Patio Tanks Rock!

[Ulu]

It’s been about 14 hours and the main tank is still a bit cloudy from the very fine aragonite, but it is clearing up slowly.


This is my old Lifeguard aquatics sand filter. Aside from the fact that the glue failed when I used this outdoors, This filter had two other major design flaws. First it was very easy to plug up and very difficult to clean, because there was no dedicated cleaning passage: And it did not come apart! You could never clean the thing inside.

The other problem was the combination filler cap and flow valve which was impossible to adjust after it got some silt in it.


I always thought this filter was too small, and indeed the new one is larger and holds about 50% more sand. It is also about 60% taller which means that the sand has a lot more room to churn before it starts purging thru the outflow.

It may take several days for this filter to pump out all the dust and silt & trap it in the filter socks.

 

[Ulu]

I spent a little time today cleaning up my sump plumbing, plus I added a rack and another filter sock. It looks a lot better now and is more functional and easier to clean the socks.


I now have three 7” filter socks plus a fourth one in the other sump. I also have three air-powered foam filters.

The socks are 50% to collect debris, & 50% for biological action. This action also happens in the sand filter, and in 2 baskets full of biological media down in the sump.

But everything goes through the socks before it gets there or to the pumps.

Eventually you have to take them out and wash them or replace them, and this destroys your biological activity in the sock. I have 4 socks going and by rotating sock cleanings I can save lots of beneficial bacteria in the system.

You cannot really see the sand filter there, but it is in the Brute, and it not only cleans the water but it also adds minerals to harden the water up.

Felix the Oscar is a South American Cichlid and he likes hard water, but all the African cichlids like very, very hard water, and they will not breed well without it.

 

[The Masked Shadow]

Supporting the outdoor tank squad

 

[Ulu]

I'm actually only carrying about 180 gallons of water in a theoretically 210 gallon system, but it seems to be enough.

Ha!

It’s never enough!

After adding 30 g more with the Brute sump, I still am aching to enlarge the 30g sump with my 55, then replace the 55 with a 100.

That would bring the current 240g cascade system to 310, in theory.

 

[Ulu]

I have enlarged my irrigation system to pump water on to all my redwood trees, from the patio tank; and yesterday I did a big water change to the system.

I pumped 100 gallons, out to 5 big redwood trees with perforated PVC pipes 3’ into the ground. This does not have a dedicated switch unfortunately, and I have to currently run the pump by extension cord. I need to re-wire the entire patio system for better electrical safety and to accommodate the new equipment.

Blue Leeloo is living happily in the patio tank these days.


This is a young hybrid fish so no telling how it will turn out.

 

[Ulu]

It’s been a year and a half so I thought I would give an update on the patio tank. Essentially I have quit growing pothos and such in the outdoor tank, because the fish were just killing it by eating the roots constantly.

I put some plastic window screen in the 55 tank, around the big overflow tube, & it grows a lot of algae. Plus I have other things in the 55 tank to promote algae growth.

The algae seems to be making up for the lack of Pothos etc. But the fish eat that too. The sand filter is still working OK and I think that does make a difference, plus having that as a sump pump in the brute promotes circulation around the biomedia.

Blue Leeloo is still the ruler of the 55 and has grown to be a handsome fish over 7 inches long. He’s living with a 13 inch pleco, two or three corrys, and the host of guppies and dalmatian mollies.


Here’s a look down the top, since I have all the insulation on the tank. (For scale, that’s a 4 inch diameter corrugated drain pipe.)


Little Redeye, the dwarf albino BNP Has been living in the 30 gallon sump outdoors, with Clyde the killer. He is a vicious electric blue & black mbuna.


Little sunflower, the yellow lab, was getting brutalized in the 125, so I moved him into the Brute, where he lives down among the media baskets and sand filter. Here he is with Blue (Leeloo who now lives in the 55.)


It’s too dark to get pictures of the actual tanks right now, so perhaps tomorrow.

 

[Ulu]

Nothing much got done on the car this weekend. I had issues with my indoor/outdoor aquarium plumbing, the broken sump lids, and my rusty steel stand on the patio tank.

And I have a sick fish. Big tumor or cyst.


I retired my DIY sand filter after a couple years of service. It works but it takes up too much space in the Brute, and I just don’t need it. I did move the pump to the sump though.

Since I have been using pro-biotics, the filtration is great. BUT, I have increased my water change schedule since I started irrigating trees with fishwater. The 240 system gets 50 gals of fresh water every day now. With 2 big plecos, 7 large others, and hundreds of guppys and mollies, it is much nicer now, than doing 100 gal changes once or twice a week.

This is the outdoor (or patio) system, which also filters the 125 gal indoor tank. Everything filters thru the 45gal Brute trash bin.



The brown barrel is for washing filter socks and recycling poopy fishwater onto my trees. My 5 redwoods are irrigated whenever I change water. This is the view of them from the pet cemetary but you only see two.



My patio aquarium stand was a big issue. Overloaded and rusting.

I removed a rusty lower steel rail, and dropped the sump to the concrete. That took 300 lbs off the stand. (It still supports 600 lbs.) I had to extend the plumbing 4”, and I made new styrofoam sump lids. Flow to the 55g was reduced a bit, so I added a pump, from the sand filter, to the sump.

I made new lids from styrofoam and white duck tape. I have much better access and they will keep out more dirt and leaves.


I made two 1x1x3/32” thick L braces and installed them to reinforce the stand. I sanded them before, but they aren’t painted yet.

My petco “Brooklyn” steel stand really isn’t suitable for outdoor use. But I bought two of them on sale for $65 each.

The one in my office is still fine, but I need to build a better patio setup. I haven’t yet decided on the design.

 

[jjohnwm]

An outdoor filter for an indoor tank...fireplace repurposed as aquarium "grotto"...holes cut through exterior walls for filtration lines...customized steel stands...styrofoam sump lids...a filter made from a Brute trashcan...

I absolutely love this whole thing! How could I not?

My daughter and son-in-law participate in what they refer to as "glamping"...i.e. glamor camping; camping in style.

You, sir, have gone a long way towards the establishment of a heady mixture of DIY, ghetto-style yet impressive filtration sump customization. It's...it's...it's glumping!!!

 

[Ulu]

Once I got done laughing, I went out and took those braces off my stand, cleaned them up some more, and painted them. While they were drying I wiped down that whole stand with some rust preventative oil.

What I would really like to do is build a more official type masonry pond where the set up is right now

 

[Ulu]

This brown jug holds 70 gallons and used to be a rain barrel. It is where I wash my filter socks, and all the drainage from my aquariums goes into this jug.

I

It has several guppies and an air stone to keep the mosquitoes under control. It also has a pump that circulates the water out onto my trees.

I just zip tied this irrigation line to my fence. I didn’t put it in the ground. We have layers of silty sand and hard pan, and putting in the sprinkler system and drilling holes for those trees was a major effort.

That 40g Brute trashcan has a smaller 32g brute trashcan inside, and they are sealed together with spray foam insulation. This makes the whole thing much stronger and helps control the water temperatures. I am now only running two filter socks in the brute, But I keep clean ones and change them frequently.



Normally you don’t wanna wash your filter socks too often because it kills off good bacteria, but I am adding Bio-clean to these socks every time I change water or filters.