Help me auto clean build up of waste off the floor in my 370g tank

[swimfishswim]

Hi all,

I have a 7x3x2.5foot tank, it has an external weir setup with a 4x2x1.5 sump underneath. It has 2 compartments holding a total of 30litres of pond matrix, and large pieces of foam, then the 3rd compartment has K1 media with an airstone for agitating the K1.

There is always and there always will be alot of build up of waste on the floor due to the sump setup with weir box. I work away and i want to make it as easy as possible for my wife to clean the floor, if not have it done automatically.

I have an idea to have 2 power heads, one in each corner on far sides from each other, both pushing water around the tank creating a whirlpool effect in the tank. The tank is bare bottom with wood, and im hoping that the waste will gather nearly in the centre of the tank.
If this is the case i want to have a 50mm hole in the bottom in the centre with a bulkhead fitting and a strainer over it (similar strainer to on drains in your bathroom). The line will have 2 solenoids in series from each other as a backup, and the valve will open every second day and drain a small amount of water out and hopefully the waste has gathered here.
Please note there is already an auto top up unit and another set of solenoids that does automatic water changes every 3 days, and a perilistic pump dosing seachem Prime.

Any assistance is appreciated, i have attatched a sketchup diagram of the tanks currently layout.

 

[Pharaoh]

You will need to run a powerhead or a return line down to stir up any buildup.

 

[Rayne]

You're design is very similar to mine. What I have decided to do to collect the waste from the bottom of the tank is to run a pressurized filter in a closed loop on the bottom section of the tank and the sump & external overflow for the top section. I will have bulkheads around the lower middle of one end to draw the water into the filter and it will be returned up through the bottom on the opposite end and pointed back along the length of the tank. My thought was that this would keep a strong enough current along the substrate to move all the detridus back towards the filter intakes.

 

[Redearsunfish]

Your drawings make me happy.

 

[TheBigB]

Your idea seems sound, although I think Rayne's idea seems alittle more straight forward. The only issue I can see with "attempting" to collect debri in a single area is just that, Im sure with some tinkering you could get it to settle in the right spot but why not just direct the flow to another intake at floor level that way it will constantly be cleaning instead of every few days....Your tank looks very intriguing. I would love to see some actual photos of the tank itself...

 

[pacu mom]

Hi all,

I have a 7x3x2.5foot tank, it has an external weir setup with a 4x2x1.5 sump underneath. It has 2 compartments holding a total of 30litres of pond matrix, and large pieces of foam, then the 3rd compartment has K1 media with an airstone for agitating the K1.

There is always and there always will be alot of build up of waste on the floor due to the sump setup with weir box. I work away and i want to make it as easy as possible for my wife to clean the floor, if not have it done automatically.

I have an idea to have 2 power heads, one in each corner on far sides from each other, both pushing water around the tank creating a whirlpool effect in the tank. The tank is bare bottom with wood, and im hoping that the waste will gather nearly in the centre of the tank.
If this is the case i want to have a 50mm hole in the bottom in the centre with a bulkhead fitting and a strainer over it (similar strainer to on drains in your bathroom). The line will have 2 solenoids in series from each other as a backup, and the valve will open every second day and drain a small amount of water out and hopefully the waste has gathered here.
Please note there is already an auto top up unit and another set of solenoids that does automatic water changes every 3 days, and a perilistic pump dosing seachem Prime.

Any assistance is appreciated, i have attatched a sketchup diagram of the tanks currently layout.

Since you have a bare floor tank, having mechanical filtration with uptakes just off the floor would probably work for you. Our mechanical filtration on our 300 gallon tank consists of two PVC pipes just off the floor. These poop sucker pipes pick up debris off the floor. In the 7 years the tank has been set up, there has been nothing to vacuum up. The mechanical filtration consists of two Pentair Rainbow RTL-25 filters (spa filters) powered by a Hammerhead pump. You would not have to use a Hammerhead pump to do this. Our fish happen to love a strong current. The mechanical return is one Venturi return nozzle. The current is so swift, it hits the far wall 8' away and heads back to the center of the tank. The debris tended to collect where the current eddies, so that was where the poop suckers were placed.

Others use RTL-like filters for mechanical filtration, such as this fabulous reef system:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=16850559&postcount=809


Oftalmos uses two RTL-like filters on his 765 system:
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...-My-765-gal-tank-Part-1&highlight=Mexico+City


I love my spa filters so much, I wouldn't think of not using them on the big system we will be setting up. We're going with six RTL-100s run with Hammerhead and Barracuda Gold pumps. We will have six 1 1/2" PVC poop suckers in our big set up. Other fishkeepers have extended their canister filter intakes to just off the floor and also had great results with debris being picked up off the floor. I like the idea of the debris being removed directly off the floor, rather than the debris being broken up into particulates and then being removed via the overflow boxes. This really works well in bare floor tanks.

 

[swimfishswim]

Those pentair's are quiet cheap, what did you put inside them for media just foam pad or did you use the actual paper filter that came with them?
could be something to look into! definantly wouldnt need a hammerhead! only need something around the 3000-4000LPH mark

 

[swimfishswim]

the only problem i can see is that they are designed for a flow of 13000lph + and i really dont need/want anything near that powerful

 

[swimfishswim]

ok so i have setlled on something similar to your idea i think. I am going to have a single hole towards the end with the weir on the floor, this will have a pool like strainer cap over it. Then i will have that running to a valve, then a 6000lph pump (pentair quiet one), that will then push the water through a filter similar to yours except its a Spa-Quip (http://www.epools.com.au/spa-cartridge-filter-50-square-ft-spa-p-5700.html) and has 50sq/ft so basically same size as yours just in 1 unit, the out let from the filter will return to the top of the tank and back in, this creates a closed loop so when power goes out no water can drain from this system.

 

[pacu mom]

ok so i have setlled on something similar to your idea i think. I am going to have a single hole towards the end with the weir on the floor, this will have a pool like strainer cap over it. Then i will have that running to a valve, then a 6000lph pump (pentair quiet one), that will then push the water through a filter similar to yours except its a Spa-Quip (http://www.epools.com.au/spa-cartridge-filter-50-square-ft-spa-p-5700.html) and has 50sq/ft so basically same size as yours just in 1 unit, the out let from the filter will return to the top of the tank and back in, this creates a closed loop so when power goes out no water can drain from this system.

The cartridges get totally filthy and disgusting. When we start seeing particulates in the water, it's time to clean them or replace them. They can be cleaned by soaking them in bleach. We usually just replace them. When we set up the new system, I think we'll get a rubber trash can to bleach the cartridges in....I just never worked out a system for bleaching the smaller RTL 25 cartridges. We drilled holes in the top of our 300 gallon tank for the bulkheads for the poop suckers. I believe so firmly in this form of mechanical filtration that when we had our big tank fabricated, we had them put eleven holes across the top of the tank for our mechanical filtration. Here's a few of the holes with bulkheads in place for 1 1/2" PVC. This is in addition to the overflow system.