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The Loach Forum Archives (1)
Even better ideas...thanks
Posted By: BB <nettech@bellatlantic.net> In Response To: Re: Another flowing idea.. (Martin Thoene)
Date: Wednesday, 17 March 1999, at 1:40 a.m.
I see your point regarding the empty space under the filter. I brushed this aside when I thought of it as being insignificant but with (advertisements of cars in wind tunnels dancing in my head) It deserves a closer look. My immidiate response would be to create an entire wall of bricks that supported the filter, or only leave a small opening so the loaches could enter. (Knowing my luck they would all congregate there to spite me:) In this way no water could sneak under it. Left alone I would have been faced with an eye of the water storm somewhere under that filter (depending on which was stronger, powerhead or sump pump). Your other suggestions have me thinking along a different design now, making this a moot point.
I got this idea out of my head and on paper today. Based on my measurements using a standard 10 gallon (US) I was faced with 8 inches at either end and 4 along the front and back. A 10 gallon long would have left me with 6 inches at either end and 5 inches along the front and back. If I build a glass box I take additional displaced water away but using a 24 inch by 6 inch box would leave 6 inches all around the filter. I can live with that. The filter would be 1/3 the width and 2/3 the lenght of the tank. The volume of water displaced by a filter this size is 9.97 gallons. So my 40 becomes a 30 less displacement caused by the furniture. I only want to house 6 loaches so I should be ok I think. Maybe I'll go four just to play it safe. I was trying to stay away from moving water above or below the water column in the tank but that is out the window. I like the idea of putting the sump under the tank in the stand. If I really wanted to get fancy I could push the water from the biomedia through a canister filter before I passed it on to the sump pump for return to the tank. I was also thinking that by using a ten gallon I could easily remove the filter and the bricks attacked to the bottom if things did not work well. Patching a drilled hole in a tank is an easy fix. With this new idea it is as easy as removing silicone and the same patch if it bombs. I could drill one (say 2 and 1/2 inches) hole dead center in the filter and use it to run electrical and return water. I could encase the electrical in a smaller pvc tube that floated inside the larger and acted as a conduit shielding against any mishaps. A second smaller hole to feed the sump. I like this better. The only thing I have to work out is how to notch the top of the glass. I can't do it here and drilling many small holes that close to the edge of glass would be bad I think. Perhaps acrylic is better here. That I can work with. Thank you for the input:)
If this works out I'm draining my 180 till its 2/3 full and adding window planters along the back inside edge, with lots of long trailing species of plants. Throw in a mango tree ,archers and mono. Let an ant farm go in the planter and watch the archers go to town:) ..j/k BB
