how to siphon detritus from bb

[moonman]

Hi all,

how is everyone siphoning detritus from their barebottom tanks?
I accumulate detritus in an area, but I'm wondering what are people doing? Sucking into a tube into a bucket? Using a gravel vaccuum? Powerhead to a hose?

I'm more concerned with the manual extraction of detritus rather than using a powerhead on the bottom and letting it go through my overflow.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Jeff

[masterqaz]

you can do any of which you have listed. the most effective is the siphoning with just the hose. It's really up to you.

[Divetime]

I use the good ole wet/dry shop vac from sears. I just converted a DSB to BB so I'm still getting sand sand particles coming out of my LR. The regular hose to bucket method doesn't suck that up. The shop vac gets the job done :D

I took my dremel & hollowed out one of the attachments so that 3/4 pvc can fit within it. I then created a reefsafe pvc extension I can use without having to worry about anything. You will get some backflow whenever you cut the vac off so some fellow reefers have added a ball valve to stop the debris or rush of water from going back into the tank.

One idea was to hang a small wet/dry vac from the ceiling then attach a hose to the drain of the wet/dry so that it goes outside or into a drain. Another alternative is to get a Magnum 350 external filter and use that to recycle your water while cleaning the tank.

[moonman]

thanks divetime. I think this is a great idea.

I'm wondering if anyone's made a unit that uses a powerhead and sucks the detritus out into a filter sock and recycles the water into the tank. I think with a canister, the hose might be too narrow and clog easily if it picks up small rocks.

[Biggie]

I posted this too it works great!
Divetime I did the same thing with my DSB lol...I get some residual sand here and there coming out of the rock work but for simplicity you cant beat the ole shop vac!

[raynist]

I sometimes use the tubing from my Python gravel cleaner and run the end into my sump (and into a filter sock). I then start the suction and the waste gets sucked up and then gets stuck in a filter sock on the end. The clean water then goes into the sump and pumped back up.

I do this in between water changes.

[BreadmanMike]

The shop vac is the single best tool for cleaning my BB tanks and also my sumps. I grabbed one at Xmas from HD for $25. It shuts off at roughly 6 gallons of water which works really great since my made up saltwater can is 24 gallons.

[Divetime]

Raynist - That's a good idea, I'll have to try that when I want to remove snail poop or something simple so I don't have to break out the shop vac. ;)