starting a 300g planted aquarium project - will need assistance in planning

Hi all,
I've had discus aquariums for many yeard, but in simple and small settings, starting with 50g and moving 100g about 8 years ago. Now I am planing a ~300g "dream" project. I would really appreciate some advise from people more experienced with larger tanks here.

Size is not yet fixed - only the length is fixed at 94,5" (240cm); for the width I am thinking 24" (60cm) and for height 28" (70cm) or 32" (80cm) - this would lead to a tank of roughly 300g-340g. Any thoughts on this ratio here? Would going for a higher 32" tank make sense?

Next thing I need to decide is the filtering. I currently use EHEIM professionel 3 1200XLT (450gph) in my 100g tank, which is OK, but it is still too loud for me - I love quiet evenings and any "noise" bothers me. So silence of the filter is of absolute highest priority for me.
Now - going to 400g, I would probably need to have at least two such EHEIM tanks or one Fulval FX6 (~925gph). Will that be enough at all or will I need 2x Fulvals? I hear Fulvals are quite good for large tanks but even noisier then EHEIM? Any experience on this? What about the pricey ADA Superjet ES-2400? Any experience of how loud is its external Iwaki pump? Cost is no issue here - the performance is and the noise level is especially critical. Would anyone have any clever recommendations how to sound-proof the housing / cabinet under the aquarium where the filter is kept in order to keep the leaking noise to a minimum?

I will also need to think about the lights. It seems LEDs are becoming more and more popular? I currently use T5 lights... should I consider LED instead? What would be some good LED producers available in Europe?

I will have more questions to follow, but these are, I think, the most essential to start moving forward with the project.

Many thanks in advance for any help and/or suggestions.

Why not go with a sump? With the proper overflow (bean animal), it can be pretty much silent.

my sump is quite using herbie, i can't even hear the hum of the mag 12 once i close the cabinet door. i set the sump on mouse pads, and the pump on a sponge and that was the extent of noise proofing. is it quieter than my 10 gallon q tank running a little bity whisper HOB filter.

yes, LEDs is great.

Hmm... sump may be a good option as well - thanks for the suggestion!
Compared to regular external canister - how much maintenance is that? For a 400g tank - how big a sump I should build?
I should check the forum first, but are there any good general guidelines regarding building a sump?
Jack, what kind of external pump you are using that is so quiet?
thanks! :)

This will be a very noob question: but when I look at the designs of the sump and the overflows, I realize that in most cases the aquariums have holes drilled through the bottom glass for the piping. Is this necessary? I would be really worried of potential leakage problems with a 400g tank and all that pressure! ...would having the pipes at the back of the aquarium coming over the edge at the back be less effective?
I can't seem to find any good "this is how and why you do it" tutorial for sumps - most posts seem to be more or less DIY and each one is competely different. Very confused here...

mag 12
you can see my tank info and some progress photos here
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...t=#post1170383

Quote:

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Originally Posted by snowman1235

This will be a very noob question: but when I look at the designs of the sump and the overflows, I realize that in most cases the aquariums have holes drilled through the bottom glass for the piping. Is this necessary? I would be really worried of potential leakage problems with a 400g tank and all that pressure! ...would having the pipes at the back of the aquarium coming over the edge at the back be less effective?
I can't seem to find any good "this is how and why you do it" tutorial for sumps - most posts seem to be more or less DIY and each one is competely different. Very confused here...

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this would be a good thread to read though i think

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...us+those+sumps

also i simplified my sump and just use poret foam from swiss tropicals. that foam is different then other less expensive foams i've found. on his site he has some sump plans to refer too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by snowman1235

This will be a very noob question: but when I look at the designs of the sump and the overflows, I realize that in most cases the aquariums have holes drilled through the bottom glass for the piping. Is this necessary? I would be really worried of potential leakage problems with a 400g tank and all that pressure! ...would having the pipes at the back of the aquarium coming over the edge at the back be less effective?
I can't seem to find any good "this is how and why you do it" tutorial for sumps - most posts seem to be more or less DIY and each one is competely different. Very confused here...

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Remember, pressure depends only on depth, not volume...

For all you sump folks... I own a pool business and with all new installations we use "sweep 90s" instead of the old hard 90s. I see a lot of comments about folks worried about flow with too many 90s in a given run of pipe. The sweeps take up more room but will give you something like 50% more flow through a 90° turn. Think of it like plumbing back to back 45s rather than a hard 90

Just a quick update: I've decided to definitely go with the sump and after reading extensively about all those return pumps I've also set my mind on the Red Dragon 3 DC pump, which seems to be by far the most quiet and reliable (although pricey) DC pump.

...I have a question: they offer two possibilities - one with controllable flow and one with a fixed flow. I guess the controllable flow would be more relevant for reef tanks? For my 400g tank, their smallest model with 1200gph fixed flow would probably suffice? Or would I ever need a controllable flow?

Still looking into the lighting options... currently deciding between Kessil A360WE Tuna sun (probably will need 4 of those), TMC GroBeam 1500 (also probably would need 4), and GHL Mitras LX (would probably need 2). Any suggestions here?

Regarding aquarium cover and lighting, I have a question: this aquarium will be installed against a 240cm wall and will look like a "window" with glass exposed from 3 sides but enclosed above and below with cabinet. I want to minimize the evaporation from the aquarium to minimize the impact of the humidity on the cabinet above... otherwise this may not be a very lasting solution. I will leave some space at the back of the cabinet to allow for evaporation, but still...
So, I was thinking to cover the top of the aquarium with thin glass cover. But wherever I see these LED lighting fixtures, they are all mounted some height above the water but with no glass in between. Is this for aesthetics, or would a glass cover limit some of the light coming through? What would be the best solution to minimize the humidity impact on the cabinet above?

i have a 140gallon and find the 1200 gph adequate, not too much. using 2 returns there is enough force to disturb my sand substrate. when i used a Y split and had 4 returns, sand didn't move but there wasn't enough water movement either. you can control the output DIY by putting ball valves on your return line.

i have a glass canopy on mine, helps with evaporation and jumpers

i have LED, current usa satelitte professional light. i have had to reduce it to 50% output to reduce algea. it makes plenty of light, even through the glass.

some might be hung for show, some to reduce heat transfer, to allow light to spread over tank based on the lens
mine site 1/4 inch above glass, in a Discus tank the heat is good, means less i have to pay to heat the water.

unless you are goign to do c02 for plants, you won't need much light IME

when shopping, i'd look for one that you can control the output levels

It's been some time since I've posted... spent much of this studying and designing the concept. Here are some recent updates and I'd really appreciate your input / feedback:

A) EXTERNAL VIEW:
Attachment 100495
- The external dimensions of the entire set-up are 243x78x265 cm
- Aquarium external size is 243x65x80cm; this gives approx. 1250L – 330g volume.
- the aquarium is a “window” inside a white wooden cabinet, which looks like an extension of the walls from left and right; on the right side the wall continues into the kitchen and on the left side, there is a glass sliding door that slides behind the cabinet
- the cabinet is made from a steel cage construction with wooden panels / doors mounted on it
- immediately above aquarium there will be one cabinet “door” across the entire 240cm length (and 40cm in height), which would open upwards (vertically) to allow for aquarium maintenance; at the top of this 40cm opening there will be the first shelf and below the shelf a LED lighting fixture will be installed.
- above and below the aquarium there will be standard cabinet doors (4x 60cm wings)

B) INTERNAL CONSTRUCTION:
Attachment 100496
- the cabinet is made around a “steel cage” which gives strength to the construction. 4cm wide steel will be used.
- 5 vertical steel lines are at the back to hold the cage and 3 vertical lines are in front (to allow easy access to the cabinet); there is no steel connecting the front part where the aquarium “slides” in… the entire upper part is held with the vertical steel lines at the back
- the bottom part (rack to hold the aquarium) is 70cm tall from floor to the base of the aquarium; this includes: 2x 4cm for steel and on top of the steel rack there is a 4cm wood panel and on top of that a 0,5cm foam layer; aquarium then sits on top of the foam layer.
- the length of the aquarium is 243cm, but the length of the steel frame is 240cm; this allows for a 1cm “sound insulating” foam on each side plus 0,5cm wood cabinet cover. Therefore, the steel frame is slightly shorter than the actual aquarium length
- equally, the width of the aquarium is 65 cm, but the width of the steel cage is 67,5: 4cm steel frame at the back of the aquarium, and 63,5cm steel frame underneath the aquarium, which allows for additional 1,5cm for sound isolation and wooden cabinet doors in front.
- the entire steel construction cabinet stands 9cm away from the wall; this is because on the left side of the cabinet there is a hallway and there is a glass sliding door mounted there which slides behind the cabinet (small sketch at the bottom right); the glass door has 1,9cm space from the wall, then there is 5,7cm frame of the sliding door and 1,4cm space from the steel frame of the cabinet; total distance from the wall to the steel frame of the cabinet is, therefore, 9cm. The sliding glass door slides 144cm behind the aquarium, leaving 99cm space on the right hand side for plumbing.
- Including this 9cm distance from the wall, the side of the cabinet has a 73cm width, which includes 65cm length of the aquarium, 4cm steel frame and 9cm space.
- Aquarium is made from 15mm glass; the 243x65x80(70) is the external dimension of the aquarium; internal dimension is reduced for the thickness of the glass.

C) PLUMBING AND SUMP: A view from the rear side of the aquarium
Attachment 100497
- a the rear one can see the aquarium (top) and the sump (bottom) and the plumbing between
- the sump is laid on a 4cm wooden base plate which is on the iron cage construction
- the sump’s external dimensions are 120x50x50cm with 1cm thick glass
- the aquarium will have 4 x 1,5” holes drilled at the top: 2 holes for the “overflow” system and 2 holes for the return pipes
- 2 overflow pipes are going into the sump (left) and one is going directly into the drain (in the wall behind the aquarium); on the main overflow pipe (full syphon), there is a “Union ball” valve to control the flow
- the overflow will be Reef Savvy 24” or Synergy “ghost overflow” style
- the return pipe comes from the right side of the sump from the pump; the return pipe is split with a Y split and then goes to left and right side of the aquarium where a 1,5” hole is drilled; before the Y split, there is also a “Union ball” valve to control the flow
- the return pipe will be Red Dragon 3 Mini Speedy with 5m3/h (1300gph) flow
- where necessary, all pipes should have 45 degree angles – no 90 degree elbows (except at entry/exit of tank)
- in the sump there are also 2 heaters and next to it there is a CO2 reactor which connects to the return pipe

AUTOMATIC WATER CHANGE:
- in the left side of the sump there will be a small additional pump connected to a timer; this pump will pump the water out through a separate hose directly into the drain
- in the right side of the sump there is an incoming hose with fresh water coming in; this hose has a solenoid valve connected to an optical water sensor; when water sensor detects water level drop, the solenoid valve opens and fresh water flows in.

Main questions / concerns:
- please comment on the general plumbing set-up; am I missing something important? Would some modification of this design be more optimal?
- Where should the holes be drilled for the return pipes to enter the aquarium? I am worried about potential power failure – is there a situation where the holes are drilled too low, and the power failure causes the pump to stop and the water to flow back into the sump, overflooding it?? What are measures to prevent this?
- how to properly plug-in the CO2 system / reactor? I want a nicely planted discus tank and would like to ensure sufficient CO2; but I do not want this to limit too severely the flow rate.
- I have a nice unused 36W Aquamedic Helix Max UV steriliser… I wanted to install this as well on the return pipe, but I do not see many UV sterilisers being used any longer… What is a general consensus? Should I install it in addition to the CO2?

Any comments / thoughts / suggestions HIGHLY appreciated! :)