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View Full Version : Creating flow behind rock wall.


Mr. Demeanor
03/11/2012, 02:42 PM
Im starting to think more about what I want to do when I replace my 125L.
Because the tank in bilt into the wall I dont get as much feeling of "depth" so all my rock pretty much goes against the back of the tank.
I am thinking of plumbing a 1/2" PVC pipe with holes along its length that would lay behind the rock. One end of the pipe would be capped and the other would have a power head up near the top in a corner where I could access and service it. Or, a power head at each end.
Has anyone plumbed something like this? It would all be internal to the tank and not part of my actual filtration system. That way I dont have to even think about siphoning concerns and overflowing my sump.
If I have the holes for flow point straight up the back glass, that would pull in water from the front of the rock. I have two 1000gph powerheads now in each corner facing forward so my overall flow would be like a tumbler and I think that would be good for my rock/aquascape.

Heres a picture of my tank as it sits right now and the new rock will be very similar. No livestock other than a couple of inverts and I have been collecting rock as I come across deals locally getting ready to replace the tank which is probably 15 years old and always been fish only.

Mr. Demeanor
03/11/2012, 02:44 PM
Thinking more, maybe I should reverse the flow and have it blowing out perpendicular to the sand or slightly angled up to prevent waste buildup under the base???

Mr. Demeanor
03/11/2012, 02:54 PM
Pardon the poor editing but this is the general gist of it. This would of course by buried behind the rock.

dzfish17
03/11/2012, 05:15 PM
My closed loop is similar. I only drilled two holes (intake and return) in the end of the tank so all the pipes for the return are inside of the tank behind a rock wall. I drilled some small holes in the 1" return like what you're planning for water movement behind the rock wall. The only thing different is that I drilled the holes in the bottom so that the water shoots down (to keep ditritus from accumulating in the bottom of the tank. I also added 5 powerheads pointed in different directions so that there are no dead spots. To sum it up... your plan should work fine.