Thoughts on spraybar direction

[Edvet]

How about getting two mumps in the sump just going to a spraybar, one for each half. Both can be fed by the overflow.
Or: one spraybar or the (left) side helped with one of thew new Maxspect Gyre''s just above it.

 

[Daveslaney]

That would be my thoughts too. Fire all your outlets, powerhead etc towards the front glass and push the flow to wards the lower water levels that way.
Or all on one side of the tank push the flow along the top to wards the other side of the tank to create a Gyre style flow.

 

[Costa]

Thank you all for the replies,

The main pump is a 10k lph and I operate it a 60%, so there is room to grow. I don't think a second pump is needed.

Although there is flow across the tank (can see the grass moving), the overflow isn't helping with clearing the debris at the bottom third of the tank - unlike regular external filters the inlets of which are designed to reach all the way to the bottom of the tank.

I have now emptied the tank for a rescape and the substrate gave out a foul smell, which proves that something is very wrong.

That's why I thought about setting up two tubes that will reach all the way down to a few inches from the substrate surface in the display tank and pump water into the sump, driven by a smaller pump - but unfortunately this can lead to flooding the sump in case of a power cut.

 

[Daveslaney]

Where is your overflow to the sump?

 

[Costa]

If you zoom in you will be able to see it on the top left hand side (yellow circle) - pardon the glare

 

[Daveslaney]

I would put your outflows on the same side as your overflow more towards the front of the tank pointing straight down the tank along the top towards the opposite side glass.
This way the flow should travel along the top of the tank hit the opposite side and travel down the other side glass and back in the opposite direction along the bottom of the tank. Your 10k pump should have enough flow to do this I would think.
The inflow should also pull any detritus in as the flow travels up from the bottom of the tank as your inflow is pulling in 10k also this should aid the flow pattern?

 

[Andrew Butler]

the overflow isn't helping with clearing the debris at the bottom third of the tank - unlike regular external filters the inlets of which are designed to reach all the way to the bottom of the tank.

So the problem you are trying to resolve isn't flow reaching areas of the tank but the intake of the filtration isn't clearing the debris?
If you do a weekly water change then using a siphon vacuum will take care of this surely? - if debris is getting caught up in the plants then the 'turkey baster method' should solve that.

There are things you can do if you want to add that intake to the bottom although I don't think this will solve your problem.
As you will see in my very crude image you can add an intake like the ones people use with external filters BUT you would need to drill a hole just below the water line that's big enough to break the siphon in a power outage indicated by the black arrow.
Black = tank
Blue = water line
Black arrow = drill hole

Any questions just ask.

 

[Costa]

Yes that is exactly what I needed, thank you @Andrew Butler and all.

I do weekly water changes but vacuuming is a challenge as this is a 180gal tank with a lot of surface area. (Curious whether @Edvet vacuums his 400gal). There is a lot of debris accumulation on the substrate surface which isn't removed by the overflow (as opposed to a normal external filters that comes with an inlet which reaches deep down in the tank).

As per my sorry attempt of a schematic, I want to I want to have a small pump suck water from the bottom 3rd of the tank into the sump. How big do the hole in the 3/4" tube need to be? Because the hole will be underwater I assume it will be sucking in some water too, but am I right to assume that most water will be sucked by the bottom end of the tube?

Sorry for my English everyone and thank you for reading and for all the advice.
Costa

 

[Andrew Butler]

I do weekly water changes but vacuuming is a challenge as this is a 180gal tank with a lot of surface area.

180 gallons; do you mean 180 litres? - just get yourself a purpose made vacuum and use it; it's the only way I think you are going to get the debris.

As per my sorry attempt of a schematic, I want to I want to have a small pump suck water from the bottom 3rd of the tank into the sump. How big do the hole in the 3/4" tube need to be? Because the hole will be underwater I assume it will be sucking in some water too, but am I right to assume that most water will be sucked by the bottom end of the tube?

You don't need a pump to suck the water; you simply want it to work on a siphon which will just require priming and that will probably be as simple as sucking the end to get it started.
I would consider putting a flow control valve inline so you can control and balance the flow a bit easier.
As for the size of the hole I can't answer that for as if it's too small it might not break the siphon so easy but I'm sure if you have a google or look on youtube you will find some suggestions but I've given you the basic science of breaking the siphon.
That hole would of course be sucking some water in but you should find the majority of the water will enter at the bottom; it would be a bit trial and error I think.

I'm sure other people may have experience here and be able to help you more.

 

[Edvet]

Curious whether @Edvet vacuums his 400gal

I used to do it once a week or so, when i worked at home. When i worked elsewere id did it once every few months. I don't mind some mulm especially now it's low tech (again) and usually there isn't a lot (no woodscrapers anymore). Also i am sure it all is hiding beneath my mosslayer now, which covers about 40% of the tank. I did suffer BBA when i tried high tech, hard to get good flow in these sizes, but that went away with going low tech and is only as small dots on the wood and old leaves. I am thinking of doing a large freshup maintenance this "free"weekend, removing all old leaves and removing large parts of the moss.

 

[Costa]

Do you guys think there will be any issues if I swap out the 25mm flexible tubing that my DCP-10000 currently uses for a 16/22 there may be any issues (e.g. with pressure, pump damage, water flow)? Max pump output is 10,000 L/hr, I run it at 7,000 L/hr.