# new wet/dry!



## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

i just got my new aquaclear 150 wet/dry filter off of ebay and i set everything up, but i have a few questions.

if i wanted to drill holes in my tank and use those for the inlet and discharge...how would i set up the prefilter? (i mean it obviously wouldnt be hanign off the side of the tank)

also, i heard that there is a way to set it up so that if there is a power outtage or something your entire tank wont drain. how do u set it up that way?!?

also, when i set it up today the filter filled with water way too much and the bioballs were completely covered with water so there was no trickle affect. the water pump did have to pump the water about 4 ft high...so was it syphoning the water out faster than it could pump it? and if so why didnt the filter overflow?

i have a few more small questions, but those might get answered with responses to this.


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## Outie (Feb 19, 2003)

First question, I wouldn't suggest drilling your tank, unless you or someone you know, actually knows what they are doing. You could crack the tank or make scratching on the tank. You won't need to setup anything incase of a power outtage. Your fish should be fine. You could rig up a battery operated air pump and if your really paraniod setup a apc generator, but i doubt you will need all that. If the bioballs are covered there is to much water in the tank just empty out the tank and it will be fine. Also your overhead will automatically stop sucking if the water in the tank gets to low, gravity etc....


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

if i used the method of a hole in the tank and the power went out my tank would definently drain.

how would the amount of water in my aquarium affect how much the wet/dry fills with water?!


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## Outie (Feb 19, 2003)

Yes it would but you could just use an overflow hangon. Trust me siphon out some water on the tank and the amount of water in the wet/dry will lower.


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

the wet/dry filled with water up until about 2-3 inches from the top where it would have started spilling out. i like the aquarium to be full. and i think that if that method actually worked i would have take a lot of water out of my tank..

is there any other method? taking the water directly out of the wet/dry should work right? i mean if the water level is staying constant then removing water should lower the level in the wet/dry and still keep the same flow..

why is that the amount of water in the aquarium woudl effect how much the filter fills up?


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## Outie (Feb 19, 2003)

Yes you can take it out of the sump but its sometimes easier to take it directly from the tank. Its something about gravity etc... the more water in the tank the more the siphon on the overflow sucks out or something, because if you lower it enough to ware no new water is entering the overflow the overflow will just stop sucking. Just try it out and see was happens. You want the water in the sump to be right under the bioballs you don't want your bioballs submerged in the water.


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

yea i know that the bioballs should not be submerged. that defeats the purpose of the water trickling over them and getting the high amount of aeration and the "drying" affect.

i will mess around with it when i get the chance.









how hard is to drill a hole in an aquarium? lets just say that i do get a hole drilled in it with no problems...where would i mount the prefilter?


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## Outie (Feb 19, 2003)

I believe you should do it near the top of the tank on one of the sides probably near the back. Might want to check where it is on a predrilled tank. Since its glass you will probably need a diamond tipped drill bit, but im not exactly sure. Talk to a guy at ace hardware or even call a glass shop and ask them what to use. Im assuming the bit will probably set you back about 20 - 40 bucks. Good luck though!


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## Outie (Feb 19, 2003)

Personally i would be a p*ssy to do it for the simple fact that I would be really worried that drilling into the glass might make a crack etc... But then again it doesn't hurt to try just make sure you got all the stuff you need to do it correctly.


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

alright...good idea! i will talk to a glass shop or something.

i am going to be getting a 150g tank from TheFishCatcher soon and he drills holes in aquariums for like $10 i think. perhaps i can just ask him.

should i even bother trying to set up the protien skimmer?

im not even sure if i set that part of the filter up correctly. does anyone know anything about those?


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

i dont understand how to get my wet/dry to work correctly. i did what *outie* suggested and took some water oout of my tank just to see if that would work...i had to lower my tank's water level a lot though and i dont want to have my tank like this just to run this filter.

how do you guys that have wet/dry filters make it work so that the water level in the sump stays at the proper height and still have your tank filled all the way up?

here is my tank's water level whrn the wet/dry is at the correct water level...


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## hays98 (Mar 8, 2003)

we need a pic of you box with the bio balls it sounds to me like mabe your pump does not pump the water out of you over flow box fast enough take some pics of you entire filter set up and we can help trust me they are a pain in the ass to get set up but after that your set. i hated mine at first to but after i got it set up it work great check out this link to
filter set up


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## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

You can adjust the height of the overflow box. Bring the height of the overflow box (the one inside the tank) to the height where you want the water level to be. The sump will empty out the excess water to bring the water level in the tank to the point of the overflow. Thus the bioballs will no longer be submerged in water. You might have to add more water to the tank if the sump runs dry. Hope that made sense...


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

yep that made perfect sense because i figured it out yesterday on how to get it right. thanks though

now i have another problem...since i have been running the wet/dry (set it up yesterday at 6:30-7) my water has turned cloudy. i dont have a clue why this could be.

does anyone know why this is happening?

here is a pic of the tank today *after* i did a 30%-35% water change...


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

notice the difference in the water from the 2 pics? not even 24 hrs later

my oscars are very stressed right now & and hover at the top of the water!!! please help


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## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

I really don't notice the difference... both seem cloudy to me. How long has the tank been setup and is the Emp400 new also?

Water parameters?


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

when i said the difference in the 2 pics...i meant the pic that i took yesterday displaying the water level and the full tank shot i took today to display the cloudiness.

i put the overhang filter on this morning when i noticed the water was cloudy as hell as well as doing a water change. also, my oscars were stressed from me messing the fish tank so much yesterday (setting up the wet/dry) and they did not eat the pellets that u put in there so those all just broke apart and sank to the bottom of the tank. which could have caused the cloudiness?

my fish seem really stressed out though...they go from laying on the bottom to hovering at the top.

i dont know what the water parameters are.


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

i read that completely wrong....the tank has been set up for about 1 1/2 months i would say & the overhang filter has _been_ on that aquarium so there is bacteria growth on the filter right now.


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## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

In the first pic, the only filtration you have is a brand new wet/dry. In the second and third pics, you added the Emp400. Did you remove the Emp when you installed the wet/dry? If that's the case, your tank is going through the cycling process all over again because you have removed the majority of the nitrifiers from your system. That's why your oscars look stressed. Adding food that is uneaten has made the situation worse. Adding the old Emp will quickly resolve the problem in the next few days, but for the time being, do not feed your fish, vacuum all left over food, buy a basic water test kit, add a bit of salt, and do a 20% water change when you observe that your oscars are showing stress (rolling over, gasping for air, cloudy eyes, flared gills, etc.).

Good luck...


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

yes i did remove the overhang filter when i was trying to set up the wet/dry, but i intended to put it back on when i was done. i forgot to because i needed to be somewhere.

i knew that keeping the overhang filter on there would be good so that the wet/dry had time to grow bacteria and stuff, but i did not think it would be this drastic. i didnt know the cycling process would change the water so quickly.

im pissed off now that i forgot to put that back on and it didnt take long at all for my water to get jacked up.









thanks a lot DonH for the quick and helpful responses!


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

well i went and bought some goldfish and some stress coat.

i just put the feeders right into the 90g tank (cloudy one) hoping that they help speed up the cycle.

im about to empty bout 10g from my 50g tank put put it into my cloudy tank.

i hope my fish dont die!


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

also, when syphoning water from the cloudy tank should i try cleaning the gravel really good and removing a lot of the crap and uneaten food or just water?


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## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

Oscars are pretty hardy fish so they _should_ survive the ordeal. I don't recommend adding more fish to the tank though. This will add to the bioload of the tank and will increase your ammonia/nitrite levels even higher. Pull the feeders out, don't feed them for a few days (they are not eating anyway), turn off the lights and just leave them alone. Doing a 20% water change will relieve the fish from ammonia toxicity (using Amquel will help). Even though water changes will slow down the cycle a bit, you have to think about the fish first...


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## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

JesseD said:


> also, when syphoning water from the cloudy tank should i try cleaning the gravel really good and removing a lot of the crap and uneaten food or just water?


 yes, try to get as much uneaten food and crap as possible out of the tank.


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## InSinUAsian (Jan 3, 2003)

What kind of pump do you have for the return? The reason that your tank has a low water lever is because the pump is not strong enough. The level in you tank will decrease to the point where the overflow just can siphon water out of the tank. The reason why your sump did not fill up and overflow, is because the prefilterbox can only suck water out of your tank to a certain point, at which it will stop and not go any lower. You pump is returning water to the tank, but not in enough volume. The little water that is returned to the tank, is quickly returned to the sump. So I am just wondering what type of pump you have to return water because I wet/dry and prefilter box designed for a 150 will pull alot of water down to the sump at a time. If it is faster then the pump cant send back up, this is what you get.

~Dj


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

i adjusted the overflow box to the right level and now my water in my sump is at the right line. i am using a CAP 2200 for the return water pump.

all i gotta do now is get the water back to normal & wait for my wet/dry to acquire some beneficial bacteria.


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

i just syphoned 20g of waste from the cloudy tank and added another 20g that i got from my other tanks.

i got the wet/dry going and i raised the temperature...i also added the tubing that were for my undergravel filter


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## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

Even though it is impractical and inefficient, you can not have a pump small enough for a wet/dry (unless it's not strong enough to lift the water to the tank). A 150 gph overflow will only allow as much volume into the sump as what is being put into the tank. (Equilibrium) Thus, if you have a 10 gph pump on your wet/dry, the overflow will only allow 10 gph into the sump (assuming no head and friction loss). This is not a realistic scenario. Just to prove a point...

Problem arises when the pump is too strong for the overflow, resulting in the sump running dry.


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

there hasnt been much imporvement in my oscar's movement, but i have added salt and turned off the lights

should i add the stress coat or does that serve the same purpose as the salt?!

thanks


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

well i dont think that i will have to use the stress coat anyways.

i just looked at the water and it looks like it is starting to clear up. hopefully by the morning it will be looking *a lot* better







*cross my fingers*


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## InSinUAsian (Jan 3, 2003)

His problem, as he noted above, was that he did not like the unsightly lowering of water that the sump caused. A more powerfull pump would reduce that low level, while at the same time maintaining a corrent level in the sump itself.

~Dj


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## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

A stronger pump will not correct the problem... The faster the pump pushes water to the tank, the faster the overflow will send the water right back to the sump. A larger pump might be too strong for the overflow rating and result in the sump running dry.

All he needed to do to correct the problem (which he did) was to adjust the height of the overflow box in the tank. As you can see in the later pics, the water level was raised without purchasing a larger pump.


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

DonH said:


> A stronger pump will not correct the problem... The faster the pump pushes water to the tank, the faster the overflow will send the water right back to the sump. A larger pump might be too strong for the overflow rating and result in the sump running dry.
> 
> All he needed to do to correct the problem (which he did) was to adjust the height of the overflow box in the tank. As you can see in the later pics, the water level was raised without purchasing a larger pump.


 yep. thanks again DonH for helping me on that.

my tankk looks much better today. the water still looks cloudy cause the glass has a lot of alage on it. but im gonna buy a pleco.

but my oscars are acting a lot more lively.


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## InSinUAsian (Jan 3, 2003)

DonH said:


> As you can see in the later pics, the water level was raised without purchasing a larger pump.


 I see...

~Dj


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

i have a question about the overflow in regards to a hole drilled in you tank.

how would the overflow work if you decided to use a hole in the tank as opposed to the overflow sitting directly inside the tank?

thanks


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