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Well, I've finally taken the time to snap off a few shots of the filtration system that I employ on my discus tanks. Attached are some pictures of the contest tank's filtration.
I basically run two filters. The canister (Fluval 405) is the biological powerhouse. It's contents are simply foam pads for mechanical filtration and ceramic biomedia. I won't explain away the canister. I think we all know how that works.
The second filter (wet/dry) is where I do all my voodoo magic. LOL! The wet/dry gives me surface skimming via an overflow box plus gives me room to put all the stuff that I need to make plants grow and keep water crystal clear and DOC free.
The wet/dry works like this...
Water leaves the tank through the "siphon" overflow box. It passes through a prefilter in the overflow and travels down to the sump. The water then trickles through filter floss and drips through a perforated plate down in to the bio ball chamber. Once the water makes it through the bio balls my pumps and reactors take over!
First, the water enters a protein skimmer. Now, protein skimmers don't really do much for a freshwater tank, but the manner it which it whips water around makes it a great ozone reactor plus it has a built in venturi. The water enters the protein skimmer and is injected with ozone. The ozone increases the ORP (oxidation-reduction potential) of the water and increases it's ability to break down dissolved organics.
The water then spews from the protein skimmer and is sucked up by the return pump/CO2 reactor. The return pump simply delivers that water from the sump back to the tank. While it's returning water to the tank It also delivers CO2 to the plants. The tank's CO2 is controlled by a Ph meter. Based on the KH of the tank, I set the Ph meter to allow the controller to dispense CO2 to the tank in order to maintain 30ppm CO2. When the controller senses a rise in Ph, it applies the CO2 to the return pump. The return pump pulverizes the CO2 bubbles and pumps the freshly mixed CO2 water back to the tank.
Before the water makes it back to the tank, it passes through a carbon reactor. Since I am using ozone, it's important to pass the ozone treated water through carbon before sending it back to the tank. Ozone can be as harmful to fish as it is to dissolved organics! I am not a big beliver in the use of carbon for standard filtration. With ozone, it is a must! The water goes back in to the tank and the process continues.
This filtration system will allow me to change water every 7 to 10 days without ill effects. Yes, there is a lot to it and it does require some occassional tweaking, but it helps me keep my water bill below $100 a month! LOL!
The attached pictures show the mess below this tank. I don't want to hear any complaints!
This is actually clean and organized compared to most days! LOL! 
Best wishes!
I basically run two filters. The canister (Fluval 405) is the biological powerhouse. It's contents are simply foam pads for mechanical filtration and ceramic biomedia. I won't explain away the canister. I think we all know how that works.
The second filter (wet/dry) is where I do all my voodoo magic. LOL! The wet/dry gives me surface skimming via an overflow box plus gives me room to put all the stuff that I need to make plants grow and keep water crystal clear and DOC free.
The wet/dry works like this...
Water leaves the tank through the "siphon" overflow box. It passes through a prefilter in the overflow and travels down to the sump. The water then trickles through filter floss and drips through a perforated plate down in to the bio ball chamber. Once the water makes it through the bio balls my pumps and reactors take over!
First, the water enters a protein skimmer. Now, protein skimmers don't really do much for a freshwater tank, but the manner it which it whips water around makes it a great ozone reactor plus it has a built in venturi. The water enters the protein skimmer and is injected with ozone. The ozone increases the ORP (oxidation-reduction potential) of the water and increases it's ability to break down dissolved organics.
The water then spews from the protein skimmer and is sucked up by the return pump/CO2 reactor. The return pump simply delivers that water from the sump back to the tank. While it's returning water to the tank It also delivers CO2 to the plants. The tank's CO2 is controlled by a Ph meter. Based on the KH of the tank, I set the Ph meter to allow the controller to dispense CO2 to the tank in order to maintain 30ppm CO2. When the controller senses a rise in Ph, it applies the CO2 to the return pump. The return pump pulverizes the CO2 bubbles and pumps the freshly mixed CO2 water back to the tank.
Before the water makes it back to the tank, it passes through a carbon reactor. Since I am using ozone, it's important to pass the ozone treated water through carbon before sending it back to the tank. Ozone can be as harmful to fish as it is to dissolved organics! I am not a big beliver in the use of carbon for standard filtration. With ozone, it is a must! The water goes back in to the tank and the process continues.
This filtration system will allow me to change water every 7 to 10 days without ill effects. Yes, there is a lot to it and it does require some occassional tweaking, but it helps me keep my water bill below $100 a month! LOL!
The attached pictures show the mess below this tank. I don't want to hear any complaints!
This is actually clean and organized compared to most days! LOL! Best wishes!
Attached Files
. your fish will do marvelously
Cheers Kath 
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