Habitat - Indoor :: Powered Vacuum (Pump... with bypass?)

Turtle tank setups and other indoor configurations.

Post Posted: Thu May 26, 2022 6:16 pm   Powered Vacuum (Pump... with bypass?)

I've been kicking this idea around for the pas couple of years. One a handful of occasions I even implemented the idea, or attempted to do so.

Desired capability: To vacuum the floor of my stock tank (of course other types as well) with a hose that provides better suction than a siphon.
Please scroll to the bottom "TL;DR" portion of the post if you wish to skip the backstory.

At present, I have a basement w/ a "trap" that is just about 8 to 12 feet below my tank. In the past, I used to hook up a hose to the tap water faucet (same level) and use it to add water to the tank as well as to prime the siphon. Once the hose was primed (full of water), I could take the faucet-side and stick it over the toilet bowl for a slow flow. It was adequate for partial water changes and larger water water changes given enough time and patience. For vacuuming, the pressure was very weak and barely adequate. Eventually, I came up with the bright idea of running end of the hose to the basement. It's really simple, I open a cap on the "trap", and stick a PVC pipe into it which stands vertically w/ a lean. Then I stick the hose into the top of that pip. This allows for two things. One, it prevents me from putting that hose directly into the opening on the floor which prevents contaminating the hose.

By "hose" I mean clear flexible tubing -- vinyl "food grade": "ATP - PVC18-14ANA Vinyl-Flex PVC Food Grade Plastic Tubing, Clear, 1/8" ID x 1/4" OD, 100 feet Length".

This works great for water changes and adequately for vacuuming solid waste from the floor of the tank. However, I have to make multiple passes since it takes time for stuff to settle once it has been kicked-up. This is a fine excuse to take my turtles out of the tank, but I don't like doing this unless the weather is good so that I can let them get natural sunlight in the backyard screen room.The other big problem is that it gets clogged by scutes. Still, this has worked better than my first attempt at using a pump to vacuum. At the time I merely used a pump and two tubes to suck-up waste. Unsurprisingly, the impeller got clogged very frequently. This lead me to think the "ideal" solution would be have a pump with sharp blades in it, like a garbage disposal. Alternatively, I may be overlooking some simple physics...


Side note: I did buy one of those cheap vacuums on amazon. The theory seemed sound, but it's "bag" filled-up quickly. Another thought would be to stick some kind of "filter sock" between the inflow on my filter (or generic pump) in order to prevent the impeller from getting clogged.

As of right now, my "best" idea is to find some combination of tubes of different diameters... or maybe just one tube of a wider diameter?


TL;DR: My newest idea is to use a wider diameter tube from the tank to the basement for vacuuming by way of siphon. In order to add water to the tank using the same tube, or to merely "prime" the tube, I would use an adapter on the faucet-side since I'm currently equipped to attach a 1/4" outer-diameter tube to my faucet (1/8" inner). It is my hope that the wider tube/hose will be less-prone to clogs (hopefully the issue will be all but eliminated). However, if this is not a viable option for any reason that I am currently overlooking, I'd hate to waste money on such a tube (although I only nee 25'). Secondly, if this solution isn't good... I suspect that it may be worth revisiting the "pump" idea. Is there a way to hook-up a pump in such a way that it helps "pull" water while allowing solid matter to bypass it trough a parallel tube?


If these ideas are not viable, I have one more method for which I did have pretty good success with but have avoided for good reason. On one occasion I hooked a tube up to the inlet on my filter and essentially used my canister filter as a canister vacuum. It worked really well but it also meant that I would have to clean the mechanical filter media more frequently if kept using this method. Still, if all other ideas come up dry... maybe this is an opportunity for me to get a fancier canister filter such as a Filstar FX-5[/b] or better and re-purpose my "Sun Sun" as a dedicated "tank vacuum".


Thanks for reading on behalf of Paffie and Squirtle.
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Post Posted: Sat May 28, 2022 1:58 am   Re: Powered Vacuum (Pump... with bypass?)

The larger Fluval models can take a gravel hose attachment, so that could be a solution though it goes into the category of cleaning your mech media more often. It seems like a minor inconvenience if it;s doing a good job.

I use a simple aquarium power head to drain the the tank. It's much faster than a siphon though it will get clogged depending on what/how you're using it.

I'm curious as to how much water you have to filter, which filter you have, and what's in the tank? It does sound like a filter upgrade might already be necessary.
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Post Posted: Sun May 29, 2022 2:56 pm   Re: Powered Vacuum (Pump... with bypass?)

Very interesting.. I like the idea of the Fluval gravel vac attachment, especially when used with a more robust filter like the FX series. Beyond that, I've never worked with a powerhead before, but I'll look into it to see how they differ from the submersible pump that I tried using for the same purpose.

To answer your question, I am using a 150 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank (https://www.rubbermaidcommercial.com/material-handling/farm-garden/stock-tanks/?sku=FG424500BLA#specifications). I don't actually know where the waterline is.... is it 150 gallons when I fill it to the brim? As you can imagine, I most certainly do not fill it up that level. Either way, I am dealing with no more than 150 gallons of water, and I'm fine with a bit of over-engineering when it comes to keeping the water clean and biologically balanced for Paffie and Squirtle (the two inhabitants of this tank).

My current filter is a SunSun HW303-370 GPH which is only rated for 100 gallons but it has been sufficient thus far with it's 370 GPH flowrate. I use a mix of mechanical media with mostly biological media filling the rest of the canister. Still, I believe that I can benefit from an upgraded filter in addition to better vacuuming to deal with solid waste which currently settles to the bottom of the tank.

What is inside the tank: Two female Red-eared Sliders (Paffie and Squirtle), and a partition down the middle. This dividing wall is made of both wire mesh from a storage rack (no sharp edges), and egg crate lighting diffuser. This creates a barrier to keep the turtles separated while still allowing water to flow freely in between. I built the wall the instant that I discovered that Squirtle was biting Paffie's tale approximately 3 years ago. Oh, and of course both turtles have their own basking flat forms and lighting.


My only concern about getting a Fluval FX series is that my stock tank is currently at floor-level. I gotta review the manual/specifications to see if they clearly spell-out how high the water level must be in order for water to flow (I presume the filter is fed by siphon, and the pump is used of getting water back into the tank from the canister). Worst case, I 'll just have to elevate the tank on some concrete blocks before I install a new filter (from what I can figure).
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Post Posted: Sun May 29, 2022 11:05 pm   Re: Powered Vacuum (Pump... with bypass?)

As far as I know, powerhead and submersible pump are the same. I use a single hose to drain, then connect to faucet to refill. It's simple and fast. Have you ever thought about utilizing the drain port on the Rubbermaid?

As for elevating the tank... yes, some concrete blocks will do it. You can get most canisters running with a tank on the floor, but it is not advisable as it puts more strain on the motor and filtration would be less efficient/effective. Priming the canister would probably be the most difficult part.
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