Two Set Up Questions:

[daveydoodle]

1) For people with the larger tanks running sump systems, how do you aerate? I had planned on running an air stone or such in the sump, several baffles before the return pump. Is that what people do, or do the ones who aerate just run a bubble wall/air stone in the tank itself? Are there any other options?

2) Is there any better way to clean the bottom of the tank other than a gravel vac? I have Tahitian Moon Sand (VERY fine) and poop easily accumulates. I run 3 overflow boxes but they only get surface water, or a few inches down. Would a canister filter with an intake positioned low work? or would that just suck up sand and ruin the impeller? I have a power head about 6 inches from the substrate, but that doesn't seem to be stirring up the poop well enough. It's an easy clean with a vac, but with black sand I'm doing it twice daily.

Is there anything I can feed my fish to give them constipation? Just kidding!

 

[coachresue]

Having bubble wands/air stones don't really aerate the tank. It's a common myth that I myself use to believe. What you need to be concerned about is surface agitation in your tank. A properly positioned power head should be sufficient and/or return water that agitates the surface.

A good way to get rid of poo accumulating on the substrate is more power heads! This make take some time but again proper placement of these can prevent "dead zones", thus no poo on the substrate.

 

[Pepito]

Having bubble wands/air stones don't really aerate the tank. It's a common myth that I myself use to believe. What you need to be concerned about is surface agitation in your tank. A properly positioned power head should be sufficient and/or return water that agitates the surface.

Wouldn't air stones help at least a little? Or am I mistaken? I've used air stones before when I didn't believe the filter agitated the surface enough. I don't care for them much so if they're not helping I'll probably just not use 'em anymore.

 

[BODYDUB]

All air stones is agitate the water surface when the o2 exchange happens. I'd use them if my filters weren't strong enough......

 

[Toby_H]

Most sumps have a good bit of sloshing water in them so that us usually plenty of aeration...

air stones definately cause some level of surface agitation which aids aeration, but there are many other ways to acheive the same goal. Pick whichever one you like best.

Fine sand is a tricky thing to work with. So much so that I wouldn't have it in my tank. If it gets into your filter/powerhead intakes it will be very harsh on impellers/media. But if you do not have intakes/powerheads down close to the sand waste accumulates. Then when you vac the waste off the bottom you will easily suck up sand.

My solution was to abandone the "aquarium sand" and simply use a course grade pool filter sand. If you really want black there are a few other coarse grade sands that come in black and other colors.

 

[Egon]

1) For people with the larger tanks running sump systems, how do you aerate? I had planned on running an air stone or such in the sump, several baffles before the return pump. Is that what people do, or do the ones who aerate just run a bubble wall/air stone in the tank itself? Are there any other options?

2) Is there any better way to clean the bottom of the tank other than a gravel vac? I have Tahitian Moon Sand (VERY fine) and poop easily accumulates. I run 3 overflow boxes but they only get surface water, or a few inches down. Would a canister filter with an intake positioned low work? or would that just suck up sand and ruin the impeller? I have a power head about 6 inches from the substrate, but that doesn't seem to be stirring up the poop well enough. It's an easy clean with a vac, but with black sand I'm doing it twice daily.

Is there anything I can feed my fish to give them constipation? Just kidding!

1) Some of the other guys answered this too and I agree, anything that agitates the surface works. Air stones are fine, the return agitating the surface, even the overflows agitate the water.
2) I use a canister filter just for the reasons you described. My 450 has two canister filters and a sump system, my 360 has one canister filter and a sump system. The canister filters are just for mechanical filtration. The intakes and especially the return is set to stir up the poop and suck it into the filter. It works great. I had a sand bottom on one of my tanks for a while and the canister filter did suck up some sand every once in a while but it didn't seem to hurt the pump. I'm very happy with this set up! I do gravel vac once a month even with the canister filters. I don't think you can ever get away from that but once a month isn't so bad.

 

[daveydoodle]

My return comes from a mag 18 pump, however it flows out of a DIY 42" PVC spray bar which is completely submerged. I like the way it creates a current flow in the tank, however it doesn't aggitate the surface at all. There is some "chopping" water in the sump itself, so maybe that's enough then?
As far as the sand goes, sounds like if I want this fine of sand, I'm stuck vaccuming it often. The inhabitants really seem to like it, so I'll stick with this for a while. Their poop really stands out on the sand, so I have to vaccume often so it looks good, which also has a benefit of it always been cleaner.

 

[David K. Bradley]

. . . Fine sand is a tricky thing to work with. So much so that I wouldn't have it in my tank. If it gets into your filter/powerhead intakes it will be very harsh on impellers/media. But if you do not have intakes/powerheads down close to the sand waste accumulates. Then when you vac the waste off the bottom you will easily suck up sand. . . .

In regards to intakes/powerheads being close to the sand, I am thinking the size of the powerhead (e.g. a 150 vs. a 300) would determine how close to the substrate it's placed. Understandably, if your sucking up substrate the device is too close. So, how does one determine how close, close enough is, to the substrate?

For every action, there is a reaction. What visible reaction do you look for when placing the intake/powerhead into position?

From an engineering standpoint, when you are looing to purchase a powerhead, what do you find as beneficial features of the power head? Oscilating jets? Stationary jets with/without directional hoods? What exactly do you look for and why?

What brands do you use? What was it about that particular one that finalized your decision to purchase it? What do you find are the most cost effective on the market?

. . . My solution was to abandone the "aquarium sand" and simply use a course grade pool filter sand. If you really want black there are a few other coarse grade sands that come in black and other colors.

I was unaware of pool filter sand being available in various grits. After conversing with other MFK members, I understood, that it came basically in just one size. Somewhat of a universal grit application for all brands, types and applications of pool filters.

But from reading what you are saying, am I to now understand there are various grits of pool filter sand, similar to the different grits found on sand paper, per se?

I am inclined to lean towards the idea/belief that there ARE various grits of pool sand available to consumers. It just makes more common sense that there would be. If this be true, that there are various grits, . . .

What factors did you base your decision upon in choosing the pool filter sand that you use?

What size of grit do you use in your aquariums?

Do you use the same size of grit in all of your tanks for simplicity/cost effiency?

Do you determine the grit of pool filter sand based on the type/size of fish you stock? Or is the type/size of your fish a determining factor when choosing the grit of the pool filter sand you use?

 

[importracer]

1) For people with the larger tanks running sump systems, how do you aerate? I had planned on running an air stone or such in the sump, several baffles before the return pump. Is that what people do, or do the ones who aerate just run a bubble wall/air stone in the tank itself? Are there any other options?

2) Is there any better way to clean the bottom of the tank other than a gravel vac? I have Tahitian Moon Sand (VERY fine) and poop easily accumulates. I run 3 overflow boxes but they only get surface water, or a few inches down. Would a canister filter with an intake positioned low work? or would that just suck up sand and ruin the impeller? I have a power head about 6 inches from the substrate, but that doesn't seem to be stirring up the poop well enough. It's an easy clean with a vac, but with black sand I'm doing it twice daily.

Is there anything I can feed my fish to give them constipation? Just kidding!

Grow Hornwort in your sump...........As for second question, purchase an internal filter.........Have it placed near the bottom..Angle the outake towards the gravel to continously aggitate the debris left on the floor of the tank...........

 

[BadOleRoss]

I have a wet/dry in my dual sump set so surface agaitation is the only thing I have to airate my water and that isnt even needed. As far as the cleaning the bottom, every so ofter I will vac just off the surface of the tanks bottom but I have a planted tank and eco complete so I dont worry too much about the fish waste....the plants eat it up.