Muzz Posted June 27, 2008 Report Share Posted June 27, 2008 Hi all, would like some help and thoughts. I'm looking at setting up some more tanks and was thinking of a system like the one in th pic. Was thinking mainly about all the heaters and filters and was hoping this would cut out all the cluter of wires and expence of setting up and running. I was looking at keeping different types of fish that might not get along or for separating for breeding. Will this work and what do you see as problems. Thanks for any ideas and help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted June 27, 2008 Report Share Posted June 27, 2008 Quite a few on here run systems like this. The only thing that has prevented me doing it is the chance of cross contamination from another tank i.e. if one tank gets white spot chances are they will all get it as they are running off the same filter system. You can use a uv steriliser which will help but won't stop everything. The only other thing I would go for is multiple heaters instead of a single heater in case of failure. I run a sump on my 450 litre tank and by running two heaters only one is usually on at any one time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted June 27, 2008 Report Share Posted June 27, 2008 The PVC pipe wouln't need to be in the centre of the tank - you could place these off to the side to try and hide them. Let me know how you go with the set-up Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smcoleman Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 good idea but as adodge said if u get white spot or anything else it will go throw ur whole system thats i m running 40 odd tanks each with its own filter an heater i know it costs more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 Also don't under estimate the cost of the plumbing. Why not run seperate tanks, heat the whole room, get a big mother air pump and run a DIY sponge filter in each tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 get a big mother air pump and run a DIY sponge filter in each tank Thats what I'd do if it was going to be mainly for breeding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scuba Sam Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 Wouldn't you want different water parameters for some species? Some fish are more likely to breed in soft vs hard water and different pH? I find my fish tend to be a bit fussy in their individual wants. All the best with getting it set up!! Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.PROPHECY Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 you could run uvs between the plumbing or return pump to combat problems like whitespot.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilly Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 Only the top 3 tanks are getting filtered water the rest are getting used water from the tanks above. I think all the overflows should go directly to the sump and each tank have its own feed from the sump. Just a bit of extra plumbing and perhaps some valves to get the same flow rate to each tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 There are pro's and cons to a central filtration system as far as I can see it to me issues with it were, running all tanks on the same water means you cant have fish with different water types in the system, it can be complicated to setup, and the main reason which has caused problems with people I know who have these setups is disease. It wont take much just that female you've been looking for ages for for a lone male that you just cant wait to add and boom all your fish are sick and it takes alot of med's to treat the whole system. Also even if you qtine all fish somethings show no sign's (worms) and you tie up alot of fish. Also I have thought that with overflows alot of baby fish would struggle not to get washed down them? For all the reasons above (and the fact my fishroom is a dogs breakfast of random sized/shaped tanks stacked all around the place) I have gone for a heated room and individual filters, will be trying to find a kick ass airpump and go for all air filters at some stage, but these aren't cheap.. I am sure that central filtration systems are awesome when running well and if you do it or not depends on how you feel about all the potential problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.PROPHECY Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 if you set it up a bit differntly you could make it so you have taps on each tank so you can run an internal filter on it if you have a sik fish or something. and it wont effect any other tanks. maybe instead of having the overflows running back into the tank below have them all leading into a larger pvc pipe that leads back to the sump. if you know what i mean? :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 Looks good, however if i was doing it i would change a couple of things. First, get a bigger pump. A 2500ltr will not cut it if you are wanting your filter in the sump to filter all the tanks. Run the drains all into the sump, not just the next tank down. Be aware the garden type fittings do leak a bit so will require a bit of glue. They also block up a bit. May be better with larger dia pipe with taps. The other option that works really well is by running all the tanks off sponge or air type filters. Then have a setup a bit like the one you have drawing off but just have it for waterchanges. This option would also be cheaper and in my opinion better. Heating could be by way of under tank heating. Food for thought Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.PROPHECY Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 thats what i was meaning nice diagram Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 thats what i was meaning nice diagram Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted June 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 Thanks for the input guys, I was thinking that it would be like a big community tank just divided up. I see your point about diseases spreading but would that not be the same problem for a 500l tank.I like the idea of being able to isolate a tank just incase of disease or fry raising. The thing is I had a bit of a crazy moment and brought alot of tanks from a breeder that was getting out and some of them have holes in them already as he had this sort of set up. I'm just not quite sure how he had it set up. I can plate over the holes with silicon and glass. As for big ass air pumps what size or cf/m would I need to run 10 tanks?. Still lots to learn lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 Keep the holes, use them for overflows for water changes. You could trial a system with just three tanks and see how it goes. As for air pumps you could look at the haliepa (sp) pumps, they were blue. One or two of these should work, otherwise petware has a range of large air pumps, can't remember the brand though, cosmo, cosmos, not sure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted June 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 Thanks TM like that idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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