Need Help w/ DIY Sump

851 Views 3 Replies 2 Participants Last post by fietsenrex, Oct 6, 2016

Roteak

Discussion Starter · Oct 6, 2016

Hey you, I will be building a aquaponics / sump system for my tank to minimize the amount of maintenance on the tank in terms of water changes and grow some produce out of it to eat.

I have a 15 gallon tank and it has 6 Dwarf Gouramis, 5 Ghost Catfish, 6 Kuhli Loaches, & 1 Clown Pleco, I might add an Angelfish if I can find a nice one.

It doesn't look overcrowded, but once they're all full grown I have other tanks I can use if they need an upgrade.

http://i.imgur.com/DG0B5TA.jpg

I want the sump to sit about a foot above my tank, on a window sill, for sunlight.

I have a few questions...

How strong does the water pump need to be to carry the water from the tank to the sump? Considering the tank (15g) will be about a foot below the sump.

About how many plants can the fish that I have sustain?

And how vigorous can the plants be?

I'm assuming any plants/veggies will do, if the fish that I have cannot support it all that will happen is the plants growth will stunt. But that's good for the fishies because it means all the nitrates are being taken care of by the plants, right? And thus removing the need for water changes?

Anyway, I am only just starting to learn about all this stuff and would appreciate any input.

Thank you! :nerd:

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fietsenrex

· #2 · Oct 6, 2016

1 angel fish would be a bad idea since need to be kept in groups of at least 5 to avoid stress and dominance problems.

as for the plants, try the "simple" plants first like lettuce or spinach.
as for the pump, something that will pump water at a flowrate of aprox. 7 gallon at one feet.
as for the waterchanges, you would still need to do them to remove any protein/hormones produced by the fish.

but all in all it would be a feasible system if your tank isn't heavy planted

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Roteak

Discussion Starter · #3 · Oct 6, 2016

fietsenrex said:
1 angel fish would be a bad idea since need to be kept in groups of at least 5 to avoid stress and dominance problems.

as for the plants, try the "simple" plants first like lettuce or spinach.
as for the pump, something that will pump water at a flowrate of aprox. 7 gallon at one feet.
as for the waterchanges, you would still need to do them to remove any protein/hormones produced by the fish.

but all in all it would be a feasible system if your tank isn't heavy planted

Thank you for the reply!

I was told either to house an angelfish alone or in groups of 5 or more to avoid issues. I've also seen videos of them alone in community tanks without any aggression or stress issues...? Can you elaborate on this...?

Okay, will try that out.

For the water changes, how often do you think I would need to do them for excess protein/hormones and how much % of the water?

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fietsenrex

· #4 · Oct 6, 2016

Your angel could show agression towards your gourami's and other fish.
Also I'm against keeping fish solitary which normally would live in groups.

As for the waterchanges, it depends on the type and amount of food you feed your fish.

I would say 25% change when you scrape off the protien film from the glass to start with

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