• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

How can I Improve more (500lts planted)

2cgfn8k.jpg

sump ready ..................waiting for pump & accessories:)
 
yaa feeling good as my plants are growing with you peoples genuine advice ...thanks a lot guys ...hope this sump will make a difference to my tank a lot ordered jebao 6000lph pump will reach by Sunday
:rolleyes:
 
sure will update soon
need more advice on this ....can this be used as a co2 reactor ....

ordered this for my RO system a pre sediment filter and was seeing it as a reactor
it has a mesh stainless steel 15 microns

nbw3yt.jpg


rje5ts.jpg

plus it has co2 line fitting ... which actually it has a self cleaning tube attaching unit
29vz3ok.jpg


will this work
 
Well you may be able to use the housing as a starting point but it is probably too smal for your 500 ltrs.
If you're going DIY on the reactor then you need to study other designs and fully grasp what is needed, which is basically extended dwell time for the CO2 to absorb into the water along with turbulence to help make the bubbles smaller and quicker to absorb or exhaust into the tank. Here in the UK water filter housings are very cheap to get on eBay and provide a great starting point for a DIY reactor.
Otherwise you could use something like an Aqua Medic Reactor or follow Foxfish's earlier suggestions.
 
As Chris says .. the longer the flowing water is contained in the vessel the better the C02 dissolution.
Without doubt the most effective method I have ever come across involves the water entering a round vessel at a tangent so the flow is sent into a vortex inside the tube.
Even a small reactor working this way will dissolve huge amounts of C02 but there are no external commercial units available & they are tricky to build!
I can assure you that a diffuser in front of the pump works extremely well but, you will get a mist effect.
However many people believe the mist is the most effective method.
 
HAPPY NEW YEAR to you'll too
reactor I find the pre filter housing design easy to make running it with an extra power head and sending it to the outflow of the pump
but only 10 " is possible for now as we don't get 20"

now the fact sump is ready pump will be delivered so now next outflow of the water do I go for spray bar
or pipe to outflow the water in the tank

some where I read about surface agitation is it necessary for planted tank

I do not want too many things in my tank no power head no wave maker pls suggest
 
Last edited:
Surface agitation helps with stabilising co2 levels and reducing surface films but as you have a sump and an overflow this should'nt be much of a concern.

I'd aim for a circular flow round the tank with the outflow directed a little down and across the front of the tank. Your 6000lph pump will certainly turn over enough water for your filter but in reality won't deliver a great deal of circulation on it's own so you may want to consider adding a Koralia type circulation pump as well in an opposite corner. Or if funds permit a Maxspect Gyre will take care of all your flow possibilities..
 
hi Chris I din get you means the whole attempt of making the sump for the spray bar flow is not worth with a 6000lph pump
then whats the use ........coz I was first thinking of having a spray bar as advised by Foxfish and the thread he showed me of http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/water-flow-in-the-planted-aquarium.1167/
this thread
I already have a power head 2800lph whats the difference between power head and wave maker then
 
Hi Hemant,
There are many options and different people have their personal preferences. I don't like spray bars because I think they look ugly and for me, idealy, I want everything about the aquarium to be a thing of beauty. Spray bars also require a lot of pumping power to work effectively.

This forum is very caught up with the idea of high flow, high ferts and high CO2 but experience has shown that this isn't the only road to success. I suggest you start with the return from your 6000lph pump and see how things go. The reality is that in a real world situation with hoses attached you will not get anything like 6000lph from your pump, that figure will be the pumps rated output with nothing connected. For increasing flow round the tank powerhead devices are rather more efficent than bigger pumps.

There is no one right way with any of this what is needed is too establish a stable balance between light, co2 and nutrients, Circulation/flow delivers the co2 and nutrients to the plants so it is important to get this right but that doesn't mean you need a whirpool of a tank either.
 
exactly what I wanna put .........I could have done nice with a 2217 by just increasing the flow by adding some wave makers

then I was advised to add spary bar the idea I liked ...so went for sump & pump

the simplest was .....to use a strong filter like Fluval fx6 on.... and just few wave makers to follow it along
a nice reactor for co2 distribution ......and find balance with light /co2 /fertz

Its really confusing some time .....the tanks looking a head ace to me now ........but as I have the return pump now lets see how I can give it a good flow / co2 / lights
:crazy::crazy::crazy::crazy:
 
Hi Hermant, yes I agree it can get confusing when you get conflicting advice!
There are several avenues to success but I think we can only ever offer options and opinions. All tanks will need fine tuning to get the best from them.
'I think' a spray bar & a atomiser in front of the pump is a good starting point but we are not the 'planted tank police', so you can do whatever you like :)
If you use the mist method to start with, at least you will get an idea of how the flow & dwell time of the C02 works.
It will be easy to remove the spray bar and see how an open end return pipe works, it is impossible for us to know what will work the best, we can only offer suggestions :)
I have run big tanks in the past, I think you will be surprised at how much C02 you need & I doubt if you could get that 10" vessel to work as a reactor.
The pump you have bought looks promising but again it is you who will have to tell us if it works for your purpose.
Try to keep a direct and smooth return from the pump, you might get a good rate of return but anything placed in line will dramatically reduce the flow.
I use a 3 speed setting pump on my 200lt tank (as seen in my video) I use the middle setting (60w I think) & get a genuine 1300lph retuning into the sump.
That is about 6.5 x flow rate & is easily enough to power my spray bar but my pump has a high pressure type impeller & high power rating.
You will have to find out how yours performs yourself...
You may discover that injecting straight into the pump will reduce flow... I just don't know!
I have used this method to get the C02 into the sump pump many times .... a simple cut down plastic bottle......

image.jpg
 
The pump I think is too speedy getting dry run but when speed slowed its rerurning well
now will place atomizer in front of pump or to the return of the pump
its becoming more n more frustrating now

coz the spray bar thing not working
I feel a 3000 lph pump was good for this
Tomorrow will put the all filteration system together
 
Last edited:
Hi Hemant,

Plenty of frustration to be had in this hoddy! You've chosen the sump route, it is more complex to get right but I'm sure you'll get there in the end.

What setup do you have for your tank overflow, weir overflow, Oceanlife type overflow(s)?

Consider that the return water from the tank is relying only on gravity and not pump power so you'll need big piping and multiple outputs to deal with 6000 lph.

The marine forums are a rich source of information for getting this pipe sizing right etc.
 
Back
Top