Dividing a 422 tank into 3 sections

[Savant]

I am thinking of customising a new two tier 4ft rack for keeping plecos... Top tier will be new home of L46s, whereas the bottom tier will be divided into 3 sections for keeping small breeding groups of 3 to 5 hypans...

As I will be getting the tanks professionally made (so far shortlisted weeyang), I guess I will have the option to have permanent dividers installed.

The issue I have is with the choice of filtration system for the bottom setup. As there will be three seperate partitions, the thought of having to run 3 cannisters at the bottom (and at least 2 on top for the L46s) is daunting...

I am wondering if I can or should devise a system for the divided tank to somewhat share the same water and therefore only require one or two sets of filtration...

Any ideas?

[illumnae]

I've seen 2 systems whereby you can share filtration. One is obviously a sump, and the other is an OHF over the whole tank, but you probably need some form of holes in the dividers to ensure good flow through the tanks.

Whichever method you choose (you may need 3 tiers if you go sump), I'd recommend you install a UV unit somewhere in the system to prevent diseases from cross-spreading due to the shared water. Make sure all the water goes through the UV

[aquarius]

I think it's best to have a 4ft tank on the bottom tier with removeable partition instead of a permanent one. That way the whole tank will only need to use 1 or 2 cannister filters instead of 3 and not only that, it's flexible cos in future you can use the whole tank or maybe even divided it into half.

[Savant]

If I have holes in the dividers, I can simply use cannisters... I am biased against OHFs as I think they will be noisy... As for sumps, it is not an option as I want this to be 2 tier so that I can view and maintain my L46 top tier with ease...

I am not so concerned about diseases cross spreading as all the tanks will be maintained the same way, it would be just like having one tank except that breeding aggression can be contained... In any event, I would like to add a UV system into the loop somewhere...

I am wondering if I can do a overflow system, where the dividers are of a slightly different height...

Anyway still thinking about it... in the meantime, keep the ideas pouring in...

I've seen 2 systems whereby you can share filtration. One is obviously a sump, and the other is an OHF over the whole tank, but you probably need some form of holes in the dividers to ensure good flow through the tanks.

Whichever method you choose (you may need 3 tiers if you go sump), I'd recommend you install a UV unit somewhere in the system to prevent diseases from cross-spreading due to the shared water. Make sure all the water goes through the UV

[Savant]

Oh and how does the fish shops do it?

[illumnae]

Depends on which fish shop. Some use a central sump, some use bubble filters in each tank, some use undergravel filters in each tank. The most common would probably be individual bubble filters.

If you're going with the option of partitions with holes and sharing 1-2 canisters, I'd recommend a powerhead in each partition as plecos do like the flow to be fast. The partitions would make the water very sluggish and unsuitable for plecos. Oxygenation is another issue. Either:

(a) feed an air pump into the powerhead (some have fittings at the outlet that allows you to do it);
(b) put the powerhead very close to the surface to create surface agitation;
(c) Use a bubble filter/air stone in each partition; or
(d) Have a rainbar for the canister(s) that spans the entire 4ft length at the back above the water surface.

For (d), this would mean flow would be slowed considerably due to the length of the rainbar and it'd be noisy, which you dislike

[CK Yeo]

If you are sharing water, the easiest way would be to get a standard 422, partition it with those plastic divider thingy and use 1 canister to filter. That way, you have the flexibility of changing the size of each partition later.

Add the extra powerhead as required.

ck

[BFG]

I do not know about pleco breeding but do they need a 2ft deep tank? You might settle for a 4x2x1 or 4x2x1.5 with external overflow ( or internal ) and a sump with canister filter. Just a thought.

[Savant]

How does the internal/external overflow work? I am quite clueless on these things and cant seem to find the answer by simply googling...

I wanted a larger body of water on the assumption that the larger body of water, the better the water parameters will be... In any event, if I find that lower water volume is better, I can also fill up to a lower height...

I think I am going to do acrylic partitions (with holes for water flow) for savings in cost and more configuration flexibility... Individual powerheads per partition, large size hang on filters (with inlet tube placed higher) for biological filtration only... and one power canister filter (2260?) with the filter inlet in the partition with the largest no of plecos...

Its a pain getting proper fit partitions....

[David Moses Heng]

Oh and how does the fish shops do it?

you may want to pop by polyart to see how tehy does it