240G Technology
Various hoses and cables leading in and out of my sump.
Introduction
6' and 8' tanks appear to become more and more popular - in the eastern part of the United States probably to no small part due to the great price at which Glasscages sells the 240G long. This leads to a lot of people wondering how to set up a tank of this size, and unlike for tanks up to 100G or thereabouts, there aren't really any plug-and-play filtration solutions available at your local fish store for these big tanks. Even if you happen to have access to a very good store that can set you up with something suitable, their solution probably wouldn't be cheap. Granted, there are certainly ways to set up a 240G tank cheaper than what I am describing here. Heck, you could just put the bare bottom tank on the floor of your fish room, dump in a few of the larger Hydro Sponge filters, and be done with it. If you just want a big grow-out tank that might be the perfect solution for you. However, if you want something a little more aesthetic, e.g. a show tank to be set up in a living area, things become less straight forward. All my previous show tanks ran with Eheim classic series canister filters, and when I started thinking about a 240G, I figured I'd get the biggest one of those, and if this wasn't enough, I'd get two. That's when I learned that for the amount of filtration I envisaged, I'd need two Eheim 2260, which would set me back at least about $500. At the same time I started reading up on sump systems, and found that for less money, I could probably build something a lot more suitable for this tank than two big canisters. The solution I came up with after lots of reading, and pestering (mostly by email) lots of very knowledgeable people, is described on the following pages. I am describing simply what I did, what worked for me, and what not. I am also citing lots of sources (mostly online) that I consulted before starting on my project. Since most people will want to customize their setup choosing components from here and there to fit their needs, I expect this to be more useful than step-by-step instructions how to build certain things. Some of the techniques I am describing will seem trivial to advanced aquarists, but I bet few people will read these pages and not at least learn one new thing. That in itself makes visiting a site worthwhile for me. I am not aware of any other site that describes the setup of a tank of comparable size quite this comprehensively. In addition, there is the option to leave comments on all pages, so if you feel I missed something, or you would like to complement my observations by your own experiences, please feel free to do so. I am sure the next user will appreciate it as much as I do.
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