First time on DIY wet/dry (need advise)

[luxtralarge]

I searched around this forum for DIY w/d and Did one myself today for my 210 gallon tank predrill 2 holes on each side.
I used 40 gallon rubbermaid, 2x 5 gallons bucket from homedepot, and two flower pot tray.
First i drilled many holes at the bottom of each bucket and also on the flower pot tray.
And since my bulkhead (drain) on the tank is 1" pvc so i used 1" pvc on on the lids.
I used 1/2" pvc to make a stand for the bucket (7" tall).

On the returning hoses, i used 5/8" hoses with the check valves so the water wont flow back to the sump when the power is out.

This is my first time so i need some advise from you guy. Will this w/d work? and do i use two pump for this? because there are two returning hoses.

Any advise that will make this thing work will be appreciated :)

Here are some picture that i took

[MexicanFish]

I would use just one pump with enough flow for your tank and use a "Y", then to the two discharges.

BTW, your setup is wicked!

[MexicanFish]

Oh, and I would brace the rubbermaid container between the two buckets because with some water in it, it will loose shape.

[luxtralarge]

Thanks Mexicanfish. What kind of pump is good for this set up?

[CichlidFan]

If you have two one inch tubes feeding the wet dry, the approximate water flow will be around 1200 GPH.....you need something that will return or push about the same amount of water, up the back of your tank about 3 to 4 feet....I'm guessing a Mag 12 or better.....check with Dennis and find out what he was using ....that will give you an idea....

CF

[luxtralarge]

thanks, i'll look for mag 12 or better one. Do you happen to know anyone selling use one?
OO yeah. Is there anything better than bioball for w/d? and for the filter pads, i think honkz mentioned that HEB sells them. I'll go buy some tomorrow.

[Zulaab]

Bioballs are great, and you can get them online in like 5g buckets at a time.
The Bio Filtration is 3g bioballs for 100G of water to be filtered, so for a 210 you want to have around 6.25g of bioballs between the two buckets to be perfect.

Your question of pump size.. with what I see there, I think CF is right on. Get a Mag 12, or something that will pump about the same amount.

[luxtralarge]

will mag18 work? or is it too strong?

[CichlidFan]

I'm pretty sure you could make a mag 18 work for you....bare in mind, you could always use another Utube and bring more water down to the sump. Once you get all the ingrediants of the W/D systems together, it's fairly easy to tweek them out ...to make them work for you...

[Zulaab]

This tank is drilled correct ? 1" bulk heads ? Your max down per 1" tube is about 1200 gph. You can go up to a Mag18 with your setup, as long as you are running 3/4" return. With a 5/8" You should be able to do it, but it might be a little tight, but then again only what it is returned into the tank is what is returned back into the sump.
If you are going over the side with the water then CF is correct, you need one U-tube per about 600gph you are going to run over the edge. With a Mag18 you need 3 U-tubes

[fshfrk]

At Lowes they have a black tote rated to hold 400lbs. Bulkhead to another one of them and add to your tank volume. Your w/d looks GREAT! Maybe you could lock the frames together with 90's and a length of pipe in the middle. So they are not tippy. no need to glue it. just slip it. Very Impressed. Now put some micron socks in the mix, AWESOME!

[luxtralarge]

Yeah. I did lock them using the 90". I also added 2 more flower pot's trays for more filtration. As right now i used two pumps on it. One is mag 9 and other unknown. But they seem working great together.
Thanks for all the advises

[toomanyfish]

i have bioballs, and the water seems to stay slightly unclear.......not cloudy, just not crystal clear........i threw a 2" layer of home depot's red lava rock down in the bottom of the wet dry, and in 3 days the water was so clear that i had to check and see if i still had a front glass on my aquarium ( so in my opinion ) bio balls cost vs lava rock...? the only negative thing about lava rock, is that it isnt round, and some weird theory about surface area ( coughs )