plywood tank drain thoughts

[ercnan]

What I did on my first tank was drill a hole at the center of the tank attach and goop a 3" pipe at the bottom (flashed with the tank bottom floor) and run the pipe downward and to the back of tank and go up again to my desired tank water level. Then I attached a "canal" at the top of the pipe. I got the "canal" from a scrap yard. It is made of alluminum. along the canal I attached 8 - 3" pipes filled with bio balls. Water from teh overflow will be distributed through these pipes with bio balls Then conected all these pipes (with bio balls)at the bottom and divert it to the sump(which is just aplastic bin). These set up worked great for 3 + years with out any problems until I have to dismantle it for my bigger fish tank. The tank is between walls so the back can not be seen.

I guess time tells in this case, but personally, I would be a little leery of putting any metals (excluding SS) in contact with the water.
Al corrodes over time as well as most others.
Thanks for the post though, I think I can "see" your idea/setup, but the "canal" would be better (IMO) made from PVC guttering instead of Al.

 

[arl]

When I built this tank I thought that having the drain at the center will be better in sucking out the dirt(since it is evenly spaced around) was I ever wrong with that!!! Having it at center gave me a lot tougher time cleaning my tank, there were many dead spots in the tank. If it was on a corner or one wall side I can have my return on the opposite side and dirt will just be pushed towards the overflow intake. If it's at the center its a lot tougher to target the input drain, dirt will just over shoot. Just thought of mentioning it to you.