Need Help With Hardware For 1000l Tank

[iluvguppies]

Hi There,

We are having a large tank custom made (7ft by 2ft high by 3ft wide) for installation in late September this year. The tanks usable volume works out about 900-1000L (197-219 UK gallons). We intend to have a community tank with lots of small and medium sized fish but more to a light stocking level (NOT heavily stocked).I have been researching external filters, etc and so far these are my ideas:

For heating I like the Eheim jager 300W internal heater, which says it's suitable for tanks upto 1000L. Our house is heated to around 21C in winter and tank temp needs to be stable around 24-25C for the type of fish we have.

For filtration, I was thinking about 2 external canister filters.....my favourites at the moment being: Eheim profi e3 2078 with flow rate of 1850lph (10-35W) and JBL cristal profi e1500 (flow rate 1500lph and 35W). Although the Fluval FX5 is a contender too, with a flow rate of 2400lph (but 48W) and Tetratec EX2400 with flow rate of 2400lph (but greedy at 60W).

I will probably end up either with 2 FX5's or 1 FX5 and 1eheim pro 3e2078, as these give the better flow rate. What do you guys think

I'm not sure what lights we will need so any help appreciated!! I want natural looking lighting, night and day lights, not too bright and as we won't really have any real plants I hope it's not too much off an issue to have it low lighted. Maybe darker/dimmer at the bottom of the tank to mimic how natural light would be.

Would I also need an air pump or hob filter to supplement my external filters??

Anything else i will need??? All suggestions welcome. I'm trying to do this properly but as efficiently as possible, lol. I want to try and get all the bits before the tank arrives to spread out the cost and familiarise myself with how everything works.

At the moment, I have 2x 64L tanks running, both in fish- in cycles. I want to set this tank up properly ( I got bad advice from lfs this time around ). I want to use all the media from these tanks to start my new tank off and simply transfer everything over. Then very slowly add more fish, keeping an eye on water stats.

Can I do this or do I need to start again with the new tank from scratch and do a fishless cycle before moving my current fish over? Any advice appreciated!!!!

THANKS IN ADVANCE

Nikki

 

[bullheaduk]

You are always better having two heaters (one at each side) for a tank as a precaution against a fault/failure.
That way you are safe knowing you have a backup. And having two will give an even balance of heat.
The experts will advise you on the filters.

 

[iluvguppies]

Hi,

Ok, thanks, that's a good idea..thought of it for the filters but not the heaters ( I need a slaphead sign lol for being dumb!). So I will probably go with 2x 150W of the same make.

Thnx for ur input

Regards,

Nikki

Edited to add: scrap that about 2x 150W just checked and it would need to be 2x 250W.....just out of interest, why is that like that why isn't it a straight swop? On their site it says 300W suitable for 600-1000L but 150W says suitable for 200-300L, 200W suitable for 300-400L and 250W says suitable for 400-600L ??? WHY???

 

[mixmaster jay]

i have two 300w heaters in my tank (currently not needed to be on sinse it started to get warm) and my tank is 5.6ftx2ftx2.6ft 825L with a 4x2x2 sump with the heaters/ two 6500lph ocean runners/and a 2500lph skimmer

i would go with Eheim profi e3 2078 x2 or
Eheim profi e3 2078 + fx5 or
fx5 x 2

but personally i would get the tank drilled and install a sump as you add even more area and water stability and alot more filtration capacity

 

[iluvguppies]

Hi,

I've briefly looked into sumps (freshwater tropical) but it sounds more expensive and very complicated....is this right? The company making the tank would be happy to make one with suitable sized sump built underneath but what would I then need for it??
I gather I'd need filtration layers (sponge etc) but not sure what else. If it's similar in price to the other way it's definately something to think about....are they less likely or more likely to flood than an external filter?
I would worry that if pump stopped working water would siphon back into sump and overflow or am I wrong? It's just that we often get power cuts here...they don't always last long but...

Thanks for input...are the Fx5 pretty reliable then...I've not heard great things about the other fluval filters with regard to reliability.

Nikki

 

[iluvguppies]

Any one else able to answer my questions?

NIkki

 

[iluvguppies]

The tank will now be brackish due to our new addition (rescued Dragon Goby).....does this change anything we will need?

Please someone help by answering my questions. I want to be properly organised this time around and get everything ready before tank arrives.

Are 2 externals enough? My lfs says 2 fx5 are plenty and I won't need any powerheads/hobs etc. Is this right?

Before I consider sumps I need to know about flood risks if electric fails as it does here a lot. So please, anyone with knowledge please reply!!!!!!


Nikki

 

[rabbut]

Well, wit sumps, there are no seals to go wrong, so on paper they are less likely to flood than an external It all depends on how you set it up though... If you use Overflow boxes or a Twin-Pumping system to move the water between the display and sump, you are asking for trouble as both are un-reliable. It only takes one of the pumps in the Twin-Pumping system to clog and it's water-water every where With Overflow boxes, they are usually fine until you have a power-cut. When you loose power, water stops going into the display, so the water line drops a bit and then the overflow box sucks in air and stalls out. Power comes back on, and the sump pump starts filling the tank, but the overflow box does not start draining it again, leading to a wet flow, empty sump and over-full display...

The safest way to install a Sump is to have the main display drilled. This means that the syphon with automatically re-start if it stalls out in a power cut, as the water will escape down the hole into the sump when the water level returns to normal, re-starting the syphon faultlessly When you fill the system, fill the display to a point where it's just starting to drain into the sump, and then brim the sump. Once both are full, turn on the sump return pump and walk away for an hour or two. Come back and mark a maximum line on the sump, where the water line has settled. Now, if you do not fill the sum up past that maximum line, all the water will remain in the system in a power cut "Overfill" the sump though, and the excess would escape in a power failure.

With a tank of this size, Sumps are the better option IMO. You want a 250l tank, that's taller than usual, a return pump that pushes at least 8,000 lph at the head hight of your set-up, and then a crud load of bio-balls, and a seed/cat litter tray that is large enough to cover the top. This is drilled with holes, and floss is placed in the tray. This is your mechanical filtration. The Bio-balls are your biological filtration (all 200l approximately of it )

All the best
Rabbut

 

[iluvguppies]

Thnx for your reply.....I think that I get what you are saying, lol. I will certainly discuss this option with the guys making it, maybe also they could explain it to me again and eventually I might get it.. (and no I'm not blonde!! lmao). It certainly seems the easier option for getting the kind of flow rate that I want.

Nikki

 

[mixmaster jay]

ive got 2 40mm holes drilled at each end on the nase and at the back of the tank each with a 38mm down pipe which sits just about 2" under the waters surface so if the pump should fail nothing will over flow or empty too much

here you can see the down pipes

here are the outlets to the sump and ive got filter floss then alph grog in the first compartment

next is the wier now with medium course sponge and a top layer of filter floss and that runs into the big compartment which i have a skimmer and plastic pond filter media this is also where my heaters/air pump go

then a single glass wier into the return pump compartment
drill holes only cost about £10 per hole (mine was allready done) the bulkheads about £5 each and a length of 38mm waste pipe from B&Q is about £2 i think i also have shut off ball valves on the sump end if i need to regulate the rate of flow or shut them off for any reason

 

[iluvguppies]

Thanks to you both!!

That's made it much clearer...and it does sound like an easier and tidier way to go for the filtration, etc. Your explanations have been very simple and easy to grasp (especially for someone that usually switches off at technical explanations, lol). What you say makes sense and will give me the turnover I need in my, now brackish, tank.

This tank will house my Violet Goby (Gobioides Brousonnetti) as well as my 75 Guppies (during my fish-in cycle...bad lfs advice... which ended about 10 days ago my 3 Guppies had a total of 70 babies over 4 pregnancies!!). I would then like to get another Violet Goby and maybe some Bumble bee Gobies as well as Mollies (if these are all suited?).

Other species are up for your opinions please. I'm not sure which species will suit the fish (and brackish conditions) that I already have AND form a harmonious community with all levels of the water filled. The new tank is 220 UK gallons or thereabouts.

My other option (if I can't find enough suitable brackish fish that appeal to me) is to set up a 4ft by 2ft by 2ft as brackish for my lovely Goby and keep the bigger tank for tropical fish.........this $%^$%& fish hobby is WAY TOO ADDICTIVE!!!! lol. So much for "I only want one small tank" lol. It's been 2months and I've already got 2 and a huge one on it's way!!

Anyway, thanks once again.

Nikki

 

[mixmaster jay]

no peoblem im glad we could of been a good help to you
have you thought about going marine ? as you do brakish allready you are halfway there just a thought i also no nothing about brakish or marine lol
yeah it is way to addictive just the one tank never happens lolive got 6 setup in the house 5 of which are in the kitchen lol and we are upgrading to a 8x3x3 very soon lol