Filtration for monster/ Ray community...

[-DC-]

Hi, so my question is on filtration,

I have a 240 gallon tank, it's been running for months with various fish in it, current filtration holds up fine , however i'm changing the stocking and want to make sure my filtration will keep up.

tank footprint is 5'x3', home too 3 endli bichir's 16-18" , and a 14" id shark.

in the new year if all goes to plan i'll be adding the following...

2 motoro ray's 10"& 14" disk,
2x cuban gar's, who will be around 10" when added
1x clown knife (haven’t found him yet but it'll be 10" at least before going into the tank)

For filtration I’ll be using a fulval FX5, along with a 20g, 12"x12" and 40"tall trickle tower into a 50 gallon sump, sump has 2 up and down's to separate bubbles and allow sediment to be gathered and easily removed...

Inside the tank I have 2 fluval plus 4's , just for added circulation and some water polishing... and bi-weekly 50% water changes...

So my question is…with the stock I have planned will the filtration be enough to keep my planned stocking happy and healthy until they outgrow the tank ?

-DC-

[King-eL]

Add a UV lights. It will help a lot.

[-DC-]

UV lights ? like in the lighting or a UV filter ?

any suggestions on a DYI or brand to choose ? how many/what power ect...

[King-eL]

UV lights ? like in the lighting or a UV filter ?

any suggestions on a DYI or brand to choose ? how many/what power ect...

Yes UV lights. I use 36W for my 55g sump.

[Smiladon]

Your filtration looks OK. But the majority of the biological filtration will be the sump. FX5 is good for gunk catching and is ok for bio.

If it were me, I would add another FX5 in the tank because there will be lots of fish waste which will easily clog up your one FX5 very fast. How often do you clean your FX5 filter?

I am sure King-El will have a better recommendation for you on this as he is the real monster keeper

[King-eL]

I never use FX5 anymore as too much hassle on cleaning especially when keeping monster fish like those that produce too much waste. As you said FX5 catches lots of gunk which I don't really like cleaning. I just use a 55g sump and set up properly and it will do you just fine. I have loads of monster in my tank and I only use a 55g sump for my 250g feet long tank.