also I seen this guy have a ugf about 4 in off the bottom of the tank and under there he had some snails and worms growing and they would eat that stuff and he had plants which took rot in the holes in the ufg which also would get red of some of the unwanted stuff
DIY Overflow - Sucking from the Bottom
- Thread starter GettingSassy
- Start date
You could make a bottom fed weir...
I assume you have a weir around your standpipe to the sump (if it isn't durso, why not?
). This will govern the height of the water in the tank. Around this put a second weir a small distance apart (so as not to restrict the flow) and have it higher at the top than the first weir.
Now, leave around an inch gap between the bottom of this weir and your substrate. This should force all the water in the tank to go down and then up, thus helping you suck all the stuff that otherwise deposits on the bottom to the top.
Simple, and easy, and, if you already have the one weir: you could fit this in front and just not worry about sealing it, it wouldn't let that much water around the sides and saves stripping the tank down.
It is also good practice to take a small corner or so off of the bottom fed weir to allow the weir to take a small portion of water from the top, thus preventing any scummy build up on the surface.
I can't think of a much better way of getting rid of the stuff than that, and, unlike most suggestions, it doesn't require any extra stuff in the tank.
Andy
I assume you have a weir around your standpipe to the sump (if it isn't durso, why not?
). This will govern the height of the water in the tank. Around this put a second weir a small distance apart (so as not to restrict the flow) and have it higher at the top than the first weir.Now, leave around an inch gap between the bottom of this weir and your substrate. This should force all the water in the tank to go down and then up, thus helping you suck all the stuff that otherwise deposits on the bottom to the top.
Simple, and easy, and, if you already have the one weir: you could fit this in front and just not worry about sealing it, it wouldn't let that much water around the sides and saves stripping the tank down.
It is also good practice to take a small corner or so off of the bottom fed weir to allow the weir to take a small portion of water from the top, thus preventing any scummy build up on the surface.
I can't think of a much better way of getting rid of the stuff than that, and, unlike most suggestions, it doesn't require any extra stuff in the tank.
Andy
hehe, ive been racking my brains for weeks trying to think of a way to do exactly what you're talking about with a 'bottom overflow'.
anyway, this sounds like an interesting idea, but im having some difficulty trying to picture it. when you're talking about a 'weir', you mean one of these right?
anyway, this sounds like an interesting idea, but im having some difficulty trying to picture it. when you're talking about a 'weir', you mean one of these right?
No, I mean a weir going to a drilled standpipe, not an overflow.
Like this (from the durso standpipe page):
If you place another "wall" like there is already (the black acrylic) with the water going in from the bottom it will suck all the crap off the bottom.
HTH
Andy
Like this (from the durso standpipe page):
If you place another "wall" like there is already (the black acrylic) with the water going in from the bottom it will suck all the crap off the bottom.
HTH
Andy
aaaah, i see what you mean. couple of things to note though. the corner piece surrounding the standpipe is usually called an overflow.andywg said:No, I mean a weir going to a drilled standpipe, not an overflow.
Like this (from the durso standpipe page):
If you place another "wall" like there is already (the black acrylic) with the water going in from the bottom it will suck all the crap off the bottom.
HTH
Andy
one thing is that the top of the overflow would have to be sealed in order for it to suck water in through the bottom, very similar to the construction of a durso standpipe.
the other thing you would have to worry about is it sucking your substrate up too, which is usually the main problem trying to have something sucking water from the bottom, especially if you use sand.
I think it would be possible to install a bottomdrain, like in a pond.
But then you'd have to drill a hole in the bottomglass.
http://www.tropex.no/handlekurv/mymarket-1.72/shopping/product_details.php?id=3331
But then you'd have to drill a hole in the bottomglass.
http://www.tropex.no/handlekurv/mymarket-1.72/shopping/product_details.php?id=3331
GettingSassy said:
I have seen a tube system with this purpose in mind. The concept is a tube inside a tube similar to the other post. The inner tube is actually the drain and the top of the inner tube reaches to the desired water level. The outter tube has the intake on the bottom and this tube is taller than the inner tube. This design means that all of the water will enter from the bottom of the outter tube, it will climb up and into the inner tube and out of the tank.
This means that if you are using a sump and there is a power failure, you will not have an overflow issue. And when the power returns, the system will start again.
My guess is that you can make this system yourself very easily. Once you drill your bottom hole and have your intake tube with the desired height, you can just add an outter tube with the design I've just stated.
Hope this helps and wasn't too redundant.
RowingMunkeyCU said:
If I understand what you are saying correctly....... The new outer wall would just have to be taller than the current over flow (inner wall), it wouldn't need to be sealed.
