tip for cleaning bb

[mkpaulson]

After recently going bare bottom the job of keeping the bottom clean and free of detritus and other small debris, can be a bit of the pain. mixing up new salt water, shutting down the pumps syphoning it out and refilling can be very time consuming. so I had to figure out a better way of doing this and this is what I have come up with. you need some uncut filter pad 100 micron is what I used.

[mkpaulson]

i measured the distance between the top of my sump and the waterline, then I cut the filter pad 3 " longer and made it about 8". wide like in the picture and sewed it together at the bottom and side with a sewing machine.

[mkpaulson]

at the end of my hose for my vacuum I attached a cloth pin with tie wraps

[mkpaulson]

than put the bag inside your sump just above the waterline and use the extra 3"at the top of the bad to drape over the top edge of your sump and a used cloth pin to hold it there put the end of the hose and the bag and hold in place with the cloth pin

[mkpaulson]

and then just vacuum away and when done remove the bag and rinse it out for next time.

[wooddood]

great idea. i just use a hot magnum canister filter as a vacumm and works really well and fast too, just hook a piece of tubing up to the suction side and vac away. easiest way i have found and dont loose any water.






dave.

[Woodstock]

Great idea Mark! But like Dave, I use a Magnum HOT to clean out my BB sump.

[mkpaulson]

thanks Dave, I just looked up those Magnum HOT pumps not too expensive either I think I will order one and give it a try not to bad of a price either $45 to $50 .

[Curtswearing]

Cool idea Mark!!!

Thanks for sharing. I think I might be able to save you a little money though. You can filter down to 1 or 5 Microns very easily using the method you designed with no sewing needed. With 1 or 5 microns, you can actually even have the bag in the water. It's not going to leak through.

When done, turn it inside out and hit it with the garden hose.

1 and 5 micron filter bags

[pipbarr]

Mark,

I love the idea. I have an old Fluval 304 that has warped since it's been in storage and now leaks everytime I try to put it to use cleaning my BB. Now I'll be able to keep the bottom clean without having to do so many water changes. Can't believe I didn't think of something like that sooner!

Thanks
Philip

[NaH2O]

Cool, Mark! I place my 1 & 5 micron filter socks in a 5 gallon bucket and let it fill up...then dump back into the tank. I did see someone make a drain line out of the bottom of the bucket to allow the water to drain back into the sump while the siphoning is occuring, but I haven't gotten that far in the project yet....i.e. my husband hasn't gotten to that project yet

[Brucey]

Hi Guys. All really good info ...... BUT I thought the whole idea of going BB was to avoid the neccessary husbandary that a DSB requires. I always had a SSB and went BB about 4 months ago. Despite an initial spike in amonia the tank settled down with a few water changes and after a few weeks it was better than ever. I have positioned 4 Maxijet900's (900LPH) on a wave machine at either end of the tank aiming directly at the BB .... something you could never do on tanks with either a DSB or SSB. This stops anything settling on the bottom and keeps everything in solution. I also have my OR6500 (6500LPH) aiming at the bottom in two locations. So there is 1000LPH hitting the glass bottom. The only build up I get is some algae settling on the bottom but the snails and tangs take care of that. otherwise, it's perfectly clean. Just waiting for the coraline to take off but nothing yet.

Once a week, I turkey baste the corners of the tanks and that's about it. So I would argue that you just need to redirect your returns or PH's to point at the BB of the tank ?????

JMO Brucey

[pipbarr]

Brucey,

That is exactly what I would be doing......if I had a skimmer that was good enough to pull out all the gunk. As of now, I'm running a cheapo Berlin Air-Lift which manages to pull a bit out, but not nearly enough. Once I get the money (I'm on a college budget), I'll be investing in an AquaC Remora. At that point I believe I'll take the same approach you're suggesting. Until then, keeping lower flow on the BB and being able to siphon out all the junk is probably my best bet for keeping the tank clean.

Philip

[NaH2O]

Brucey - you would be surprised at the areas your detritus will collect. My tank for sure has great ability to keep the detritus off the bottom. There isn't a lack of husbandry in BB tanks, it is just different husbandry. I take a powerhead to my rocks, and I now am familiar with the spots that collect (and I can't imagine any flow better directed than what I have). Not to mention the detritus that collects in certain sump locations, too. Detritus is there....and it needs to be removed - it doesn't just disappear. Rock is continuously spitting it out too. Your skimmer will pull out nasties, filter socks work great, too....but nothing beats blasting and siphoning as part of regular maintenance.

[Scooterman]

Originally posted by NaH2O
....but nothing beats blasting and siphoning as part of regular maintenance.

I have to agree with that statement big time, even more so on a tank that isn't designed to flow as much as her's! It seems like the more I blow off the rocks, the better things look, cleaner healthier etc...I try and do it three or 4 times at least each week, quickly if anything.