Metal monster 3k

[Thelatinofishlover]

Filtration will be somewhat simple as i am getting more into setteling chambers lately for their efficiency and easy matinence. So far im positive on an overhead 90 gal (4'x2' footprint already have it) setteling chamber into a 4'x12' with window "Plant Box" full of photos/plants simply grown over egg crate. Viewing window is to see the swords/guppies that will breed in the plant box under the media and help consume small particles of waste and uneaten food that makes it too them. I'm tired of wasting time cleaning mech pads and sump sludge every day on 26 tanks its driving me insane!!!!!.... My 100 gal heavily stocked Aquaponics system requires no matinence what so ever so i'm duplicating that on a larger scale with the plants. To clean the setteling chamber all i need to do is siphon out the sludge while the whole system is still running or drill a hole for a ball valve/drain. This overhead sump will run off 2 submersible Mag 24's or the largest submersible i can find lol. I will also be setting up a 2'x2'x8' standard style sump drilled at the top 6" of the tank and powered by a Reeflo hammerhead gold 5,000 gph. I opted to not use this pump to draw water from the tank but rather to shoot it back in at the highest gph i can get for water circulation. Above the 2'x2'x8' sump sits two drilled 55 gals (already have) for socks or bioballs for some extra overkill on filtration. This should handle everything no problem on a pretty cheap budget. My sump boxes are being made to hold the fish initally so im getting a pretty good bang for my buck. Kills me to spend money on anything i can just make or piece together from what i have. These boxes will be simple 3/4" plywood, 2x4, and pondliner.

awesome man i cant wait to see this set up! the filtration sounds insane!

 

[Phixer]

Exceptional innovation, lower jaw hit the floor when I saw that CNC router. Endless possibilities. How hard is it to keep the acrylic cool with the CNC?

 

[wednesday13]

I had no problems with the acrylic heating up even cutting 3/32" thickness. It actually heats up less than when i use my table saw. There is also a large dust collector so this may help pull the hot air away. Cuts like butter at 12,000 rpm lol its supposed to be at 18,000 rpm but with a power inverter to 3 phase needed for the cnc my vaccuum pump likes to shut off. My building bearly has enough power to run the cnc but it was another $30,000 for an electrial upgrade so i make do lol... going to try some 1" acrylic soon but i dont think i will have any problems with heat.

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[aldiaz33]

Filtration will be somewhat simple as i am getting more into setteling chambers lately for their efficiency and easy matinence. So far im positive on an overhead 90 gal (4'x2' footprint already have it) setteling chamber into a 4'x12' with window "Plant Box" full of photos/plants simply grown over egg crate. Viewing window is to see the swords/guppies that will breed in the plant box under the media and help consume small particles of waste and uneaten food that makes it too them. I'm tired of wasting time cleaning mech pads and sump sludge every day on 26 tanks its driving me insane!!!!!.... My 100 gal heavily stocked Aquaponics system requires no matinence what so ever so i'm duplicating that on a larger scale with the plants. To clean the setteling chamber all i need to do is siphon out the sludge while the whole system is still running or drill a hole for a ball valve/drain. This overhead sump will run off 2 submersible Mag 24's or the largest submersible i can find lol. I will also be setting up a 2'x2'x8' standard style sump drilled at the top 6" of the tank and powered by a Reeflo hammerhead gold 5,000 gph. I opted to not use this pump to draw water from the tank but rather to shoot it back in at the highest gph i can get for water circulation. Above the 2'x2'x8' sump sits two drilled 55 gals (already have) for socks or bioballs for some extra overkill on filtration. This should handle everything no problem on a pretty cheap budget. My sump boxes are being made to hold the fish initally so im getting a pretty good bang for my buck. Kills me to spend money on anything i can just make or piece together from what i have. These boxes will be simple 3/4" plywood, 2x4, and pondliner.

Your filtration plans sound awesome. Looking forward to seeing pix. With this size, I would try to use the most efficient equiement possible.

The most efficient submersibles (with reliable track records) are the Laguna Max Flos or Aquasurge pumps. Danner Mag Drive's are really inefficient; in some cases you can get twice the flow with a Laguna or Aquasurge on half the watts that a Mag Drive would consume.

Mag Drive 24 @ 5' head does only 1,630GPH while sucking up 265 watts.
Laguna Max Flo 4200 @ 5' head does 3,223GPH on only 160 watts.

With the Laguna you get twice the flow while using 105 less watts.

 

[wednesday13]

Thanks for the info on lagunas aldiaz! Never owned any but ive heard there the best for efficency..every little bit helps my electric bill with 26 tanks already running hah. Just recently switched to mags because of realiability, im tired of pumps/props breaking daily on cheaper pumps. Def. Need to try some lagunas tho, thanks again.

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[TakeNotes]

Epic. Read the whole thread. I need to move out of NY so I can afford a house..... smh

 

[wednesday13]

Epic. Read the whole thread. I need to move out of NY so I can afford a house..... smh

Thanks for checkin everything out! much appreciated....i will say i am very jealous of your Axolotl breeding lol....grass is always greener on the other side.

 

[aldiaz33]

Thanks for the info on lagunas aldiaz! Never owned any but ive heard there the best for efficency..every little bit helps my electric bill with 26 tanks already running hah. Just recently switched to mags because of realiability, im tired of pumps/props breaking daily on cheaper pumps. Def. Need to try some lagunas tho, thanks again.

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That's what I figured...you must go through some serious KWHrs with that many tanks.

I hear you in regards to cheap equipment...some of the pumps out there are total junk. I was really surprised with how nice the Lagunas are...they are a quality product.

I've been running mine for 1.5 years with no problems and they come with a 3 year warranty that I hopefully won't have to use, but time will tell. They have a solid record among pond keepers...I've read some threads on some pond forums where some guys have been running theirs for 8+ years...and ponds are nasty conditions for pumps compared to our aquariums so I'm hoping to get at least that much life out of mine.

 

[Reedmaster16]

Filtration will be somewhat simple as i am getting more into setteling chambers lately for their efficiency and easy matinence. So far im positive on an overhead 90 gal (4'x2' footprint already have it) setteling chamber into a 4'x12' with window "Plant Box" full of photos/plants simply grown over egg crate. Viewing window is to see the swords/guppies that will breed in the plant box under the media and help consume small particles of waste and uneaten food that makes it too them. I'm tired of wasting time cleaning mech pads and sump sludge every day on 26 tanks its driving me insane!!!!!.... My 100 gal heavily stocked Aquaponics system requires no matinence what so ever so i'm duplicating that on a larger scale with the plants. To clean the setteling chamber all i need to do is siphon out the sludge while the whole system is still running or drill a hole for a ball valve/drain. This overhead sump will run off 2 submersible Mag 24's or the largest submersible i can find lol. I will also be setting up a 2'x2'x8' standard style sump drilled at the top 6" of the tank and powered by a Reeflo hammerhead gold 5,000 gph. I opted to not use this pump to draw water from the tank but rather to shoot it back in at the highest gph i can get for water circulation. Above the 2'x2'x8' sump sits two drilled 55 gals (already have) for socks or bioballs for some extra overkill on filtration. This should handle everything no problem on a pretty cheap budget. My sump boxes are being made to hold the fish initally so im getting a pretty good bang for my buck. Kills me to spend money on anything i can just make or piece together from what i have. These boxes will be simple 3/4" plywood, 2x4, and pondliner.

Nice I love reading about aquaponics setups/design as well.

A couple things to take note of:
Depending on flow rate a settling chamber of that size (4x2) will not be very efficient at settling out much waste. The flow rate from two mag24s would require a very long raceway to be efficient at settling waste. If you are set on a rectangular shaped settlement chamber, at least an 8x2 or larger would be needed to be worth it at that flow rate. I have a bunch of calculations saved I would have to dig up but that would be a starting point. Pumping water to the settlement chamber will also blend up the heavier particles from the pump impeller making it more difficult to settle out the small particles. Ideally a bottom drain gravity feeding the settlement chamber is best.

A properly sized well designed settlement chamber will only settle out some settle-able solids. It does very little for suspended solids or those waste particles that are neutrally buoyant.

The plants will aid in nitrate reduction but they will not remove all the waste that gets past the settlement chamber. So over time all those suspended solids and other waste particles will build up in you biological media eventually causing problems like bacterial outbreaks, water parameter spikes, etc. Also they can negatively impact the plants if there is too much accumulation. "Suspended solids entering the hydroponic component may accumulate on plant roots and create anaerobic zones that prevent nutrient uptake by active transport, a process that requires oxygen (Rakocy 2006)."

A settlement chamber is a great idea but even if its sized properly you will definitely need additional mechanical filtration downstream to pickup the suspended solids in the water column so they can be removed.

Just some food for thought. Im enjoying following your construction progress. Looks great!

 

[wednesday13]

Hmmmm def. changes my outlook on things a bit Reedmaster, Thanks for all the info! Every system in my home especially the ones running off sumps whether overhead or under accumulate copious amounts of "sludge"....My tanks are also ridden with white worms from waste build up. My water is always crystal clear though so it can be hard to tell when the water is actually dirty. I use feeder comets to more or less test my waters. If they "melt" after 10 min or so i water change the tank immediatly. most all my fish are 12"-30" and are tough as nails, I think im just lucky that they can handle the high nitrates at times. I feel like all my setups are over filtered, they all contain photo plants, get waterchanged atleast once weekly and Nitrates are always in the red zone. I know im def. missing something so im trying to more or less re-vamp everything i have aswell as make it better for this build. I am also a firm believer in understocking, for example my 650 gal only houses 5 large aros and my 450 only houses 4 large gar but i cant seem to keep them clean enough. Water is always amazingly clear but its deadly lol....even in my smaller tanks 125's-230's300's stock is extremly low, some only have 1 fish and when its time for "feeder testing" the goldies melt almost immediatly sometimes. I currently have a very wide erray of different filters and up to 3 different styles of filters and uv on each tank (canisters,sumps,sponge filters,ac110's) and some systems in my home are just perpetually toxic to new coming fish. My old boys are almost content and thrive with the current conditions while some batches/species of new fish melt just as quick as the goldies. I know all this info probably sounds hanous to some readers but 26 large tanks is alooooot for one person to manage and i do my best on a daily basis. I spend atleast 4-8 hours a day caring for everything i have. Some days its a chore just to turn all the lights on and get everyone fed. Annnnyway any advice on what you guys think im "missing" is much appreciated. I'm at the point where a whole house drip system may be my only option. I am not opposed to this just dont know anything about the equipment needed to drip. Its also hard to fathum 125 gals housing one fish being this hard to maintain. Example....125 with marineland 350 canister, 125 gal sponge filter, ac110,uv, and 2 photo plants housing one 14" tig....I can water change him everyday and nitrates are still through the roof? blows my mind lol I have to seriously be doing something wrong. Is it animal cruelty to know you need a waterchange by your fishes eyes and slime coat lol? there has to be a better way to keep everything self sustaining. I have purposely set up a recirculating aquaponics system and not changed the water for 8 months and i have no issues what so ever. Water is clear and plants are booming even through the winter (this setup is on my sun porch with no heat) baffels the sh** outta me. Should i be looking into my city's water???? It def. gives me more problems in the winter right outta the tap than it does in the summers.