The Puffer Forum

Alright so here's what I got,

Main tank is a lay down 90g (48"long 24"wide 18"high)

Right now there's no fish in the tank but I have a used xp4 that I got for $100 (450 gph rated) (I mainly bought this filter as a back up emergency)

I have the following items (Acquired them all for free)
-30g tank
-overflow box rated for 600gph (looks like this one http://cse.f3images.com/IMD/feeds/CR1515_50.jpg)
-Return pump (Jebao WP-2000, rated 528gph)
-A lot of blue bio balls for tickle filter

only thing I would need is pluming to get the sump working.

Should I just stick with the XP4?
Should I scrap the XP4 and get the sump working?

Should I get the sump working and use the XP4 to pump water from the sump back to the tank as well as the return pump since I'll be losing flow cause of the height that the return pump needs to pump back to the tank? Only problem with this I can see is the stump will need to be very close to the ground, like 16" off the ground at the most, and the XP4 requires to be a certain distance below the tank's water level... What would the XP4 do if it wasn't that distance? (also how do I figure out how much flow I'll be losing cause of the high it needs to travel to return?)

Or should I sell/trade the XP4 for a better return pump?


Thanks for the input, and I should have the Fahaka sometime next week (depends when the sell has the time to ship it and what not)

why not just set up both separately?

Ive got a wet/dry and a marineland 220 running separately. Also I think the XP4 would be enough by itself.
Also do you plan on upgrading tank size in the near future?

do you have plans to upgrade to a little bit bigger of a tank? fahakas are suggested in a 120(4x2x2 i think) and generally you want about 8-10x turnover on filtration basically the more the better as long as your not pushing your fish around with currents lol. i wouldnt try rigging something up with the xp4 to compensate for the height its just more to go wrong. my roommate always wanted to try to do something with his plumbing, i always advised against it and what happened? water spillage in the living room multiple times. there was a nice article on a site i used to go to, not sure which site it was, maybe MFK that had basically the equations to make up for the "head"(height from sump to tank) with size of gph pumps necessary to get the turnover your looking for. i would probably sell off the return pump you got if it wont be enough for the longrun if you upgrade. i cant really help with what size pump you would need as i am not knowledgeable enough in that area yet because i havent ventured there yet, one day i will have a sump/refugium but i have to get more time on my hands

Ive read that with HOB's you want 10x turn over but with canisters 5x is plunty

i would think that either way you want up to 10 with puffers. with either a HOB or canister the water movement with only 5x turnover is going to be pretty weak. i dont think that would or should matter for the type of filtration other than the fact that you can cover more of an area with a spray bar etc on canisters or sumps. you can cover more area with currents but your still only getting a 5x turnover

jus85411 wrote:do you have plans to upgrade to a little bit bigger of a tank? fahakas are suggested in a 120(4x2x2 i think)

I knew a lot of this asking would come up and up,

So my tank is 4long x2wide x 1.5high, being reasonable there's no point in upgrading another half foot in height since fahakas are more of a bottom living fish. Though I would like to get a 6longx2wide I can ever find one that wont cost a arm and a leg... I do have a 170g tank but it's 18" wide so it's useless for a fahaka.... Then again the Fahaka I have coming is about 6inches at the moment so I do have a few years of time, and realistically my 90g (4x2x1.5) generally can house a fahaka for life (unless it was over full with rocks/plants)

its not just the size of the fish thats put into this suggestion of 120 gallons. not only will it be a massive fish but the bioload will be a ton. is that some special made 90 gallon? the standard 90G is just about 48x18.5x24 basically just what you have width and height switched. other than a 120 and a 180 according to AGA there are no other standard sizes that are 24 wide

I tend to agree that 90 gallons is not much wtaer for an 18" fish.

Will your stand allow for a largish sump? My Fafaka tanks were 120s and 180s and all had at least 75 gallon sumps, one had a 120 as sump - so all were well over 200 gallon capacity systems.

jus85411 > It's a lay down 90g, a lot of pet stores have them with 2 glass dividers in them, this one is basically the same thing but with the glass dividers removed and one of them used at the top as a center brace.

RTR> I was thinking the same thing, hence why I'm pondering the sump idea.. The 30g I have wont fit under the tank but I have this tank right beside a closet witch I removed the door to and was going to build a shelf in the closet to put the 30g on as well as put more shelves in there so I can put in more tanks to for breeding of my other fish when that time comes.

Aside from this I am open to upgrading but tanks that are 6=feet long and 24" wide don't come around my area very often, most are the standard 18inch wide unless it's a specialty built tank witch would cost an arm and both legs. I do have a 170g but that's only 18inch wide and I don't think it's fare for a fish that can be 18inch long to be in a tank that's that wide. The Fahaka I'm getting is coming from a 30g or a 40g tank (can't remember), so this is a big upgrade for the little guy as it is and like I said it still gives me time to spot a bigger suitable tank for when the time comes.

Back on topic and lets stay on topic please,

Working with what I currently have right now, and from what I'm gathering from you guys is that the XP4 is enough for now, but I should get the sump up and use both the xp4 and sump. Also from what I've been reading is these guys are not a huge fan of strong currents? Can someone confirm this? The xp4 output is currently rigged to a spray bar but I can change that.

-thank.

Not sure on current, I have a external with spray bar and a blooming powerful internal that really creates a current which my fahaka does like to swim in. Perhaps give it a go and
see how the fellow likes it?

i have currently 2 internals in my tank atm
i want to change to an external when my fahaka gets bigger
with a bigger bioload in the tank
ive to pick a suitable & reliable external as well ;D

My Fahakas actually had pretty strong current along the front of the tank, but much less at the back. They did seem to like swimming against the current, which was provided by doubling the current from an Eheim 2217 bio-only external canister (meaning almost no flow reduction from that of an empty canister) paired with the output of an internal mech-only canister (no longer on the market). The rear current was from the sump return, but well diffused to reduce the apparent flow.