Hi all,
I'm new here, and this is my first post!
I've been keeping 5 goldfish for about three years now, and they have grown from tiny minnows up to BIG fish, between 6" and 8" in length.
I have increased my tank size several times as they have grown bigger and bigger, and I am now using a Juwel 240 aquarium. Their growth appears to have slowed down a bit now, so it looks like I'll be sticking with the Juwel 240 for a while. Last night I set up a new filtration system, that I hope will make this tank almost maintenance free. Here is what I did:
The aquarium:
The aquarium is currently a fish-only set up, but I have attempted to grow plants with the goldfish in the past, with the usual results. Plants dug up / eaten, and the substrate in a constant mess! I have not given up on the idea of a planted tank, as there are a few plant varieties that the goldfish won't eat, but first I wanted to see if I could find a way of setting up the tank so that I could reduce the amount of constant cleaning I need to do in order to clean up after these messy messy creatures!
Slate Substrate:
For the last 6 months, I have been using broken slate as a substrate, as the fish can't dig it up or move it around. This was a big improvement over the grit / gravel I was using before. However, the dirt and poo would still get trapped underneath & between the slates, meaning a twice-weekly hoovering & water change was necessary to keep everything clean. So, I thought about the problem, and came up with this experimental solution:
The experiment:
I decided to build a false-floor in the tank, below the slate substrate, and add an additional pump / filter to the system. The additional pump circulates a flow underneath the false floor, and the gaps betwen the slates are large enough for the fish mess to drop through, and get swept away into the filter. (See photo of finished system below).
How I did it:
False floor: I bought a load of Stainless Steel kitchen grills, approximately the right size to line the floor of my tank. The grills 'raise' the floor by approx 25mm.
On top of the flase floor, I placed the slate substrate, leaving gaps bewteen the slates large enough for debris to be drawn down into the filter flow below.
Filtration: This is a 2-filter system.
Filter #1 is an Eheim 2326 that flows under the false floor via a submerged spray-bar. The flow from this submerged spray bar 'sweeps' the area under the false floor towards the suction inlet on the other side of the tank. (The suction inlet sucks from under the flase floor space).
Filter #2 is an Eheim 2224. This feeds its flow in at the top of the tank above the Eheim 2326 submerged spray bar.
The Eheim 2224 also shares the same suction inlet as the Eheim2326 at the bottom of the tank below the false floor. (There is a t-junction outside the tank, splitting the suction flow to the two filters). The reason that both filters share the same suction inlet is that it will create a net flow through the floor, gently sweeping the debris down into the filter flow below.
Outside the tank, there are a pair of 'Vecton V2 300' UV sterilisers, one for each filter. The plumbing has been routed so that either filter can be run independantly of the other, in case one needs to be removed from the system for cleaning / maintenance, leaving the remaining filter running. (I know! The pipework looks a mess, but this is just an experiment. If it works well, I'll re-do the pipework in rigid tube as a permanent installation)
The above photo looks a bit confusing, so here is a flow diagram of the installed system:
Results so far:
I only set this up last night, but the initial results look good. I dropped some debris into the tank, and watched it sink and settle onto the slate floor, before eventually being drawn into the crack between the slates, and swept off into the filter. Looking through the glass at the bottom of the tank, it is possible to see into the cavity below the false floor, where you can watch the system working.
The fish do not seem to be unduely bothered by the change in their tank, the flow / current does not appear to be affecting them at all (i.e. they are not getting 'sucked' onto the floor!).
The only immediate problem I can forsee, is that some sinking food may get sucked through the floor before the fish can eat it. I dont think this will be too much of a problem though, as the greedy goldfich usually eat everything i give them before it gets the chance to sink!
Happy Fish!
Whats next?
I'm sure there will be more changes as time goes on, this is an experiment after all! I'll keep you all posted as to the progress of this system, My next stage is to add some plants, which is what this forum is all about, so watch this space....
TomW
I'm new here, and this is my first post!
I've been keeping 5 goldfish for about three years now, and they have grown from tiny minnows up to BIG fish, between 6" and 8" in length.
I have increased my tank size several times as they have grown bigger and bigger, and I am now using a Juwel 240 aquarium. Their growth appears to have slowed down a bit now, so it looks like I'll be sticking with the Juwel 240 for a while. Last night I set up a new filtration system, that I hope will make this tank almost maintenance free. Here is what I did:
The aquarium:
The aquarium is currently a fish-only set up, but I have attempted to grow plants with the goldfish in the past, with the usual results. Plants dug up / eaten, and the substrate in a constant mess! I have not given up on the idea of a planted tank, as there are a few plant varieties that the goldfish won't eat, but first I wanted to see if I could find a way of setting up the tank so that I could reduce the amount of constant cleaning I need to do in order to clean up after these messy messy creatures!
Slate Substrate:
For the last 6 months, I have been using broken slate as a substrate, as the fish can't dig it up or move it around. This was a big improvement over the grit / gravel I was using before. However, the dirt and poo would still get trapped underneath & between the slates, meaning a twice-weekly hoovering & water change was necessary to keep everything clean. So, I thought about the problem, and came up with this experimental solution:
The experiment:
I decided to build a false-floor in the tank, below the slate substrate, and add an additional pump / filter to the system. The additional pump circulates a flow underneath the false floor, and the gaps betwen the slates are large enough for the fish mess to drop through, and get swept away into the filter. (See photo of finished system below).
How I did it:
False floor: I bought a load of Stainless Steel kitchen grills, approximately the right size to line the floor of my tank. The grills 'raise' the floor by approx 25mm.
On top of the flase floor, I placed the slate substrate, leaving gaps bewteen the slates large enough for debris to be drawn down into the filter flow below.
Filtration: This is a 2-filter system.
Filter #1 is an Eheim 2326 that flows under the false floor via a submerged spray-bar. The flow from this submerged spray bar 'sweeps' the area under the false floor towards the suction inlet on the other side of the tank. (The suction inlet sucks from under the flase floor space).
Filter #2 is an Eheim 2224. This feeds its flow in at the top of the tank above the Eheim 2326 submerged spray bar.
The Eheim 2224 also shares the same suction inlet as the Eheim2326 at the bottom of the tank below the false floor. (There is a t-junction outside the tank, splitting the suction flow to the two filters). The reason that both filters share the same suction inlet is that it will create a net flow through the floor, gently sweeping the debris down into the filter flow below.
Outside the tank, there are a pair of 'Vecton V2 300' UV sterilisers, one for each filter. The plumbing has been routed so that either filter can be run independantly of the other, in case one needs to be removed from the system for cleaning / maintenance, leaving the remaining filter running. (I know! The pipework looks a mess, but this is just an experiment. If it works well, I'll re-do the pipework in rigid tube as a permanent installation)
The above photo looks a bit confusing, so here is a flow diagram of the installed system:
Results so far:
I only set this up last night, but the initial results look good. I dropped some debris into the tank, and watched it sink and settle onto the slate floor, before eventually being drawn into the crack between the slates, and swept off into the filter. Looking through the glass at the bottom of the tank, it is possible to see into the cavity below the false floor, where you can watch the system working.
The fish do not seem to be unduely bothered by the change in their tank, the flow / current does not appear to be affecting them at all (i.e. they are not getting 'sucked' onto the floor!).
The only immediate problem I can forsee, is that some sinking food may get sucked through the floor before the fish can eat it. I dont think this will be too much of a problem though, as the greedy goldfich usually eat everything i give them before it gets the chance to sink!
Happy Fish!
Whats next?
I'm sure there will be more changes as time goes on, this is an experiment after all! I'll keep you all posted as to the progress of this system, My next stage is to add some plants, which is what this forum is all about, so watch this space....
TomW
