kermadum Posted December 10, 2010 Report Share Posted December 10, 2010 Hey gang, I'm just in the process of designing and building a barracks, including a sump filter. I think I've worked out my design (which I'll attach below if anyone has any thoughts on it), but what I'm really wondering is about the size of the pump for the sump. Depending on what tank I come up with, I'm going to build a 2 or 3 ft sump to feed the barracks (which if I put two rows on each shelf should total 25-30 individual houses) but have absolutely no idea what strength water pump to use. I was chatting to the guy at my local aquarium about it and when I asked him that question he looked blankly at me and said "I don't know, maybe one of these?" and picked something up. With the blank look and "I don't know" as the lead-in I didn't take too much notice of what it was. I've looked around at the various DIY videos etc, but haven't come across anything that tells me what strength pump to use. Anyone out there built one and have any suggestions? A couple of specs that may help... I haven't settled on a definite set of shelves to base it on yet, still tossing up a couple, but the height will be approx 2m with 4 shelves (approx 1m across). I'm hoping to fit about 30 barracks on there. The shelves will also hold my 3 spawning tanks that I won't hook up to the sump. You can see my basic layout below. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yanagi Posted December 10, 2010 Report Share Posted December 10, 2010 How do the chambers work? Are you leaving a gap at the front for water flow? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kermadum Posted December 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2010 They'll have overflow holes in the back and sit, raised, in a gutter tray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted December 10, 2010 Report Share Posted December 10, 2010 Remember the higher you're pumping water the more powerful the pump needs to be just to get the water up to that height - 2m is quite a height to pump water..... You need to work out roughly how many litres per hour you need to have running through your system to feed all the tanks.... and then get a pump that will deliver that amount of water at the head height required.... each tank / compartment will need a tap to adjust the water flow as it will be a different rate on each level and a different rate at the end of a pipe than at the beginning where it is being fed water from.... without a tap on each you will end up with some compartments having drips of water and others with a strong flow of water.... micro irrigation taps are ok for the job rather than looking for aquarium accessories.... You're probably looking for a pump that will do at least 2500 litres per hour to get a 2m head height.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kermadum Posted December 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2010 Thanks Wayne, that's exactly the help I needed. I've already factored taps in, not only to help control flow rate but so that any given tank can be isolated from the system at any time. I hadn't thought of micro-irrigation taps though, I'll investigate that. Thanks mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul Posted December 10, 2010 Report Share Posted December 10, 2010 Adam, it's worth looking outside aquarium shops for the pump. You should also look at places like Bunnings as they have water pumps for outdoor water features/ponds that may be cheaper than the LFS. They have a range of height and flow rate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted December 10, 2010 Report Share Posted December 10, 2010 what are you going to sit them on in the gutter tray? if you know a sparky they may be able to get you egg crate at trade prices (about $15 per 4' x 2' sheet if you buy a box) - retail prices at aquarium stores are much much higher. my LFS sells it to me for $24 per sheet. There's about 15 or 16 sheets in a box but you might be able to do a group buy with other Sydney members and get it that cheap - egg crate is also great for sumps, dividing off larger tanks for larger species of fish making a solid looking moss wall, etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kermadum Posted December 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2010 (edited) I was still working on that detail. Hadn't thought of egg crates. We actually have some bakers crates at work, made out of the same kind of stuff, might be a bit thinner though, I might give that a try, see if it works Edited December 11, 2010 by kermadum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts