Sponge/box Filters

[tenohfive]

I'm in the process of turning my garage into a small fish room (slowly, without my better half noticing) and I'm after some advice regarding filtration. The biggest of the tanks is likely to be around 125L, though most will be smaller - 65L or smaller. I've got a small collection of internal and external filters that run my existing tanks (plus a few spare ready cycled in case of emergencies/impulse buys) but it seems that sponge or box filters are the most cost effective way of doing things. Another big advantage is that I don't have many plug sockets in my garage and the idea of getting one or two powerful air pumps with 4 outlets seems sensible.

My questions are:

a) how can I work out how many/how powerful the air pumps need to be? and,
b) is there some sort of guide in terms of what capacity of sponges/boxes I will need for a given size of tank?

As an aside, I need some cheap and cheerful aquarium lighting - any insiders tricks for functional lighting? It doesn't need to be pretty or powerful (not for plants etc), just simple options so I can see into the tanks - the garage is dark.

Any advice would be welcome.

 

[tenohfive]

Bump...anyone got any ideas/comments?

 

[Tolak]

For pumps I like to see 1 lpm at 2 psi for tanks 24" deep or less for each sponge or box filter. The number of each per tank will depend on the stocking, and size of the filter itself.

For sponges I either make, or when cheap enough buy filters like these; http/img125.imageshack.us/img125/4420/dsc0108412il.jpg I generally run one per 20-30 gallons, depending on stocking. For box filters I run the LJRBF's from Jehmco; http/www.jehmco.com/html/box_filters.html Once again, these get run at one per 20-30 gallons depending on stocking.

The sponges run at a lower flow rate, about a bubble per second or so, for bio filtration. I weigh down the box filters with a few rocks, and use floss for mechanical filtration, these I'll give considerably more air flow than the sponge filters since they are used for mechanical filtration.

There are a few ways of doing lights, depending on if you want the fishroom to be a bit more showy, or more functional on a budget. For better appearance ceiling flouro light fixtures above the top tanks, with the same units hung from the top tank racks to light the lower tanks. For dirt cheap & functional an extension cord, a multi tap, and some clamp lights with compact flouro bulbs can be moved to any tank as needed.

My fishroom is far from a showroom, a couple of ceiling fixtures with the room, and pretty much a combination of the two ideas above. There's enough light to see into the tanks & tubs, for working I'll grab one of a few clamp lights, attach wherever it's convenient, and illuminate what I'm working on at the time.

 

[tenohfive]

Brilliant, that's given me something to go on. Cheers.

 

[tenohfive]

I've managed to acquire a reasonably priced set of starter units and a bulb to go with for my 4ft temperate tank, but I'm struggling to justify the cost of a luminaire, and ceiling mounting (whilst relatively simple in principle) may be beyond my DIY skills - the ceiling it wood panelled, and I suspect the ceiling fixings will be awkward to fit and/or repair when we eventually sell the house. The other option is a simple L bracket on the walls, getting one that hangs 1ft out doesn't sound difficult but again - making good when we move house eventually is an issue as the walls are also wood panelled.

My thought was to thin metal rods - something thin enough that I could easily bend them - to create an A frame at each end , and join it all together. I don't have a soldering iron at my disposal (though if they're cheap I could get one) so my idea was that the two A frames would be seperate and joined together by one length of rod bent around the apex at each end, and have the light bulb sit on the centre strut of the A frame.

Does that sound workable, or is there a better way of doing things? If it's a workable idea what thickness of metal rod would I need and what metal? If it helps, below is a photo of the tank. The red circles parts are the fixed panes that will take the weight - the blue circled part is the sliding glass that I don't want to put weight on:

Oh, and before someone else mentions it - I know the tank is back to front. I didn't realise until it was almost full however so emptying, reorientating and refilling can wait for another day.

ETA:

Following some advice elsewhere (and reviewing how much damage screws cause) I'm just going to get a reflector and a pair of L brackets for the wall, and have it hanging by a couple of lengths of chain.