Tank Setup Questions

[Doogle]

Hi all,

After around 14 years out of the hobby I am now returning.

I have a couple of questions about set up as things appear to have changed quite a bit since I was last ‘in’.

I am planning on keeping a pair of Hystrix stingrays, I have a 6’ x 4’ x 2’ tank to keep them in for the first instance.

I am in the process of building a DIY filter using two regular 240 litre UK wheelie bins. I am essentially going to copy this method linked below, the first bin to have mechanical filtration and the second to contain 100 litres of K1 as a moving bed filter.

I have read that I need an air pump 1 litre per minute per litre of media, therefore I need a 100 lpm air pump. Does that sound about right? It appears most UK domestic pumps get nowhere near that so would be looking at a pond pump.

What sort of turnover would you guys recommend for a tank this size? All in I will have around 1100 litres of water, I was looking at purchasing pumps around 8000 litres per hour which would give around 7 x turnover with the head difference, would this be suitable?

I will also be running a drip system, I see conflicting stories on how much to drip, anyone recommend an amount on this kind of set up?

Finally, heating an aquarium this size, I am planning on using an Inkbird Controller but unsure on which heaters to use, would anyone recommend something in the UK? I would like to use two heaters just in the event of one fails.

Many thanks for reading.

 

[AR1]

i know a few members who are from the UK, maybe they can help
esoxlucius
Fishman Dave
BTW welcome back !

 

[wednesday13]

Hi all,

After around 14 years out of the hobby I am now returning.

I have a couple of questions about set up as things appear to have changed quite a bit since I was last ‘in’.

I am planning on keeping a pair of Hystrix stingrays, I have a 6’ x 4’ x 2’ tank to keep them in for the first instance.

I am in the process of building a DIY filter using two regular 240 litre UK wheelie bins. I am essentially going to copy this method linked below, the first bin to have mechanical filtration and the second to contain 100 litres of K1 as a moving bed filter.

I have read that I need an air pump 1 litre per minute per litre of media, therefore I need a 100 lpm air pump. Does that sound about right? It appears most UK domestic pumps get nowhere near that so would be looking at a pond pump.

What sort of turnover would you guys recommend for a tank this size? All in I will have around 1100 litres of water, I was looking at purchasing pumps around 8000 litres per hour which would give around 7 x turnover with the head difference, would this be suitable?

I will also be running a drip system, I see conflicting stories on how much to drip, anyone recommend an amount on this kind of set up?

Finally, heating an aquarium this size, I am planning on using an Inkbird Controller but unsure on which heaters to use, would anyone recommend something in the UK? I would like to use two heaters just in the event of one fails.

Many thanks for reading.

You can boil ur k1 media with water or air. You can also do a combination of both if needed. It should actually turn over pretty easy in a round container. Most people use air but a water pump or power head will do the same thing.

As for ur autodrips. My personal “rule of thumb” is 1 gph per 100gal of water for a starting point. With rays ur probably going to be around 2gph per 100 gallons. Ur looking to drip 100% of the tank volume in 1 weeks time as a starting point. When i kept rays in a 450g i dripped 6gph. Also had a 500g with rays set at 6gph. As the rays hit 26-28” my drips were running at 8gph in the 500. You just have to monitor and test ur water for the levels u see fit for urself and ur fish. I kept my nitrates below 5ppm at all times. If they were over 5 i upped the autodrip to compensate. Nothing is set in stone for auto drips esp with rays. Its nice to bump up the drips during breeding and birthings.

 

[Fishman Dave]

I have over the last 40 years used many different heaters, however the very best one I have ever come across is the fluval m range for reliability. I have to qualify this, that I have never used an inkbird controller.

 

[fishdance]

It's mostly what feels most comfortable to you.

I would use an LP-60 airpump (or 2 smaller pumps together) to turn over the moving bed. With an air stir, you get multiple cycles - passes of bio filtration per single water pass through. I noticed a 3 fold boost in productivity over using water stir when I changed over. You will probably be running on narrow safety margins with a small tank and rays. Additionally air pumps are cheaper to run and easier to back up (emergency power). Very productive bio filters consume a lot of oxygen.

Again, depending on your risk appetite, I would put 2 x air pumps of same make & model on the same central air feed to moving bed and fish tank. Easy simple redundancy. No airstone, a simple PVC pipe frame with a couple of 1mm holes at bottom of barrel to distribute air. You only need to power back up one to extend outage capacity. Keep spare parts and perhaps a spare air pump.

I find continous low pressure water feed and (24/7) simple displacement of water out to a dedicated drainline the best and most reliable method of automatic water change. A slow steady drip /flow gets heated by the tank itself and chlorine - chloramine removal is less of an issue. A self packed carbon inline filter suitably sized with 5 micon pre filter is what most people use for this. With a slow water feed, the drainline can also be small unless you want to use same drain for large emergency water changes.

Hydor inline heaters are excellent but only go up to 300 watts. I have used these in commercial applications and they take punishment with good accuracy. For heating genetally speaking, I wouldnt use 2 smaller sized heaters as heaters have a hard life and you are doubling the chance of failure. Even a small heater can cook fish. I would buy 2 suitably sized heaters but keep one spare for emergency use. I have temperature range alerts - audible and to my phone as well. (WiFi pool thermometers).

 

[flyingsaucer owner]

Hydor inline heaters are excellent but only go up to 300 watts.

Aquael flow are a similar inline external heater that are 500w.
I’ve been using them for a few years now & they have been spot on.

 

[Doogle]

Hi all,

Thank you very much for taking the time to respond!

Dripping 100% over the week sounds like a good place to start. Will give that a go and see how we get on.

With regards to heaters, has anyone used a Schego Titanium? Reading good things about them.

Thanks.