Dirt Problem

[sky2fly]

Hello, everybody,
I have a 320 gallon aquarium.
A 3 chamber internal filter is installed.
This runs with an aqua medic DC runner 3.2.
I have filter cotton wool and then three times 10cm filter mat coarse medium and fine then comes Siphorax.
The problem is that large dirt particles are not sucked in and remain on the floor.
Do you have an idea?
Because the flow rate for the biological material should not be too high. Possibly a second filter?

 

[esoxlucius]

Welcome to the forum.

A few pictures may help. I'm not quite sure what you mean by "the flow rate for the biological material should not be high" and can you clarify what you mean by "cotton wool".

I only ask because it is good to have a high flow through your media and cotton wool should never be used in your filters.

 

[sky2fly]

Thanks for the welcome.
I can make some Pictures when I'm back home.
In my opinion ist the flow of 700gallon per hour okay. Or should it be higher?
Sry cotton wool is the wrong translation I mean filter fleece.

 

[esoxlucius]

Your 700g/hr turnover on a 320g tank, some would say, is a little on the low side, but we don't know what fish you have, which would be a factor in your turnover.

Is it a bare bottom tank? Do you have any powerheads to help stir flow up a bit? I can't quite get my head round this three chamber internal filter you speak off, so yeah, pictures would help.

 

[sky2fly]

Here I have a Drawing of the tank and the filter.
I also have a tunze 6045.

 

[sky2fly]

Here are a picture of the intake and one from the dirt.
There are two oscars and a Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps in the tank.

 

[esoxlucius]

So, those two holes, one above the other, are your intake ports into your filter? And yes I can clearly see the poop on the bottom of the tank right next to the bottom hole. If your flow was higher, that bottom hole may well suck the poop up I don't know. What might help also is a powerhead at the other end of the tank directing loose waste toward your outlet. I see you've got some kind of black sand as your substrate. If your powerhead is too powerful and/or not positioned correctly you could stir your sand up and it will end up at one side of your tank.

It is definitely a problem you can solve, you just need to play around. But like I said i'd increase your turnover a bit (this is easy if you have a variable speed pump). And also add a powerhead, your oscars and pleco won't mind the increased turnover.

 

[adamsfishes]

You've got some messy fish. What's in the tank?

The "dirt" looks heavy. Combined with the fine sand, like esoxlucius said, the sand is going to either get blown around, sucked into your filter, or into your vac. This is a good illustration of why I don't like sand, but some people obviously like it and have success with it. If this was my tank, I'd replace the sand with a course gravel at least 3mm and gravel vac the "dirt".

 

[sky2fly]

I have one powerheads installed you can see it on the drawing: the tunze. Okay than I should look for a new pump.
Maybe I also play with the intake. I thought about it and perhaps the 2 holes and the skimmer have to much space/surface to suck the dirt.

 

[esoxlucius]

Like I said, this is a common problem which can be easily solved. Turnover, powerheads (positioning of them and direction is very important), whether you have bare bottom or substrate and ornaments are all crucial factors, the more cluttered the tank the more chance of deadspots which is where waste usually sits.

Not much turnover in a big tank with a poorly placed weak powerhead, or no powerhead at all, and unsightly waste will build up, and fast if you have oscars and plecos, very messy fish.

My tanks are bare bottom, I use powerful powerheads aimed at my outlets and have good turnover per hour. The bottom is spotless, always.

However, If I had sand in my tank, like you, i'd have to rethink my strategy to make sure my sand wouldn't get blown all over.

Play around and see what's right for you. But for starters, increased turnover and, for your sized tank, quite powerful powerheads too. Good luck.