroom is built). We're sponge and box filter fans, although we keep
> around a big Magnum that gets used in addition to other filters on a
> heavily loaded or sick tank.
>
> We have some fronts that are rapidly outgrowing their current 65-gallon
> tank, and we have a 135 gallon tank + stand/hood that was purchased to
> be a "show" tank in our living room. We are looking for a filtering and
> heating solution that'll put the majority of the cords and
> tubing/piping into the stand. Our older 135 gallon tank ran on two
> sponges + an undergravel filter, and we'd rather avoid the cord
> messiness and noise that that solution produced. Our hope is to find a
> solution that will allow us to run two tubes/pipes from the tank into
> the stand, and for everything else to be hidden in the stand itself.
> (Excluding the cords for the lights in the hood, of course.)
>
> The tank is not drilled for an overflow (we weren't thinking about that
> when we purchased it six months ago) and we're not willing to drill it,
> so we've been trying to figure out what sort of sump-type solution we
> can come up with despite that limitation.
>
> We don't need a pre-packaged solution (which our local pet shop would
> be quite willing to sell us for much money). I'm just looking for
> stories or suggestions on how to put together an uncluttered and
> "quiet" arrangement for the living room. The tank will be receiving
> 30-50% water changes once a week, and will be housing four fronts
> (currently 4-5 inches), two synodontis eruptus, and a 7-inch male
> nimbochromis linni. (For now; he gets along with the fronts quite well.
> We have other homes for him should problems arise or when the fronts
> decide they want to breed.)
>
> Thanks!
> -hp


The last 135g (Oceanic) I set up ran on 2 Fluval 404s with their intakes
spread across the bottom using UGF screens, but this is too obvious a
solution, so you probably don't want to use canister filter(s), and are
looking for a siphon method to a sump without drilling. Then I would
suggest siliconing a triangle section off of one corner (or 2 corners)
and putting some baffle slots in the triangle section (these block
anything large enough to impede your water flow through the
siphon/powerhead). The heater can be located behind the triangles (I
would use one in each corner). You could siphon down to a sump below or
use a powerhead to blow it back into the tank. If using the powerhead,
then slip a large foam cylinder into the corner for the powerhead to draw
water from. If using a siphon pipe, have the pipe feed a drilled
overflow box hanging on the back of the tank, or perhaps put the siphon
pipe into a loop to regulate the lowest water level it will draw to.
Alternately put your sump above the 135g (maybe a long and pre-drilled
108g) so you can pump up with the powerhead(s). Fill the 108g with
stages so you can do your mechanical (and we know how much Fronts can
produce ;~), then bio and then chemical (dolomite screens?) and you could
even have some algae scrubbing or a bushel of hornwort as your nitrate
sponge. While you are at it, populate the 108g with Mollies, as they
like hard water and the monthly births will provide the Fronts with a
much needed protein boost. Populate your Hornwort farm (or a section of
it) with something the Mollies like to eat too (some kind of critter,
triops, daphnia etc, just talking out loud now), and that will take care
of their meat requirements while they munch on the algae growing in the
Hornwort. hth
--
www.NetMax.tk

[Sylvan Butler]

On 30 Dec 2004 12:44:10 -0800, hotpink > wrote:
> The tank is not drilled for an overflow (we weren't thinking about that
> when we purchased it six months ago) and we're not willing to drill it,
> so we've been trying to figure out what sort of sump-type solution we
> can come up with despite that limitation.

So you need a siphon overflow. The concept is simple. Execution is a
bit harder. The idea is that you start a siphon out of the tank. But
to prevent losing the siphon, and to regulate how fast and how much it
drains the tank takes a bit of ingenuity I wish I could claim.

To preserve the siphon, you must keep a pool of water inside and outside
the tank, that no matter how low the tank gets, the water will not let
air inside the siphon.

With that in place, to limit drawdown of the tank, you put your input to
the minimum water level, just like you would with any overflow.

The most elegant solution I've seen on the web was handmade of acrylic.
A piece of art... Can't find the link now. :(

The simplest was made from PVC pipe. It simply has a "J" loop inside
the tank. The short open end (I'd recommend vertical slots) at the min
water height, the other end continues up and over the tank wall to the
top of another "J" loop outside the tank. The short end of that "J"
gets a PVC "Tee" fitting with the top open to air, and the side is the
gravity drain going to your sump. The bottom of the "J"s both inside
and outside of the tank keep water just like a trap in your home drain
plumbing, thus preventing air from getting into and breaking the siphon.
The tank open to the air on the inside, and the "Tee" open to air on the
outside ensure that not enough suction or pressure builds up to force
air into the siphon.

You might want to build an acrylic solution instead of PVC, because that
way you can have a wide overflow over the wall of the tank, without
being so high. Just have to make sure it is air and water tight.

A siphon like that will drain water at any rate up to a maximum
determined by the area over the wall, and length of legs on each "J".
If you pump up from the sump to return to the tank at any rate less than
that maximum, no problem. (Consider returning the water into the bottom
of the tank, plumbing under the sand/gravel with outlets at the top of
the substrate.) If the pump stops, the siphon will pause when the water
level drops to the top of the intake. But when the pump starts again,
the siphon will resume, since no air got into it and broke it.

concept:
http://members.iinet.net.au/~conquest/andy/maswa/siphon.html

pvc:
http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/management/Krampetz_Automated_Water_Changing.html

sdb
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