About to redo all the plumbing on my tank.

[Noober]

I am going to add a canister filter with UV light filteration on it, and a phosban ractor to add media to help keep my tank clean and keep the water quality good. I also am resizing my overflow plumbing to make my tank run more silent and efficiently. I'm going to install some bioballs and a sock filter on the overflow as well. I am making room under the stand for a refugeium in the future but I dont have the money for it now. Here is a picture of what I have planned, please give me some insight from you guys years of expierence because I'm sure I'm not seeing the best way to do this. Thanks!
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h254/mpthreer/TankLayout.jpg

PS: I am not sure where to put a canister filter, since it needs a pump I put it right there. I can buy another pump for it, I'm not sure how much that thing will slow the flow of water down, or if it should be pushing or pulling water from the filter. If I need to buy another pump for it, should it pull water from the main tank and return water to the main tank, or should it pull and return to the sump. Thanks!

[chark]

All except the bioballs it looks good to me.

[fishypets]

I'd skip the canister/UV filter.

[Noober]

The only reson I wanted the bio balls is because I dont have space for a refuge right now, and there is an extra space in my sump, so i might as well not leave it blank right? Will they hurt anything. Also on the canister and uv, my tank has lots of floating particle matter in it and i cant get it crystal clear due to the floating debris with my skimmer alone. I figure if i add the sock and the canister filter it will stay crystal clear. Also with the uv, I have had problems with ich and other fungus and algae on my glass for a while now, the algae isnt bad but I do have to wipe off the glass every day or two. I want to kill all the free floating particles in the water as far as bacteria and algae and ich and fungus go, that way once i treat my fish my water should be a little bit better so the ich dosnt come out of dormancy in them. Ohh well I hope it works what do you guys think about thoes reasons? Justified, or not really haha :) good day

[jc]

You are probably better off leaving in the chamber with bioballs empty. They will increase your nitrates. What does the canister filter have for mechanical filtration? I would try the filter sock before adding the canister filter. If that doesn't clear up your tank then try adding the canister. Some people will tell you that a uv filter doesn't help at all and others swear by them. I think you should make a note on how your tank runs without it and then compare it to your tank with it. If you see a positive difference then keep it. Good luck.

[fishypets]

If you want crystal clear water try running carbon. Honestly save your money and maybe upgrade your skimmer with the money you're saving.

[brewercm]

I'd scratch the check valve also. It eventually will just fail anyways unless you clean it on a regular basis. Even then calcium buildup is hard to clean out.

[hobogato]

exactly what i was going to say cliff.... just drill an anti-siphon hole in the return line just below the water level in the tank.


I'd scratch the check valve also. It eventually will just fail anyways unless you clean it on a regular basis. Even then calcium buildup is hard to clean out.


i agree with the others - get rid of the canister filter. that will really become a nitrate factory unless you clean it out VERY regularly. also, the reason bioballs can increase your nitrates is bc they can become a detritus trap.

you really need to think about how you will export nitrates. do you have a dsb in your display tank? you could make a refugium out of a drilled 10 gallon tank to do it.

[chark]

What about putting in extra live rock instead of the bio balls?

[fishypets]

^^Great idea Cecil.

[Noober]

I have a fairly deep sand bed, I have 1 lb per gallon of display tank, I also have 200 lbs of live rock in a 120 gallon tank. I did have a buncha live rock rubble in the bio ball spot at one time, but i moved them to my nano tank. I might go with that in the future. Thanks for all the great info guys and I appricate the help. I'll drop the check valve and either drill the syphon hole in or just install a ball valve so that when i turn off my pump it dosnt fill the sump up or back anything out of my pump prefilter or overflow my skimmer. Here's a link to the Canister filter I was considering, Its the 375 Filter with UV at https://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=3662&prodid=6447&catid=3 and it is surrounded with a 25-micron spun-bound polyester filter cartridge for mechanical filtration. The reason I was gonna go with that one is because I can take the filter out from the top easily and clean it well in tap water. Supposidly they make that version of filter so that the particles dont get stuck in it for easy cleaning, I'm guessing its kinda like the one for my hottub lol. Anyway I've read good things about UV sterilization to kill free floating bacteria and algae, which I hope would help with the overall stability of the health of my tank. If I decided to try it Ace would you recommend me cleaning it once a week or bi weekly or monthly. Should I use a light solution of bleach to clean the filter with then rinse it in tap water or what? If my income tax goes as planned I will have the cash for the refuge and I'll be able to put in a buncha macro algae and mabe some mangroves which would be ideal for me, along with the media reactor. One more question, would the bio balls still trap ditrus if i had the filter sock on there? Thanks a ton again guys, I can't say it enough! Good day~