Please help. I need to remove all the sand. Can i use a siphon? How? Please help.

[smellzlikefish]

Sorry this is a long post, It takes some time to explain what led me to climbing into my tank and overflowing my sump? Are you interested?

Hello everyone, thanks for taking time to help me out.

I made a huge mistake when adding my water last night. I'll explain,, I made a huge 3" PVC pipe maze / home for some ells I am planning on adding to my tank. The PVC maze / home is going under the sand bed. The problem is, I was a little bit flustered when the water was getting delivered (NSW) and as a result I was not thinking clearly. I did not put water in the PVC maze to weigh it down, so when I started to put the water in the tank the PVC floated up.

I had about 1/5 of my sand in the tank already.

By the time I thought to weigh it down by adding water into the pipe the tank was already about 20% full. At this point I should of stopped and fixed the problem, but I thought I will deal with it later and proceeded filling the tank. ( I was concerned with getting my LR into some water than I was with the stupid eel home ) BIG MISTAKE!!!!!

Anyway, today I removed my rock and started to scoop out the sand. Easier said than done.

My tank is 7ft long and 35" H ( 39" H with canopy )

After struggling to get to the bottom of the tank for around 2 hours I was able to get less than half of the sand out. That is also the time I hopped in the truck and was off to the only hardware store on my island when I have seen a gravel siphon before. ( LR still on the floor covered in wet towels )

Now I'm home with the answer to all my problems in hand. Surprise, surprise it kicked a$% at removing water, but It didn't suck up any sand. A quick google search gives me the idea of removing the whole big tube and using just the small airline type hose to create a more powerful suction. Makes sence. Surprise, surprise that wasn't working either. I could see some sand collecting in the hose but only about six inches high. ( About 3 ft more to go before reaching the bucket. ( LR still on the floor covered in wet towels )

Now I need a new plan. Time for drastic measures. Got my mask and snorkel off the boat and I was going in the tank. My thought was that I may not have to remove the sand. I could just Macgyver the PVC into place, add the rest of the sand, and as an added bonus have a chance to position some rock while I was down there. I was pretty sure that with all the rock out of the tank and the water that was siphoned out, There would be enough room for the volume of water my body would displace.

If I had extra plastic containers, I would of emptied more water. But I thought I was OK without removing anymore water.

This is where I'm gonna mention that I am new to the hobby.

Moving forward. "Hon, stand here by the sump and make sure the water level does overflow", I'm now in the tank up to my waist, with my mask and snorkel on. ( Another first ). "Hon, hows the water level?" According to her there was still plenty of room. Can anyone guess what happens next?

I was in the tank barely long enough to think how bad the visibility was, oh yeah and be mindful of the braces.

Now I am out of the tank frantically grabbing every towel, blanket, article of clothing I can find. 3 hours of mopping up water and a discussion with the wife about her understanding of what "lots of room" means. Everything was quickly thrown back into the tank and basically things are worse than when I started.

Here are some possible causes. When I got out of the tank the power bar was unplugged, so the return was not working. I am not sure when exactly or how that happened. I am wondering if that is why the sump overflowed.

Keep moving forward,,,,,

I still need to get the sand out of the tank. So I am hoping for some advice.

My tank is around 350 gallons including the sump.

The main problem is the height. The glass is 34.5" H.

The second reason that I gave up on scooping the sand out was that the way that the tank is braced along the bottom. There is a 4" piece of glass around the whole bottom of the tank, that creates a lip.

How can I suck up all the sand from the tank?

I do not want to scoop it out any more. And I am not going in the tank again.

Please keep in mind that there are no petsmarts or LFS or wal marts here in the Philippines. So I would need a do it your self vacumn I guess?

I hope you guys can answer this question in a " Here's what I would do if I were you" type of way. Keep in mind I am new to the hobby.

Please check out my posting at this link. You can see pictures of my tank / and PVC maze I built. I will also post a link of what the tank looks like now.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2042750&highlight=pvc+home+for+eels

Thanks again for your help everybody. I am going to take a shower and wash off this salt water, and wait for some replies.

Peace!!!!!!!!!!

Shawn

 

[Catastrophi]

Couldn't you set up trashcans and siphon all the water out and then scoop the sand out?

 

[smellzlikefish]

Hello, thanks for the reply.

I do not have enough trash / plastic containers.

I have 3 105 liter containers, One is full of rock, one has clean NSW, and the last one has the rest of the sand that didn't go in the tank last night.

That is the reason that I am looking for a way to suck up all the sand.

I was thinking to use a shop vac / wet / dry vac, but i don't think that is a good idea. I do not to reuse the sand, but a shop vac would suck up way to much water.

Hope to get some suggestions that do not involve emptying all the water. I can remove all the rock easy enough.

Thanks again

Shawn

 

[Gandolfe]

does you tubing cover the entire bottom? can't you just push the sand to the edges and put the tubing in and then push the sand around it

 

[smellzlikefish]

Hello Gandolfe,

The problem is that the PVC runs up along the front and back of the tank, and also in the middle.

You can see some pics here

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2042750&highlight=pvc+home+for+eels

Thanks

Shawn

 

[Dazed1]

If your buckets have sand and rock in it, but no water, go ahead and add the water there.

Other way would be to remove how much ever water possible and then start pumping water into the pipes. Get a power head of sorts with a tube and position it directly into the PVC.

 

[smellzlikefish]

Hello dazed

My pails with the rock and sand have water in them.

The problem is, I need to remove the sand, If you check out the link with the pics, you can see that the PVC is up against the front and back of the tank. ( The same place where the sand likes to collect.

If I could remove the sand, I can sink the PVC and it will fall into place, It's a tight fit in my tank.

I guess using a powerhead to blow the sand onto one end of the tank would make it easier to scoop out. However due to the height of the tank it's still difficult.

Thanks

Shawn

 

[Gandolfe]

what about putting the pipes in, and using a powerhead to blow sand around as you wiggle pipes until they settle, the sand should give way to the downward pressure

 

[wbdevers]

Okay, first Shawn, I'm sorry but I had to laugh at your plight! It sounds like crap that would happen to me. Hang tough brother.:headwallblue:

To your problem: You said you only have 1/5 of your sand in? If so don' worry about it. Take your PVC home and drill a few small holes down the midddle of your center piece, then submerge the tube assembly. This will let the water fill them. When it sinks to the bottome, wiggle the unit back and forth as much as you can (I know it's tight) to sink it into the remainig sand. Once that is done, put the rest of your sand back in. Then add what water you have out of the tank back in.

Couple of questions about your NSW and LR. Did a truck bring the water, or did you collect it? If you did, dump it and get more. I know it's a PITA, but easiest sollution. As far as your LR; again, collected or bought? If collected, return what you have and get more when the sand and water issue is fixed. If bought, leave it in the container you have it in, and run a powerhead to circulate the water. You willl still have die off, but you can minimize it. Hope that helps and best of luck.

 

[janalta]

After looking at your pics...I'm not sure exactly why you need to get all of the sand out? You should be able to scoop and blow with a power heaed enough to get the pipes snuggly back into place without taking all of it out. Is it really going to hurt anything if there is a small layer of sand under the pipes?
Also wondering, if both ends of the pipe are open...why submerging it in the water and holding it down until it fills would not have worked to fill it with water ?