250l filtration advice. Sump?

[Chez_]

Morning! I have just taken receipt of a 250l 5'6" tank from a bloke off Facebook, as one does. I have forced my family to re-arrange the living room to accommodate it and it's going to be a long term, dry-start, slow project that I want to get right. I want to end up with lots of little shoaling fish among the plants.

It came with a frame, which as you can see, I have raised up on breeze blocks to get it up above a) the sofa and b) the protrusions of my daughter's wheelchair turning circle.

It also came with an All Pond Solutions EFX+ 2k lph canister filter with a UV light.

So far so good. I have currently got the filter hooked up to a bucket in the bath and it all seems to work fine.

However, I have questions, if anyone has a moment?

1. There is quite a lot of algae built up in the filter pipes.

Do I need to change them, will the UV light deal with it if I leave it running for a bit, or is there something I can run through it to clean it? Do I need to do any of that? Apparently the previous owner had cichlids and a musk turtle in there and no plants.

2. I like a project and I would like this to include a sump, mostly to expand the tank volume. I have been and read the threads about home made ones and I reckon I can get a 50l container under the racking, between the middle pair of breeze blocks.

Could I then run the canister filter as the return pump?

Is that a stupidly small size? Would I be better rebuilding the racking, ditching the breeze blocks and fitting a larger container underneath? The width is only 36cm, so with the uprights being 2.5cm wide that only leaves me a 30cm wide container.

I want to get this right now as I don't want to be faffing around once the tank starts to fill up, and although I can build the stand, I can't lift and am dependent on my long suffering OH . He has already mentioned that as the tank is longer thank I am tall, he could bury me in it.

Any input would be very much appreciated!

 

[bazz]

1. There is quite a lot of algae built up in the filter pipes.

Do I need to change them, will the UV light deal with it if I leave it running for a bit, or is there something I can run through it to clean it? Do I need to do any of that? Apparently the previous owner had cichlids and a musk turtle in there and no plants.

I know there will be plenty of folks on here who will say it's perfectly acceptable to clean it with bleach and it is, but for me, for the sake of 20 quid (eheim) I would replace it. The hoses in time will generally start to become opaque and permanently stained.
That's all just me though.

Could I then run the canister filter as the return pump?

You could, but you would have to ensure the outlet is above the level of water that would back syphon into the sump in the event of a power cut.
Again, I'm no fluid dynamics expert but that is the main thing I would be wary of.

 

[Chez_]

I know there will be plenty of folks on here who will say it's perfectly acceptable to clean it with bleach and it is, but for me, for the sake of 20 quid (eheim) I would replace it. The hoses in time will generally start to become opaque and permanently stained.
That's all just me though.

You could, but you would have to ensure the outlet is above the level of water that would back syphon into the sump in the event of a power cut.
Again, I'm no fluid dynamics expert but that is the main thing I would be wary of.

Thanks, bazz. I've done some maths, and I reckon that for the amount of head room I'd have to leave in the sump to avoid overflow disasters, it's probably not worth it. I'll just have to be content with what I have.

I've run a solution of Milton through the empty filter and hoses and most of the gunk inside has come away, so I'm going to be a skinflint and save that £20 for carpeting plants

 

[ian_m]

This is an excellent recipe for emptying your tank onto the lounge floor, not recommended at all. The bricks will crack and fail under the weight..

 

[Chez_]

View attachment 219459
This is an excellent recipe for emptying your tank onto the lounge floor, not recommended at all. The bricks will crack and fail under the weight..

Yes? They're concrete blocks. So, am I better off making a taller stand? This one I reckon is 2 by 4 planed. (And thank you!)

 

[castle]

I’d make a new stand. If it’s in your living room and you’re taking this much care, why not sit it on something a little nicer?

 

[Chez_]

I think you're right. I've been reading the thread about racking. I think I might go that route. I can be sure it'll take the weight, AND I can get a decent sump underneath and grow lots of plants in it. I can dress it up sufficiently so it doesn't look too industrial.