Need some advice and ideas.

[colen]

Hello everyone,

My cichlids have been producing a lot of fry, and since there is no room in my two main tanks I am setting up several tanks for growout tanks.

Currently, I plan on using 4 tanks for growout tanks:

2 - 42 gallons
2 - 35 gallons

I have all 4 tanks up and running, but I need a clever idea on how to filter them. Right now, I basically have the tanks sitting on top of each other. So there is a 42 gallon on bottom and a 42 on top. Same goes for the 35's.

I have 2 aqua clear 500's to filter all 4 tanks. Any idea on how to go about that? I was thinking having the filter up top, and a small puimp on the bottom, or vice versa, filter on bottom and some sort of sipon bringing the water down?

In the end it would be ideal do have a heater and filter in one tank, and the second (either bottom or top tank) wouild just have its water fed from the other tank.

Is anything like this possible at all? Please give me all yoru ideas.


Thanks for your time, it is greatly apprecaited.

 

[fish_keeper2]

sorry i cant help but if u ask in the DIY section you might get more help

 

[colen]

I'm sure there is a way or someone has done something similar before. I know someone can give me some guidance.

Thanks.

 

[Tolak]

You could go tank to tank, but only if they are level with each other. I don't know if you built your own racks for these 4 tanks, But if you made it so the 2 larger tanks are on the bottom of each rack, level with each other, and the 2 smaller tanks are on the top of each rack, level with each other, it will work. You will need to buy some tubing, & that's all.

Get some tubing from the hardware store with an inside diameter large enough to fit over the intake of the filter. If it's a little tight, that's ok, you can heat it with hot water, or a candle to soften it enough to squeeze it over. Get enough tubing to reach from the intake, with the filter placed in one tank, all the way out of the tank & into the tank next to it. You are now able to pull water from one tank, putting it into another.

Take a second piece of tubing large enough to reach from one tank to another. Submerse this piece in one of the tanks to fill it completely. Cover both ends with your thumbs, remove one end & place it in the other tank. Secure this hose good, it's the only thing keeping the filter from emptying one tank & overflowing the other.

You now have the filter pulling water from one tank, emptying into another, with water flowing from tank to tank with the piece in between acting as a water bridge.

I would suggest doing this in an area of the house where a little bit (35 or 42 gallons) of water leakage wouldn't damage anything. If the hoses between the tanks come loose, or get air in them in any way they will stop working. Basements are good places for setups like this. An apartment above the landlord is a bad place.

Since they will be fry tanks, cover both the intake of the filter, & both ends of the hose between the tanks with something. I prefer pieces of sponge, others have used nylon or netting. Sponge plugs less easily, if the hose between tanks plugs, you will have a flood.

Tolak

 

[colen]

Tolak, thank you for the reply.

I'll have to give it a try and see how it goes. Hopefully I don't flood myself

 

[swampcat]

Aquaclear filters are so inexpensive, buy two more and save yourself the trouble. $38-$39 for the ac-110 (500) www.petsmart.com www.doctorsfostersmith.com

 

[yvez9]

don't know about the ac 500 on a 35 gallon tank, it will be like a hurricane in there!

I'd go for an aquaclear 200 or 300 tops for all those tanks...

a cheap way to filter everything would be to buy large sponge filters and a big air pump, then no hassle of fish getting caught in the filter or flooding your floor because a hose went loose... and since fry are usually not very messy, you won't suffer from a lack of mechanical filtration. The cost would probably be the same as one aquaclear filter for everything...

that's my 2 cents