Rubbermaid Q-tank design

[KoiCCAPW]

I have these three Rubbermaid stock tanks that I'm trying to make into a Quarentine tank.

This is the latest design so far. I haven't gotten the details worked out as to the size of the pipes or valves or if they are in the right place.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated Thanks.

[aquitori]

To me the settling tank is too big. You could still get away with a 40 gal rubbermaid trash can for settling tank. The rest of the setup looks okay, but I will give more input later or if I see you around Champkoi...

Tony

[koiczar]

Barb

I would swap the settlement chamber and the bio tank. As Tony mentioned, even a 40 gal drum would suffice, but if you have this equipment, I say definitely use it!! You will have a tremendous amount of surface area for bio in the 150 gal tank so your stock load could be sizeable but better yet, it would really provide a "super healthy" environment for quarantine - which is paramount!
All else looks great!! Nice design. So when are you planning on building your new pond? Sounds like your getting the itch!!LOL!

Mike

[KoiCCAPW]

Thanks for the input!
Tony, I like the idea of switching the tanks. I really didn't have a preferance but using the smaller one as settlement makes sense.
I'm going to Champ tommorow morning as I have something to drop off there for their show. Hope I'll see you there!
Mike. Yes, I already have all the stuff except the pipes and valves and some bulkheads. That's what I'm getting stuck on. I know the main tank is not really very big, but that's why I wanted a really big filter to compensate!
Definately getting the itch, hope to get it started by late spring or summer. If we ever GET spring let alone summer! lol!
Thanks guys

[Steve Nguyen]

I think it's more efficient to have settle tank in circular as previous posts mentioned. circular tank gives you an ability to create a vortex like effects. and yeah, the bigger the bio filter, the better!

Steve

[stickdog]

if you use the 150 for a bio chamber and a smaller drum for settlement, do you need the tetra filter in line after the pump? that looks like something that would need alot of cleaning. Why not make a mini easy or something in the settlement to keep the small stuff out of the pump, then your bio will stay cleaner. just a thought.



ed

[KoiCCAPW]

Steve and Stick, I do have two 55 gal. barrels I got for free. I could use one for a settlement chamber, as round seem to be the concensus.
I already have the tetra filter, so I thought I'd use it for fines removel. It does have a backwash feature, so in 'theory 'I'd only have to take it apart to clean just a few times a year. Of course that could be a lot more in real life!
Thanks all, great ideas.

[RayJordan]

I always reccomend a trickle tower filter as part of the design when building a Quarantine system. The fish/bio load will increase suddenly as you add koi to the system. Trickle tower filters are able to catch up to the increased bioload much faster than submerged filters because they are saturated with 02 and bacteria can multiply at top speed depending on temp..

If you have a barrel just pump the return to the top of the barrel. Create your own water manifold with pvc T's, L's, etc and drill 1/4 inch holes in the entire manfold to get an even distribution of water all over the top of the filter media. Just let it trickle down over whatever media you want to use and gravity feed back to the Q-tank. FOr peak efficency add a air pump to the design to produce a counter flow of air rising while the water is trickling down. This means you need to have/build a stand to support the trickle tower at a level slightly higher than the top of the q-tank.

I included a photo of my DIY trickle tower which was made from a 50 gallon barrel. I keep a few small koi in my q-tank all the time but now when I add several new koi or have a fairly large amount returning from a show I find the bio-filtration is able to catch up in at most 36 hours and usually in only 12 hrs. Amquel and a little salt protect the new arrivals until the TT catches up with the new bioload.

[carolyn swanson]

I know how you guys like to play with your plumbing, but it seems that if you're going to go to that much trouble, you might as well go for a larger quarantine tank.

[Russell Peters]

I agree with Carolyn, the bigger the better.