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Cleaning tool idea

2K views 15 replies 9 participants last post by  DaytonaJoe 
#1 ·
Today, as I was squirting the uppermost portion of my rocks with a turkey baster and hitting my lights with stray drops of water because the darn thing leaks, I came up with an idea. There are two problems with the turkey baster. 1) It requires that I submerge my arm in the tank to clean down deep 2)It doesn't provide a constant stream when I need it.

I was thinking of picking up a very small powerhead, zip tieing it to a long plastic arm of some kind, and wiring a button into the cable so I can activate it when I need it. This way I can get a stream of water down into all the cracks and crevices I can't reach with my baster.

Of course, all of this could be solved with proper placement of powerheads, but I still can't figure out how to keep all the detritus off the bottom without causing everything to dune up, exposing the glass on the bottom.

Is there a product like this already on the market? What do you think?
 
#2 ·
Power heads are the ticket .Depending on the size of the tank strategically placed ph's keep things moving . Nice idea though ! I think getting the stuff out of the tank is the real issue . I use 1/4 inch hard plastic tube with a small pc of plastic tube on the end during water changes to syphon that detris works great for me . Just my .02 cents
Good Luck
 
#8 ·
Unplugging it and plugging it back in repeatedly would get old real fast. The idea of the button is that you want to be able to turn off the flow quickly in certain areas, like... so I don't blow a delicate coral off of its perch, and then turn it back on to resume blowing where the tank needs it.

As far as waterproofing goes, I'm not really sure. It will definitely be rigged so that the button is never entering the water at all, but it is possible that water could drip down the cable to the button. They must sell waterproof buttons somewhere, then all I'd need to do is spray sealant all over the solder joints.

Loverotties: That's a good idea too. Is it flexy tube or solid? I might just do this myself instead of messing with electronics. I could use a long solid section and make my own attachments like for a vacuum. For instance, a 90 degree bend piece to get around my live rock in the corners or a tapering piece to increase the flow.

Aquawolf - I would love to see that, however Eheim makes one along the same lines. It's a vacuum that sucks particles up into the filter sock. I like the idea but I'd be too worried it'd get gunked up by the sand in a hurry. I want to just be able to blow detritus out of the corners and let my system handle it.

Biowheel - You've given me a nice idea! I always use that pain in the --- flexible tubing for water changes. The solid one they supply for large tanks is way too wide to get a good suction. I am gonna pick up some 1/4 inch solid tubing and connect it to my bendy stuff and use that for water changes..
 
#9 ·
If you are using this inu a 60 USG or larger, use a Maxijet 1200 or equivaent to blast your rock. Use PVC pipe for the extension, cut a slot or hole up the arm from the insertion point for the powerhead (make the pipe the diameter of the powerhead inlet and it will be easy to attach). You need several holes in the pipe near the powerhead or slots to let in the water, otherwise the powerhead will pull air down into the stream. It helips to put a cap on the open end of the PVC that is out of the tank. Make sure to put a drip loop outside the tank for the powercord, and if you plug the powerhead into a powerstrip with GFIC and a switch, you avoid electricity safety issues while providing a power on-off switch. Use Zip ties to hold the cord against the pipe.



I have two outlets for the Maxijet, one with the tube cut so that the outlet makes a wide spray, and one as the outlet comes out of the box (outlet is the volute for the impeller also on MJ's). I've been using one like this for several years, and if you need to get up under tight places, you can always use a MJ 400 in your hand.
 
#12 ·
If you are using this inu a 60 USG or larger, use a Maxijet 1200 or equivaent to blast your rock. Use PVC pipe for the extension, cut a slot or hole up the arm from the insertion point for the powerhead (make the pipe the diameter of the powerhead inlet and it will be easy to attach). You need several holes in the pipe near the powerhead or slots to let in the water, otherwise the powerhead will pull air down into the stream. It helips to put a cap on the open end of the PVC that is out of the tank. Make sure to put a drip loop outside the tank for the powercord, and if you plug the powerhead into a powerstrip with GFIC and a switch, you avoid electricity safety issues while providing a power on-off switch. Use Zip ties to hold the cord against the pipe.

I have two outlets for the Maxijet, one with the tube cut so that the outlet makes a wide spray, and one as the outlet comes out of the box (outlet is the volute for the impeller also on MJ's). I've been using one like this for several years, and if you need to get up under tight places, you can always use a MJ 400 in your hand.
This is exactly what I was thinking, with improvements! Attaching the PVC extention to the powerhead is great stuff. I might have to try this. Would it be possible for you to take a picture of the thing to make sure I'm following you correctly?

Mr. Peanut: It might be possible, but it seems like it'd be more trouble and more expensive. Might as well design it from the ground up like tdwyatt seems to have done
 
#14 ·
That is awesome. Now I gotta decide if the $$$ spent building that wouldn't be better spent on another powerhead. My problem is getting flow behind the rocks against the back, without placing a powerhead on the front of the glass. Maybe my PH's are just too weak.

Thanks so much for taking the time to take those pictures, very cool and I will definitely build one of those at some point.
 
#15 ·
You will ultimately want to use something like this. If you need another powerhead behind the rock, there are two alternatives: get a Tunze or Tunze clone for behind the rock, or get one of the MJ kits to make a cheap flow head.

A third alternative involves building a manifold that blasts the back of your rock with a return line from your sump , but be careful of the sand if you have a sandbed.



You may not be able to see the lower manifold in this picture, but is is just like the top one, this is one-half (the right side facing the tank) of the manifold system behind the rox in this 180 display tank. I have an additional Tunze Stream now that blows behind the rocks in addition the this one placed on the same tank pane but lower in the tank plus two 6100's on the left of the tank. I may eventually remove the sand bed from the tank and drop a set of manifoldes down to the back bottom of the rock stacks to blow detritus out from the base of the rocks.

Talk is cheap... :D
 
#16 ·
Cool. A manifold is something I plan on incorporating into my next tank when I'm more settled down and have more time and money. I dont think my return pump is strong enough anyway.

Woops: I had just started a new thread about the flow in my tank as you made that post. I drew up a diagram of what my flow looks like.
 
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