300g Planted Discus Tank Project with sump

[axl10]

Hi Guys,
I'm currently building a new house and are in the process of planning my 9x2.5.2.5 planted discus tank with co2. I have just purchase the tank this weekend plus a 6x18x18 tank for the sump. Here's what im currently going to run with at the moment

Tank: 9x2.5x2.5
Sump: 6x18x18
Media in Sump: 10 20 30 Poret foam used as dividers with pieces of poret foam floating in the sump, 1 x baffle for the return pump and heaters
Heaters: Noty sure what size to go with maybe 3 x 250w stainless steel heaters
Overflow: Would 2 x 40mm overflows one at each end with true union balls at the top of the tank be enough flow
Return Pump: Wasn't sure if a 6000ltr return pump is going to be enough
Co2: Diy co2 reactor which is going to run through to the return line with a Tee in it.
Lights: LED Lighting
Background: Painted Black
Cabinet: Laminated White
Hood: Cover glass with Open style hood

Do i need an overflow in the sump so if the pump fails the sump will drain the water into a drain?

I'm having a drain built into the floor which will beside the sump.

Any help would be much appreciated on what else i need to add to the sump or what size overflows i would need. What return pump you need, as i want to get this right the first time.

Also would i need a uv sterilizer going on the tank?

Cheers Axl

[zchauvin]

If you plan to run UV sterilizer inline off of your main pump I would go with something around 5000gph and use gate or ball valves to adjust flow as needed. You need to have a siphon break / check valve or both on your return lines this way if the power goes out or pump fails it will only drain minimal amount of water into your sump and not overflow it. When designing your sump make sure you leave enough room for the water that will siphon back into it. Do not fill the sump to the top when it is running. Keep in mind that if you are going to be using co2 your sump will need to be sealed completely or you will be going through co2 very fast and will not be able to keep it concentrated in the water column.

[rickztahone]

If you plan to run UV sterilizer inline off of your main pump I would go with something around 5000gph and use gate or ball valves to adjust flow as needed. You need to have a siphon break / check valve or both on your return lines this way if the power goes out or pump fails it will only drain minimal amount of water into your sump and not overflow it. When designing your sump make sure you leave enough room for the water that will siphon back into it. Do not fill the sump to the top when it is running. Keep in mind that if you are going to be using co2 your sump will need to be sealed completely or you will be going through co2 very fast and will not be able to keep it concentrated in the water column.

great advice. I will defer to his advice on the pump gph as that size tank is beyond my experience level.

[axl10]

If you plan to run UV sterilizer inline off of your main pump I would go with something around 5000gph and use gate or ball valves to adjust flow as needed. You need to have a siphon break / check valve or both on your return lines this way if the power goes out or pump fails it will only drain minimal amount of water into your sump and not overflow it. When designing your sump make sure you leave enough room for the water that will siphon back into it. Do not fill the sump to the top when it is running. Keep in mind that if you are going to be using co2 your sump will need to be sealed completely or you will be going through co2 very fast and will not be able to keep it concentrated in the water column.

Hey,
thanks for your help and i have just done some reading on check valves and siphon breaks. They reckon that check valves in the return line aren't fail proof as they can clog and still drain the tank and the only option is to drill a small hole above the water surface line with a check valve installed. Is this what i need to do drill a small hole above the water surface line on the return line which is attached to a spray bar and put a check valve on this. Does the small tubing just sit at the back of the tank? How does this way stop the tank from draining if the pump fails.

If the spray bar and overflows are positioned just below the top of the tank and the power goes off or the pump fails wont the sump be able to hold the remaining water from the tank? Also i could have a overflow positioned at the top of the sump and run a pipe into the drain beside the sump this will stop the sump from overflowing. This would be the best way wouldn't it?

You reckon i need a 500gph pump? That would use alot of power wouldn't it?

Cheers Axl

[Frankr409]

Congratulations on building your dream tank. My setup is virtually the same as yours. I went with two 2" returns, one is higher, about half submerged, the other is under full suction. I return with a Sicci Synchra 10.0 about 2500 gallons an hour.

I have a built in back ground, and I plumbed all of the returns back there as Discus do not care for fast moving water. You might want to consider that before you go any farther.

[axl10]

Congratulations on building your dream tank. My setup is virtually the same as yours. I went with two 2" returns, one is higher, about half submerged, the other is under full suction. I return with a Sicci Synchra 10.0 about 2500 gallons an hour.

I have a built in back ground, and I plumbed all of the returns back there as Discus do not care for fast moving water. You might want to consider that before you go any farther.

Hey,
read your journal last night and its amazing you have done a great job, 2 inch overflow gives you 220ogph of gravity feed without any restrictions from elbows, Wouldn't 2 x 2inch overflow give you around 3000gph? i have read that you only need 5gph for freshwater so 300g x 5 = 1500gph of flow you need. Is yours a bit of an over kill for flow?

I run 2 x 40mm overflows, one fully submerged and the other one half submerged like yours i should be getting around 2000+gph which should be good, the other is put the second overflow fully submerged and control the flow with a true union ball which Im going to run anyway. Does your second overflow make noise with half the water running down the pipe or is it pretty quite?

Also are running a siphon break in your return line with drilling a small hole in the pipe with a check valve?

Discus are quite the opposite and hate to much water movement in the water.

Cheers Axl

[Frankr409]

I have a ball valve on the exhaust side and a gate valve on the return side. My flow is considerable, and I therefore plumbed the return behind the back ground so there would be no disturbance to the discus. It was designed with an overkill factor in mind.

I doubt that I am getting much more than 1800 to 1900 Gph due to head height, and a single 45 degree bend and a street elbow.

With the exception of the vibrations on the return pipe, there is pretty well silent water exhaust.
I did end up drilling about 100 small holes in the return pipe in the sump to cause a break, otherwise the thing would go into suction and become unpredictable.

Thanks for reading my journal, by the way, I wanted it to be educational.