Filter/heater Positioning

[freded]

After having had my lovely 450 litre Rena tank shut down for over a year due to work being done on my house, I'm just about ready to set up the tank again. I've bought two Eheim 2217s which have been running on another tank for the last couple of weeks and have bought two Rena smart heaters to use as intakes.

The question I've got is whether it is ok to set up the filters so that both intakes (with the smart heaters attached) are on one side of the tank with the two outlets (probably one spray bar and one nossle outlet) on the other end of the tank. This way, I can hide the heaters behind some rocks and I don't have loads of pipework showing in the tank. I've got a powerhead I can also put in tank to improve circulation if needed and will also be running a fluidised sand filter on the tank so there will be plenty of filtration.

Any thoughts?

 

[KittyKat]

After having had my lovely 450 litre Rena tank shut down for over a year due to work being done on my house, I'm just about ready to set up the tank again. I've bought two Eheim 2217s which have been running on another tank for the last couple of weeks and have bought two Rena smart heaters to use as intakes.

Bacteria transfer takes 6 weeks to be effective this way, so I recommend you seed them with some old media and finish building the bacteria numbers up with a fish-less cycle.

The question I've got is whether it is ok to set up the filters so that both intakes (with the smart heaters attached) are on one side of the tank with the two outlets (probably one spray bar and one nossle outlet) on the other end of the tank. This way, I can hide the heaters behind some rocks and I don't have loads of pipework showing in the tank. I've got a powerhead I can also put in tank to improve circulation if needed and will also be running a fluidised sand filter on the tank so there will be plenty of filtration.

Any thoughts?

I recommend one intake at each end for better circulation, and it doesn't matter where you place the outlets that much. Powerheads help with circulation, but not as much as the intakes at opposite sides of the tank would.

What sort of setup is it that you're planning that you're going to have three filters on it? Which brand is the sand filter? I really have never seen one of those used outside of LFS!

 

[freded]

Thanks. My new filters were filled with the media from the old filters that ran on my old tank so should be possible to transfer them and the fish into the Rena tank pretty quickly.

I've going with a Malawai set-up and I've got a TMC fluidised sand filter in addition to the Eheims as I want as much filtration as possible.

I suspected the answer was to have intakes at each end (especially as they will have heaters attached) so will now just have to get creative with the rockwork to hide them

 

[KittyKat]

Oh, those thing! I remember hearing a bit about the range when it came out. Would be interesting to see how you get on with the filter.

If you transfered all old media, then you should be able to have some fish immediately.

You should have mentioned that it was a Malawi set-up, I assume you're doing to have lots of rockwork? I've found intakes behind the rocks to be the best way to get the water circulating through the rocks. Circulation pumps seem to just skim over the surface of the rocks, for the most part.

 

[freded]

Oh, those thing! I remember hearing a bit about the range when it came out. Would be interesting to see how you get on with the filter.

If you transfered all old media, then you should be able to have some fish immediately.

You should have mentioned that it was a Malawi set-up, I assume you're doing to have lots of rockwork? I've found intakes behind the rocks to be the best way to get the water circulating through the rocks. Circulation pumps seem to just skim over the surface of the rocks, for the most part.

Spotted the TMC Sand Filter in my favourite LFS and got chatting to the owner who said that it would give quite abit of extra biological filtration and as I've been missing having my large tank set up and been keen to get it set up right from day 1, I was happy to spend the money trying it out. Have been really impressed by the Eheim filters which seem much better than my previous Rena Xps (which leaked after having been out of action for months).

I've got lots to rocks to go in tank and guess what I might do is build up the two ends of the tanks (where the intakes/heaters will be) with the rocks and leave an open space in the middle of the tank. I've got an old Hydor circulation pump which I'll put at one end as well to increase the flow around the rocks. I've put most of the rocks into my old tank to get them ready to move over (pic of rocks in attached link)

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/372786-fluval-240-fluval-305-filter/

Plan is to get the tank and fish moved this weekend so I can get rid of the Fluval tank I've got the Malawis in at the moment sold
Thanks for advice.

 

[KittyKat]

Oh, those thing! I remember hearing a bit about the range when it came out. Would be interesting to see how you get on with the filter.

Spotted the TMC Sand Filter in my favourite LFS and got chatting to the owner who said that it would give quite abit of extra biological filtration and as I've been missing having my large tank set up and been keen to get it set up right from day 1, I was happy to spend the money trying it out. Have been really impressed by the Eheim filters which seem much better than my previous Rena Xps (which leaked after having been out of action for months).

Did it come with a pump and accessories included?

 

[freded]

Oh, those thing! I remember hearing a bit about the range when it came out. Would be interesting to see how you get on with the filter.

Spotted the TMC Sand Filter in my favourite LFS and got chatting to the owner who said that it would give quite abit of extra biological filtration and as I've been missing having my large tank set up and been keen to get it set up right from day 1, I was happy to spend the money trying it out. Have been really impressed by the Eheim filters which seem much better than my previous Rena Xps (which leaked after having been out of action for months).

Did it come with a pump and accessories included?

No, I had to buy a pump and the tubing supplied was rubbish so bought some new tubing for it.