Qustions about filtering a divided 55.

[Betta311]

So I have a 55 gallon im going to divide,I am unsure how to filter the whole thing.Drill small holes in all the glass?or run a hose through all the sections up to the filter?whats the best method of doing this thats doesnt cost 3000$ lol.any input is appreciated.

[Dragonii]

How many divisions? What are you using to devide it? What are you planing to filter it with, canister, hang ons...?

We need more info.

[Betta311]

8-10 divisions depending how they look,im not sure on filters,hang ons or canisters I am open to both options..im new to canisters so Id need help with that.i was going to use 1/4 in glass because I get it free

[Sowman]

Would and under gravel filter work for you?

[Pitluvs]

Oh what spoiled brats, that huge 55 for bettas haha I would suggest using glass or acrylic sheets siliconed in for sure. Would having a sponge filter in each section work, put airstone in each filter and attach to an air pump. You would need many connectors to minimize the plugs you would need. Id say 8 filters could be plugged into two high powered air pumps. Or you could run two 20-30g HOB filters on each side, baffle the flow.

These are the sponge filters I talk about...
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/ATI-Hydro-Spo...item35a8868766

[Betta311]

Im not sure how those work but I dont see why not,i like sand though but if it was easier I could change.

[Dragonii]

That may look kind of strange, if you devide it into 8 the sections would only be about 6' wide.

But I would imagine the best filtration would be to use seperate hang ons and treat each section as a seperate tank if you plan on using glass.

Personally, if I had a free source of 1/4 glass I would buil the entire tank custom. Do a long tank with seperate chanders. 48x10x10 and then devide it into 8, 6" chambers... each chanber would be about 2 1/2 gallons and you could filter each with one of these for a total of about $130.
http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...ductId=3523858

Another option would be to use sponge filters driven by one large air pump.
You can get them cheap on ebay...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-2-Sponge...item19c923399f

Another option would be to build your own under gravel filter. That would be very cheap. Get a sheet of light difuser from Home Depot, $10 I think, cut it to fit the bottom of the tank, lay plastic window screen over it and glue down the edges with silicone, instal your devider walls, then run a strip of glass (about 2" wide down the coener of each devider. Cut the about an inch shrot from the top rim and silicone a strip of the left over light difuser across the top. Glue a piece of cross stiching plastic (Michaels, $.59 a square foot) behind the top pieces of light difuser. Then drop air lines with bubble stones in them.

Want to do it with less work involved? DIY under gravel powered by a single power head in the last chamber. Connect a piece of PVC to the powerhead output and run it across the entire tank with holse drilled in it for each chamber.

I hope all that makes sence. I can see it in my head, but describing it is kind of hard.

[Dragonii]

If you want to use sand go with the sponge filter route. It would be the easiest thing to do in the long run.

These


They are $3 a piece on Ebay, can be stuck to the back wall so they won't be sitting in the sand and you can rotate cleaning the sponges. Do all the left ones one week and all the right ones the next. That would help lessen any damage to the bacterial growth.

[Pitluvs]

48" long tanks need tempered glass, just saying. 6" wide in the front but 13" depth and 21" inches high (18" when you lower water). Not my cup of tea but it would work. My 1.5gs are about that wide actually. The ones in the middle woudlnt have much viewing room.

If you went with HOB for each section, you would need a heater for each section too. That's 16 plugs for just filtration and heat. You would get away with 9 or 10 plugs for filtration and heat if you go with the sponge filters or two large HOBs and holes drilled in acrylic.

[Pitluvs]

Originally Posted by Dragonii

If you want to use sand go with the sponge filter route. It would be the easiest thing to do in the long run.

These


They are $3 a piece on Ebay, can be stuck to the back wall so they won't be sitting in the sand and you can rotate cleaning the sponges. Do all the left ones one week and all the right ones the next. That would help lessen any damage to the bacterial growth.

Those are beautiful, do you have a link? How many gallons they rated for?