Basic Filtration
- Thread starter Ikan60
- Start date
What brand is it? If it is a standard brand, like All-Glass, then it has a tempered bottom only.
FWIW - i like back drilled tanks the best, if there is room behind the stand for an external durso... there is no huge overflow in the tank. You just end up with an elbow in the top corner of the tank and that is all. You can use a 1.5 or 2" drain and drain like 10K gallons per hour silently without multiple lines with space requirements.
Internal side:
External side, although you can use shorty bulkhead and a T instead of this sweeping elbow for about a 4" rear clearance:
FWIW - i like back drilled tanks the best, if there is room behind the stand for an external durso... there is no huge overflow in the tank. You just end up with an elbow in the top corner of the tank and that is all. You can use a 1.5 or 2" drain and drain like 10K gallons per hour silently without multiple lines with space requirements.
Internal side:
External side, although you can use shorty bulkhead and a T instead of this sweeping elbow for about a 4" rear clearance:
Thanks so much for the replies. Very helpful! Husband is very worried about a wet dry because he built one years ago and flooded his apartment. He is advocating for various forms of canister or hob filtration. This will be a fish only tank. Are there any concerns about using a canister filter like a fluval fx5 for a fish only tank?
A FOWLR tank is a really good place to use elemental carbon to keep N and P in check - I am not a fan of using it in reefs. If I was doing FOWLR again, I would have a drilled tank, large sump, over sized skimmer (or two), few heaters and a return pump... and a bag of sugar or bottle of vodka.
Cainsters have been leaky for a long time. Even the good ones are closing away from tearing a O ring.
Cainsters have been leaky for a long time. Even the good ones are closing away from tearing a O ring.
When sizing a sump/wet dry you need to make sure that when you have a power outage that the water draining from the tank does not overflow in the sump, don't forget to include the water in a skimmer also. Many have also created a siphon break in their return lines in order to reduce the amount of water draining into their sumps.
Another precaution you can take with regards to flooding is a check valve in the return line. They only let water flow one direction.
I've had several reef ready and non reef ready tanks and will never have a non drilled tank again. If you can confirm the back isn't tempered than drill it! You won't regret it.
I've had several reef ready and non reef ready tanks and will never have a non drilled tank again. If you can confirm the back isn't tempered than drill it! You won't regret it.