After seeing the powered gravel vac in Dr.F&S, buy my stuff, catalog..I couldn`t get it out of my head.
These are the fittings that were used, thou not all were put on the final unit. The pvc, pipe thread to garden hose thread adapters came from the drip watering section of both lowes and h.d. The hose shutoffs came from..well..just about anywhere.
Add one water filter and pump(CA1800) some hose/tubing and a couple odds-n-ends
I used a quick release clamp to hold it down to my garage stool, no movement while chasing the elusive pooh and assorted nasties.
First go round I tried it as a normal gravel vac..tube, hose to pump, thru filter, and back to tank..it took no time at all to get enough grit to jam the pump, bummer.
Back to the garage..finally got the junk out of the pump and hooked it to the out side of the filter, pulls water thru the filter, into the pump, and back to the tank..duh!
Another try..cool, working pretty good..then noticed the return line was swirling up some pooh from behind the rocks..moved the suction tube to grab it..!!IDEA!!..started directing the return line around, swirling up more pooh and sucking it up..made some sweeps across the gravel, more pooh, more sucking..man, this be cool, says I.
Anyway, about 1/2 hour later I couldn`t get any more gunk to come out of hiding..Called it done.
Using the pvc pipe to hose fittings makes this really easy to break down. I use the same pump to run treated water into the tank at water change time.
Major costs would be pump($30) and filter($20)..If you were to get one of those "kiddie"pool filter/pump units off of ebay or craigslist..well, it would be really cheap to build.
These are the fittings that were used, thou not all were put on the final unit. The pvc, pipe thread to garden hose thread adapters came from the drip watering section of both lowes and h.d. The hose shutoffs came from..well..just about anywhere.
Add one water filter and pump(CA1800) some hose/tubing and a couple odds-n-ends
I used a quick release clamp to hold it down to my garage stool, no movement while chasing the elusive pooh and assorted nasties.
First go round I tried it as a normal gravel vac..tube, hose to pump, thru filter, and back to tank..it took no time at all to get enough grit to jam the pump, bummer.
Back to the garage..finally got the junk out of the pump and hooked it to the out side of the filter, pulls water thru the filter, into the pump, and back to the tank..duh!
Another try..cool, working pretty good..then noticed the return line was swirling up some pooh from behind the rocks..moved the suction tube to grab it..!!IDEA!!..started directing the return line around, swirling up more pooh and sucking it up..made some sweeps across the gravel, more pooh, more sucking..man, this be cool, says I.
Anyway, about 1/2 hour later I couldn`t get any more gunk to come out of hiding..Called it done.
Using the pvc pipe to hose fittings makes this really easy to break down. I use the same pump to run treated water into the tank at water change time.
Major costs would be pump($30) and filter($20)..If you were to get one of those "kiddie"pool filter/pump units off of ebay or craigslist..well, it would be really cheap to build.
