[redman88]

okay so i am building a river type tank. here is a preplan layout:

the blue line is the water line
the yellow and green are filter media
the tubing will be 1 inch
and the squares on the right side of the picture will be the powerheads

so the questions i have are
1) will the 1inch pipe be good enough
2) what flow rate should i have the power heads rated at
3) air bubble bar under the power heads or air line connected to the power head air intake

 

[jkcole]

wow well i dont have near the knowledge to help but i would love to see this in its completion best of luck to u

 

[Hoppy]

This is something I have never tried either. Please post lots of pictures as you do this. Is this to be a planted tank, "hi tech" or low light/non0CO2? That decision needs to be made before deciding on the bubble bar.

 

[redman88]

well the bubble bar is almost a must since the HC rainbow darts need an oxiginated high flow for good happy thoughts about their enviroment.

 

[redman88]

 

[sick lid]

well the bubble bar is almost a must since the HC rainbow darts need an oxiginated high flow for good happy thoughts about their enviroment.

Awesome fish. Planning the same species for my 33 long river. If I ever get it done.

 

[redman88]

i am thinking about doing the stand this next weekend. not quite sure though. then all i would need is the power-heads, and the light.

 

[redman88]

okay so i am building a river type tank. here is a preplan layout:

the blue line is the water line
the yellow and green are filter media
the tubing will be 1 inch
and the squares on the right side of the picture will be the powerheads

so the questions i have are
1) will the 1inch pipe be good enough
2) what flow rate should i have the power heads rated at
3) air bubble bar under the power heads or air line connected to the power head air intake

okay should i do a wall like what i have in the picture or do a kind of sock of filter media for the intake tubes?

 

[archer772]

I have seen this done for hillstream loaches before and its pretty impresive. The one I saw done just used the screen caps over the intakes as they also ran a canister filter. I would not use the overflow setup but just the foam and try to keep the intake and return about mid level in the tank. I think MJ 1200's or the 900's would work great.

 

[Hoppy]

Using the sponge material used for sponge filters should do an adequate job of filtering, and not impeding the flow too much. I could see a perforated tube down the center of a sponge cylinder for each of the inlet pipes. If you let the powerhead flows heavily ripple the water surface you will get lots of oxygen into the water that way. I think I would use the standard powerhead inlet air lines instead of a bubble bar, if you decide you want more air.

 

[redman88]

well my stand is now done. this pic is just before the last few screws. so yeah its very basic. now i just need to finish cleaning the tank, paint the back of the tank and make the light support.

 

[redman88]

so i just had to put the tank on the stand. and the light on the tank. then i had to install the light bulbs.....

yes i know the tank is dirty. but the only light on in the house is the tank light.

 

[redman88]

doing a water test, made a home made python for fill and emptying so we shall see how it goes.

 

[newshound]

I have several tanks with this concept.
if understocked this is enough filteration
the sponge will quickly clog and slow the flow of h2o!

 

[redman88]

okay got the light hung and the back painted.

 

[Church]

Looking good!

 

[redman88]

right behind its is the two tanks its replacing.

 

[MoonFish]

Yeah there are a lot of variables determining flow that you have't got to yet. If you're lucky, you can get a pump and drops directly into the pipe so you don't need any mounting tricks. I did it once in a 55 with a small powerhead and 1/2" i.d. pipe. and a sponge. There wasn't much flow in mine. It worked for general filtration though. The end to end flow really keeps the tank cleaner imo.

 

[redman88]

well i already have 2 powerheads 1" i.d. pipe and the surface ripples almost all the way across the tank.

 

[Hoppy]

It occurs to me that this is nothing more than an under gravel filter, without the holes in the undergravel tubes, and with standpipes at the opposite end instead of the holes.
So, any powerhead that could connect to a UGF could also connect to this.

Would it work better if the inlet standpipes were connected to a filter box, filled loosely with filter floss? It would be more conspicuous in the tank, which you probably wouldn't like. Or, if you used 6 standpipes teed together to the two inlet pipes, each with a sponge filter on them, that would give more filter life before clogging would occur. (Just brainstorming a bit.)