Is This A Good Wet/dry Filter Setup?

[fishsmell]

These are my preliminary plans of the DIY wet/dry filter I want to make for my soon to be built custom 140 gallon tank. Would this work fine or am I missing something in my designs. Also, I plan to build a replica London phone booth where the top half will be the fish tank (don't ask where I get my ideas as I not sure myself). I estimate the tank will be 2.5 feet x 2.5 feet x 3 feet deep and I am really unsure if this is a good thing... I see most commercial tanks are not much deeper than 18" and are usually long instead of tall, any reason for this besides being able to reach the bottom of the tank easier for cleaning/maintenance? Any comments, advice, tips etc would be greatly appreciated as I am new to this and would like to avoid any grief and do it right the first time.

 

[Arachnidzone]

YO! looks ok to me. What size tank is it for? what size tank is the filer? What were you thinking of for the drip plate?

 

[fishsmell]

thanks for the reply Arachnidzone, I am unsure about the size of w/d filter needed. The tank will be approximately 2.5 feet long x 2.5 feet wide x 3 feet high which works out to be about 140-145 gallons (530 liters). I have not read anything that suggests filter sizes based on size of tank, although I gather the rule of thumb here is probably "the bigger the better". I will have a space larger than the tank itself for the filter so I should be able to build it big enough for the requirements, any suggestions on gallon size of w/d you think would fit the bill?

For the drip tray, I was thinking of funnelling the water into a series of pvc pipes that hang over the bioballs and these pipes would have holes drilled in them (basically a spray bar). I thought that this approach is better than using a drip tray as you really don't need to worry so much about the pipes being level like you do with a drip tray to ensure even distribution...as long as the pips are full of water it will spray all over the bioballs.

 

[Arachnidzone]

hi, remember to cover the dry area too as constant tiny splashes can add up to a lot of water loss and a damp floor!

Is that a custom tank? whos making it? its very deep, will look awesome, what thickness and glass or acrylic?

 

[fishsmell]

hi, remember to cover the dry area too as constant tiny splashes can add up to a lot of water loss and a damp floor!

Is that a custom tank? whos making it? its very deep, will look awesome, what thickness and glass or acrylic?

Will do, probably will cover the entire pump to reduce noise and water loss. The tank I will be building myself out of a combination of glass and plywood. The tank it self will be in the top half of a replica London Phone booth that I am build myself...hence why the tank will be pretty deep. I am still concerned about the depth of the tank with regards to the amount of pressure on the glass. I am in question if this why most commercial store bought tanks are not much deeper than 18"? From some searches it looks like I will need 16mm glass. I will do some more research before going ahead with the project, but either way I will be building my own tank just it might not be the whole london phone booth and more of a more traditional style.

 

[Arachnidzone]

hi, remember to cover the dry area too as constant tiny splashes can add up to a lot of water loss and a damp floor!

Is that a custom tank? whos making it? its very deep, will look awesome, what thickness and glass or acrylic?

Will do, probably will cover the entire pump to reduce noise and water loss. The tank I will be building myself out of a combination of glass and plywood. The tank it self will be in the top half of a replica London Phone booth that I am build myself...hence why the tank will be pretty deep. I am still concerned about the depth of the tank with regards to the amount of pressure on the glass. I am in question if this why most commercial store bought tanks are not much deeper than 18"? From some searches it looks like I will need 16mm glass. I will do some more research before going ahead with the project, but either way I will be building my own tank just it might not be the whole london phone booth and more of a more traditional style.

Ah, very nice! your right with the pressure though, needs to be pretty thick and gets amazingly thicker every 12" after 24. Would be awesome to have the full size setup but obviously very expensive. There are ways or cleverly using several seperate tanks, big ones, slim ones etc to give the impression of a full tank, but would be very complex. Otherwise you could do paladarium? fish tank at the bottom, all rock and tree effect at the top with plants, a waterfall from the top etc. Now that would be really original! So it basically looked like a slice of the Amazon (or wherever) inside complete with riverback etc. I could do you a 3D example of what i mean if you like!

 

[fishsmell]

wow, that does sound neat! Have you built something like that before?

 

[fishsmell]

just checked out your thread regarding the custom tank you are planning to build, some very neat ideas.

 

[Arachnidzone]

just checked out your thread regarding the custom tank you are planning to build, some very neat ideas.

Cheers, mine could end up looking like anything at the moment, very dependent on the actual house design.

I have made paladariums. Never made a fake rock waterfall yet but thats what i would reccomend for the phone box. Whats the box made of and can we see photos?