Additional filtering

[Roy G. Biv]

I have been miserable lately. I have had my 6 20g-L brood tanks setup for about a month and they have become detritus magnets. I have some coraline growing on the bottoms already. All six tanks are on a central system and I use these for the drain...

These are not very good at skimming from the top, so I have a film on the tops of the tanks.

My options.
1) Additional powerhead pointed upward from the bottom of the tank to ripple the top of the water and to keep the detritus suspended so it will go back into the main filtration.

2) Bare bottom undergravel filter. These work pretty well for this purpose. I have had one setup for a week and it keeps the bottom clear as well as the bubbles on thop of the water to keep the scum off.

3) Hang on back filter. I hooked up an old one to one of these tanks and suprisingly it did a decent job. Sucked out free floating detritus as well as causing a current in the tank to keep it suspended and ripple the top of the water..

4) Stir up the bottom with a net. I feel this stresses out the fish like crazy.

All of the options above cost about the same. (Except for the net)

Pros and cons.
Powerhead. For it to keep the detritus suspended, it needs to creat a strong current that the fish do not necessarily like.

Undergravel filter. Ugly but functional. Air bubbles cause salt creep.

Hang on back filter. I need to keep the foam blocks clean all the time to remain functional.


I need advice!!!!!!!!
Thanks.

 

[rkelman]

I assume the screened part is at the surface? What about changing it out to more of a toothed design like our overflows? I find when my overflow gets a build up the water still goes down but I get a film on my tank. I think the horizontal bars of that piece may be having the same affect.

 

[billsreef]

With the screen, put an elbow in the bulkhead and than the screen on the elbow. Now you can angle the screen upwards and it will skim better

For the detritus, you should be able to just add more current with powerhead. Doesn't need to be strong like you'd use in a reef, but just enough to suspend most of that detritus.

 

[Fishboy42]

How about a strong airstone? Provides current in the tank, surface disturbance, and easy to maintain (except for the salt creep, but glass lids could help.) It would be easy to install since you could use a single air pump.
The dirt will then probably collect somewhere in the tank where you can easily remove the pile with a quick siphon.

Matt

 

[Roy G. Biv]

Update..
I couldnt believe it.. I set my skimmers to skim wet last night because all of that thick crap collects in the cup and doesnt flow to the waste collector.
This morning I went to the brood tanks and guess what. The slick on top of the water in each tank is completely gone. Thats half of my dilema.

As fot the screens above, I need to cut them some how. Once I get the flow rates and stuff set in stone in these tanks, Ill cut some of the horizontal bars out to allow water to flow off of the top easier.

As for the power heads. This is probably going to be the way I go. Can someone, anyone, please recommend one for a 20L. I just it stron enough to blow across the bottom and not let crap settle.

159gph

106gph

Maxijets come that gph also but they are a little bigger..

 

[billsreef]

The 404 should be plenty for a bare bottom 20L.

 

[Roy G. Biv]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12101543#post12101543 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rkelman
I assume the screened part is at the surface? What about changing it out to more of a toothed design like our overflows? I find when my overflow gets a build up the water still goes down but I get a film on my tank. I think the horizontal bars of that piece may be having the same affect.

Well. I took care of that!! I busted one while trying to pry a bar out. So what I did was cut above the third horizontal bar with the band saw to make it fit underneath the eggcrate perfectly. Then I took a dremel and cut out the first row of bars so the water has a wider area to skim down to. I guess what was happening was that the waterlevel got to the second bar and was flowing down the first hole, never skimming. I made the first prototype and Ill let it go for a day to see how well it works before I do the rest.

 

[rkelman]

Cool that should work. That's basically what happens in my DT when the teeth get clogged. Hopefully it helps.