Central Filtration question

[rayw]

HI,

I currently have 2 plexiglass tanks that I'd like to tie the filtration together.

1 100 Gallon and 1 55 Gallon. I'm currently building a stand that will house the 100 gallon on the top level and the 55 on the bottom level.

I've already drilled the 100 and bought 2 bulk heads, but yet to drill the 55 because I've got currently got 6 discus inside. I want to get everything set up and drill the 55 at the last moment.

So I've got a few questions.
1. How big of a wet/dry filter do I need?
2. Is anyone here selling a used wet/dry big enough for this setup?
2. Do I need a skimmer? I noticed some of these wet/dry's have a built in skimmer.
3. How big of a return pump do I need? (I currently have a mag 3)
4. Will there be a problem returning the water to two levels with one pump? (100 on top and 55 on bottom)
5. Is there anything I need to look out for with this type of setup?

Thanks
Ray

[Moon]

Why not build your own wet/dry filter. I built my own for a 125 and 100 tank. You might need about 10g of bio balls. I used a couple of my old tanks to build the filters. Two 15g tanks, seal the open side of one tank with a piece of glass and remove both end glasses. Now you have a tank with four long sides with both short ends open. Attach a piece of eggcreate to one of the short sides with selicone. Fill this tank with bio balls and position it on top of the other. The bottom tank will act as a reservoir. Drop a submersible pump in it, and plumb the system and you have a home made wet/dry filter. It does not look very good but it does the job. I've had mine running for the past fifteen years with no major problems. You can also substitute the tanks with plastic containers from Wallmart. I have one of those and works well.
HTH

[drew22to375]

You might want to consider using 2 water pumps. Just in case one fails you still have one pump runing to either one tank or both tanks depending on how you go that route. One other thing you might also want to keep in mind is if you get a breakout. all your tanks will get infested. You might want to consider runing a Ultra Violet Serilizer to help reduce the risk. Just my 2 cents.

Drew..