Power Head And Filtration Questions

[Night Crawler]

First of all, what exactly is a power head used for? Im kind of a newbie at this stuff.

Im looking to build a custom hood for my new tank with a filter system of my own design in the front half and lighting in the back half. Or maybe the other way around.
My first problem is geting the water up there without sucking fish up. I want it to suck water up from half way down the tank. Can a power head be used for this? If not, whats the best thing to use?
Whats the best type of media to use for each stage of filteration?

I was thinking of a sort of channel running almost the whole width of the hood, then sectioned off for each stage of filteration.
The first section is where the water goes in.
The second section will be full of those ceramic cylinder things.
The third section will be full of large gravel of some sort.
The forth, smaller gravel.
The fith will have some sort of sponge or something.
Then finally some sort of bio wheel before returning to the tank.
Each section will have the water running from top to bottom then across to the top of the next section.

Would this work at all or is it a waste of time?
By the way, if it makes a difference, its for a tropical tank.

 

[erk628]

First of all, what exactly is a power head used for? Im kind of a newbie at this stuff.

Im looking to build a custom hood for my new tank with a filter system of my own design in the front half and lighting in the back half. Or maybe the other way around.
My first problem is geting the water up there without sucking fish up. I want it to suck water up from half way down the tank. Can a power head be used for this? If not, whats the best thing to use?
Whats the best type of media to use for each stage of filteration?

I was thinking of a sort of channel running almost the whole width of the hood, then sectioned off for each stage of filteration.
The first section is where the water goes in.
The second section will be full of those ceramic cylinder things.
The third section will be full of large gravel of some sort.
The forth, smaller gravel.
The fith will have some sort of sponge or something.
Then finally some sort of bio wheel before returning to the tank.
Each section will have the water running from top to bottom then across to the top of the next section.

Would this work at all or is it a waste of time?
By the way, if it makes a difference, its for a tropical tank.

The only thing I can answer is about the powerhead. Its used to create a current in you tank. It also can be used if you have sand to help blow things up so your filter can get to it. It you have a undergravel filter the power head can be used with that.

 

[Tolak]

Either a larger powerhead or a smaller pond pump will work for this sort of thing. If you put a small foam pre-filter on the intake of the pump it will diffuse the flow, preventing fish or other debris from clogging the intake. You should be able to find a long tupperware or rubbermaid storage bin for the filter case, and cut plexiglass & silicone it in for baffles to seperate the filter medias.

Look into sump filters, what you plan on building is similar except you are pumping water up & letting gravity drain it. A sump goes below the tank, gravity drains water into it, and a pump returns the water.

 

[Night Crawler]

Thanks for that. So I'll be ok with a decent sized powerhead depending on how much flow I want.
If i dont get a decent intake strainer for the powerhead, I might try to make one from the perspex i have left, unles I can get a long strainer from somewhere. I dont realy want to use a sponge around the intake because I would have to keep taking it out of the tank to clean it. Id rather have al;l the debri flow into the hood where it can be filtered there.
I'll be using perspex sheet (plexiglass...) and silicone for the whole thing. I'll try and get some pics of it when I get chance to show how it works and stuff.

 

[doresy]

Hi, what you are hoping to do is roughly what the Aqua One tanks do. Why not look them up or look in your LFS for ideas. I have an Aqua One 850 (155ltr).(Aqua Style) It's canopy is in two pieces. The front half houses the feeding/maintinence flap and all lighting. The rear portion has a powerhead slung underneath connected to a spray bar over 2 separate filter compartments. The water then flows back into the tank via a return shoot. I think its a great method and good luck with yours