How The Hell Am I Going To Filter This Tank!

[polerz]

ok here it is
http/members.iinet.com.au/~polerz/pics/

Now let me explain a few things.
This piece:
http/members.iinet.com.au/~polerz/pics/IMG_0202.JPG
its hollow and heavy.
it goes here:
http/members.iinet.com.au/~polerz/pics/IMG_0203.JPG

Theres about 20cm of clearance inside that green part ontop of the tank. That already contains 2 power points a flurescent tube and an air pump. No way you'd be able to fit a cannister in there.

I was speaking to a friend of mine and he said run two pipes straight from the tank into the roof (that gap is about a metre high), then left a metre (inside the roof), then down a metre in the room beside it.

I have drawn it here:
http/members.iinet.com.au/~polerz/pics/IMG_0203s.jpg
might be a bit hard to follow heh.

THe bottom line is, for a cannister, it'd have to sit in another room, the water flow owuld have to travel a metre up, a metre left then a metre down. Is that possible? I dont think a cannister will suck the water out of the aquarium, I think they rely on gravity for the water intake and a propellor which spits the water back out.

The other thing is, gravel vacumming. How the would I vacuum that gravel ? haha.

What about a sump tank? I've been reading up on them, but can only find examples for salwater based aquariums.

It'd just involve a pump gathering water from my aquarium, into some sort of smaller tank which would contain the same filtration media as whats in a cannister?

Another thing I was thinking of, is getting a pump to pump water into a smaller tank, which would have a separating wall in the middle of it. Putting a cannister to draw water from one side of the wall, and pumping it back into the other side. Then the pump would take that new clean water and pump it back into the aquarium.

Suggestions please!!

This tank is a nightmare. My stupid old man got me it

 

[Matthew5664]

MAN.... thats a tank and a half!!!!

If your not limited with your diy knowlage here's a idea.....

Why not devide the tank some how with aclrylic siliconed in place to act as a sump thing fill with bio balls top with carbon and a powerhead.

Have the pump draw water in from the bottom through to the top!

If your realy clever you could put the filter midea in a bag so all you need is a chair to pull the bag out foe matiance!!

Go all the way and hav it drilled and have a bleed valve on the bottom for water changes?

Even betta have you got a bacement??

 

[polerz]

MAN.... thats a tank and a half!!!!

If your not limited with your diy knowlage here's a idea.....

Why not devide the tank some how with aclrylic siliconed in place to act as a sump thing fill with bio balls top with carbon and a powerhead.

Have the pump draw water in from the bottom through to the top!

If your realy clever you could put the filter midea in a bag so all you need is a chair to pull the bag out foe matiance!!

Go all the way and hav it drilled and have a bleed valve on the bottom for water changes?

Even betta have you got a bacement??

no basement

haha I cant do that, I'd for sure #### something up. The water has just been completely changed (everything cleaned etc.) that was an absolute nightmare to get everything out. Never again.

Any other suggestions?

 

[simonbrown403]

Personally i would get rid of the stand below and the hood, and make new ones to match in with the decor.
This way you could make a bigger stand with a cupboard space underneath for you filter and accessories and cut out part of the celling for a recessed light shining directly in to the tank.

You would need to build a sump below

EDIT ~ Buy a long piece of 22mm pipe from the plumbers and attach it to your syphon, should help you reach the bottom, you can buy special pincers as well whixh will help you reach the bottom if you need to.
The benefit of this:

You would not see any pipes,
It would fit in to the space better and look like a pillar like it was intended.
light would be concealed,
the tank would be at eye level,

Cons:

draining the tank and starting again ( but if itd worthe doing its worth doing well)
You would have to keep the tank toped up, if you let to much evaporate, your sump would empty,

 

[Matthew5664]

Should have thought of that myself simon looking to hard for a solution i think

Nice idea!!

polerz: whats the dimentions of the tank? hight and overall circufrence? If your gona build a new stand I'd work out the wight of the tank with the water first!

And as i did, over support the stand

 

[CBTF]

Oh quit being a wuss. Put on that scuba suit and clean the gravel!

apologies that i cannot contribute anything useful but that is a really nice tank. good luck with it.

 

[polerz]

after doing a heap of research and many nights thinking about it, I've finally purchased a cannister filter and managed to place it so it doesnt look _that_ bad around the tank.

My last concern is, should the intake be at the bottom of the tank, and the output at the top? or does it not matter where the input/output tubes return to into the tank? Atm I have them sitting pretty much side by side at the same level in the tank (coz I dont have anymore tubing to extend it further). I have drawn it here, along with my other filtration equipment currently in the tank (two fluval 4 internal power filters, and two air stones at the bottom of the tank).

Diagram below:
http/members.iinet.com.au/~polerz/pics/untitled.jpg
Thanks for all your help guys, I couldnt of done it without you!