1.2m Tank and cabinet

1220(L)*450(W)*500(H) tank and cabinet for sale. It has a corner overflow which I have sealed up with glass and silicone,but can be easily opened up again.
Pls note that there are a few small scratches on the front glass from sand and the silicone has turned blue as a result of anti fungus meds.

Price : R1000
Location : Somerset West, Heldervue

Tank must be collected by purchaser.

Pls bare with me as I dont have alot of access to a computer anymore, but I will reply to any pm's or reply's as soon as I can.

 

tank sold

 

Eish so sad, I got here too late.

Out of interest what's the capacity of the tank?

And how would one go about using the overflow? I thought that was always for sump filtration and such.

 

Sorry SauRoN - I think I got in there only about two hours or so before you posted this..... I intend putting a sump in the cabinet underneath the tank.

 

...and another tank added to the collection

 

Hahaha - I still need at least another two 1.2m tanks for all these baby angels - MORE layed eggs yesterday! I'm actually too scared to count the number of tanks at the moment to be honest......just looking at the electricity and water bill is scary enough :bigsmile:

 

I'm glad I don't have the space else it would've been the Amazon jungle of tanks in here

 

Veegal can you explain to me how the overflow should work? I've never had a tank with that setup, or a sump for that matter.

 

Hi Sauron - The overflow is about 1-3mm below the water level, so the water flows from the main tank into the overflow, which normally has a grid to stop fish going in. At the bottom of the overflow there is a hole in the main tank, this is connected via a large diameter +- 40mm Pipe which goes down into the sump.

The sump is then divided into a number of compartments which take, in order, filter wool (to take out the larger crap) that then flows into another compartment which has Bio Balls (for the bacteria to grow on) this then flows into a compartment with a submersible pump which pumps the water back up into the main tank.

 

Now that was a good straight to the point explanation!

 

I see Zafgak beat me to it......lol

 

So it's completely based on syphon action? Well and some pressure from above I guess since a massive amount of water is pushed into a small pipe.

How does it flow from one compartment to the next? What stops it from simply overflowing? Or is that really the trick, first tank is larger (taller) and when it overflows it runs into the next and so on?

 

Generally it is one tank, the compartments are separated by glass sheets, they normally go this way, first compartment water flows into filter wool, the separator is full height but is stops about 10mm short of the bottom. The water is ten forced to go through the wool, under the separator into the second compartment, (Bio Balls) this separator has no gap at the bottom but is shorter than the first one and the water flows over this into the third compartment, where it is pumped back to the tank..

This describes the simplest type of sump

 

Lekker, then my understanding wasn't too far off.

I have just never actually dealt with one.

I'm guessing this is a cheaper setup than the alternative of a canister filter, since you only really need an old tank with a pump?

But hang on, if the pump fails...won't it overflow automatically?

Actually stupid question, because if the pump fails then it wouldn't overflow at the top of the tank, because the level wouldn't rise and thus it would just stop.

 

Correct - the secret is to fill the tank and sump with NO power on then let it run.. That way when Eishkom fails it will NOT overflow ... It is not only cheaper but makes a really efficient biofilter - some guys add a canister filter taking water out the last compartment and putting back into the same.. This is used to POLISH the water ...

 

A very handy tip is to mark the level of the water with a permanent marker on the sump before you turn your pump on and another mark once it is running - that way you can fill the tank to the mark and know that should there be a power failure your sump will not overflow. Makes life SO much simpler