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Sufficient Flow / Add More Flow On The Cheap

jagillham

jagillham

Member
Joined
6 May 2015
Messages
343
Location
Kent (UK)
I'm changing my tank on a budget, and trying to reuse as much of the old gear as I can.

On my 4ft x 2ft x 2ft I never had much luck with anything carpeting. I do not want a repeat of this on the new one.

The old setup was a Eheim 3000 Compact returning via a pipe that came up through the weir, and out of the side towards 2x (I think) 2500 power heads.

New tank is going to be around 5ft x 2ft x 2ft. Is the existing kit up to the job, and could it be arranged better? The tank is going to be custom build, so open to any possibilities at the moment.

IMG_8779.JPG
 
You need to make sure you have at least 5x volume going through the filter and arround the tank ideally 10x .
Your new tank will be 550 litres roughly. This means that you need at least 2750 litres /hour
If your on a budget one way to do this is to remove the impeller from your external filter and buy a external pump.
I've got a old eheim filter but then I bought a jebao 4000. (4000l/h)
Next challenge is to set everything up so you get a good gentle flow around the entire tank. With even the planks in the bottom gently swaying.
 
Thanks for the reply @Barbara Turner

I was surprised to see I'd lose 90l from the tank by making it 150x55x55, rather than 150x60x60!

Assuming 450l tank. I'm thinking I could maybe get away with the 3000lph sump return? Currently the pump is on the bottom of the sump, at the bottom of the cabinet, exiting at the top of the tank. Therefore head height must be something like 130cm. If I move the sump to the top shelf of the cabinet (on a decent support), and have the pipe go through the bottom of the tank to exit halfway up in the tank, I can reduce the head height to about 60cm. It would not be 5x flow on paper, but much better flow than most who will have the output go from under the tank, right the way over the top, and back in.

Current powerheads should generate around 5000lph, but I can add another for about £20 if needs be.
 
As the tank is a custom build, I'd consider having the bottom drilled & either sump or filter returns, as shown on the new Green Aqua 90cm x 90cm x _cm tanks (sorry I keep forgetting the height)

This will have the greatest reduction in head height/increase in flow rate
Filipe Oliveira has shown that this filter set up works very well on large planted tanks ;)
(check his FB page & youtube)

You're can see updates on the Green Aqua FB page, also Viktor Lantos flickr page (it's a shop page)
Workshop #1 & Workshop #2 show some filter details (mostly Aquascaping but I suspect if you ask Viktor he will take more photos for you :))

Note - no spray bars necessary :cool:

As you're trying to maintain a reasonable budget, I'd reduce tank height to 50cm IF you want to grow (traditional) carpet plants (re lighting required for substrate PAR 50)
 
Yes, drilling is where I am going with this. On my previous tank I have it drilled with a standpipe outside the weirbox so I can open the valve had drain 50% of the volume out for water changes.

What I was thinking for the return is have that drilled through the bottom of the tank, to output around 15-20 cm from the substrate with a mini (maybe 10cm) spray bar sending the flow straight above the carpet.
 
alto said:
As you're trying to maintain a reasonable budget, I'd reduce tank height to 50cm IF you want to grow (traditional) carpet plants (re lighting required for substrate PAR 50)
Click to expand...

I've got 4x 54W T5's with reflectors. Currently I've asked for quotes at 55cm high. Do you think this is OK, or should I reduce the height?
 
Forget the spray bar (obsession :lol:)

Optimum designed T5 luminaires can grow anything - Green Aqua has several display tanks with ATI T5 (again I don't recall the tank heights), FO has done 80 & 90cm tall (worth looking at light & plant details)

Both shops are doing the drilled tanks with 2 inflow and "1 outflow & powerhead" or 2 outflows
 
I have spray bars ;)
But they do create significant back pressure & there are other effective outflows - there are some innovative (time consuming multi-bend creating) projects on here ... all searching for the "perfect" spray bar effect :lol:

What's happening in the weir box?
 
alto said:
What's happening in the weir box?
Click to expand...

Nothing special really. Looking at either doing another "herbie" style overflow like I currently have, or I quite like the look of the BeanAnimal overflow. After a recent pipe jam caused by MTS's, I like the idea of extra redundancy in the system.
 
jagillham said:
What's with the spray bar hate? :D

Excuse the poor drawing... this was generally my idea.

View attachment 115895
Click to expand...
Remember that if the sump pump shuts down, the main tank will drain down to the lowest pipe... so if you have the spraybar lower than the weir, the water will drain down to the spraybar level, and the sump needs to have enough extra room to hold all that water. And the same goes to the sump return section. If for some reason the drain pipes get clogged, all the water from the sump return section will go to the main tank, so you need to account for that as well... or you know... you get a new floor installed once in a while! :)
 
I currently have my sump with an overflow to the drains, which is what I’ll do here again too. Makes water changes rather easy
 
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