Filtration rates, flow, and other questions

@Dirk Bellstedt

Hi Prof,

Thanks for all the good info in this post, helps alot as I am designing a large tank and would like to get it right if not at least 99%.

I have a question regarding your sump\filter design on page 7 (the drawing)

My question is, how many liter tank did you intend the sump design of approx. 600(L)x200(W)x500(H) on page 7 to be used on?

Thanks,

 

Hi jw,

My sump design is large enough for an aquarium of 1200 (L) x 600 (W) x 500 (H), but them you must use a number of litres of Siporax and the filter must be at least 3/4 full.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

@Dirk Bellstedt,

Hi Prof,

Thank you for the quick reply, if you don't mind me asking, how many liters of Siporax would you recommend for you above sump\filter design on the above mentioned tank size.

Thanks again,

 

I would recommend at least 6 liters of Siporax on such a tank, and a good layer of sponge over the lot (at least 5 cms).

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

@Dirk Bellstedt,

Hi Prof,

Thanks for feedback, will work on my design and ask for some feedback in time. I am planning on a 1000L - 1500L tank if all permits, so all feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks,

 

@Dirk Bellstedt,

Hi Prof,

Sorry I had another Q, with your above sump & tank design\dimensions, how many l\h of pump\powerhead would you use in the sump\filter?

Thanks,

 

@Dirk Bellstedt,

Hi Prof,

Sorry I had another Q, with your above sump & tank design\dimensions, how many l\h of pump\powerhead would you use in the sump\filter?

Thanks,

 

Hey guys maybe I'm just being stupid, but the one thing I don't understand about this sump design is;
Inst the middle bit of the sump with the bio material going to be submerged under water? Bio should have a stream running through it, not be submerged?

Or did I miss something?

 

Yes, the bio media is fully submerged. But the compartment on the left is where the water is coming in from the tank, the middle is the bio media, and the compartment on the right is where the pump sits and pumps the water back into the tank. So there is a constant flow from left to right.

 

Thanks Whipme =)

Ok I know im a total noob, but from what i've read for Bio filters to be most effective they should not be submerged in water (aka bio wheels)?

 

Then perhaps you should read this thread again. There's enough oxygen for the bacteria in the water as long as your flow rate isn't too slow or your filter too long. Bio-wheels and the like are just one type of bio filter.

 

K, thanks =) @Whipme

 

Hi NooB,

No your Bio filters can be submerged without any problems, what you need is oxygen in the water in order for them to be effective. Trickle filters in which the filtration media are not submerged allow air and oxygen to be freely available for biological filtration, but if you put an airstone into the inlet compartment of this filter, then it still works perfectly.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

I have not read the whole thread so excuse me if I ask something already asked :wondering:

I have an AquaClear 300 (I believe it's the old 70) And I must say I think it work well.



I had the 3-part filter in there - a sponge, activated carbon bag, anti ammonia bag. I spoke to Dirk a bit and he said the activated carbon is of a very poor quality and saturates over a week or so, so what's the use? I took it out and replaced it with a new sponge, so now I have: sponge-anti ammonia-sponge.

I don't know how what the flow rate is but it's said that it's for tanks up to 370l. Mine is 100l so I guess it's sufficient.

Do you recommend I remove one of the items in the filter and add ceramic rings? What will the benefits be? Will my plants grow better / fish live better?

What I like about this filter is that it sucks up the water next to my heater and then spreads it around the tank so the temp is constant everywhere.

 

@Razer2007

At the top of this screen is a 'forum' button- click it.
Then go into the 'Articles' sub forum.

Then please go read my first 3 article. I cover a lot of the basic questions you are asking.

And to answer your question in a nutshell, if the filter is suitable for a 370l, and your tank is 100 then its fine. But I would seriously advise you to change 2 of the filter stuff. The ammonia remover also gets saturated and becomes useless. I would suggest water goes through filter floss first, then sponge, then a product called Matrix, made by seachem. It looks like stones. This is where your most important filtration occurs. Again, without reading those articles, you will not understand all the various filter media and terminology.

 

OK - thanks man I'll make some time and rd them

 

Congratulations on a very thorough thread, a lot of effort has gone into this. Something that stands out for me not normally discussed in filtration posts is the level of oxygen dissolved in the water.

This has a great bearing on filter performance and actually is the limiting factor for canister filters...canister filters having higher flow because one cannot airrate them... Is this correct ?

If so then the danger is that if they become clogged, then the flow rate reduces, volume of oxygen available is less and the volume of bacteria reduces as the colony adjusts to survive on what is available. As the bacteria volume drops, so the efficiency of the filter does and ammonia & nitrite levels rise = bad for fish... Is this correct ?

If all of this is the case, the obvious solution is regular cleaning... Or is it ? What about removing fine particle filters from the canister ? Substituting with fine filters on power heads that are easier to maintain ? What about plumbing an airline into the inlet pipe...

This is leading somewhere.... Simply my canister maintenance is a large challenge, messy and difficult, I would prefer to delay this using other methods..

Any suggestions for those of us with non-sump options

 

Oh and another question...the quality of your filter media would be less important if you don't maintain your canister as the flow rate drops, I guess even less relevant if your water column is not adequately airrated. So venturri or airstone would also assist ? Wouldn't it ?

 

Canister filters dont like air in them so pls do not try puting air into them.

 

I'm very happy to see that this thread is still going strong