[dee-park]

hello! just wandered onto this site to see if i could find some info. right now i have a 55g rectangle but looking at a 75g bowfront. african cichlids, 2 fluval 405's. my question is where is the optimal place to place my inlets and outlets. not too worried right now with the gravel that i am using, but i am going to use carib sea african cichlid mix substrate which is like sand, and don't want my filters to suck up the substrate. any help would be thankful.*c/p*

 

[WhiteGloveAquatics]

canisters, place the intakes at each corner in the back and the outlets right next to them facing on a 45 degree angle to the opposite front corners. I wouldnt set it up any differently then any other tank.

how far down into the tank do the intakes hang?

 

[dee-park]

about 3 " from the bottom. but i'm thinking this could be a problem when i switch to the sand (mix). thank you for any help.

 

[WhiteGloveAquatics]

Yes it can, try 6" above the sand. How many intakes do you have? 2? you can do one near the top and one 6" from the bottom and you will still get the right flow but no sand suck up.

The only problems with filters and sand Ive had before was marineland HOB filters, my canister(mag 350) and ac HOB filters didnt pick the sand up at all, and the AC's were 3" from the bottom.

I never had issues with caribsea sand except with the marineland HOB filters. Try the intake tube length and go from there.

 

[dee-park]

thank you for the response; i have 2 inlets, 2 outlets. they are both fluval 405's. i know this is more than i need for the tank that i have, but i have always heard too much is better than not enough. but when i decided to go to sand i started second guessing that logic.

 

[WhiteGloveAquatics]

there really isnt such a thing as too much filtration, IMO you cant have enough when dealing with a small environment.

you want atleast 4x the capacity of the tank flowing per hour, just readjust your intake depth and you should be 100% fine.

 

[petlover516]

Welcome to the site! I would have inlets and outlets on opposite sides of the tank, with the inlet being close to the bottom and the outlet being towards the top.

 

[WhiteGloveAquatics]

Welcome to the site! I would have inlets and outlets on opposite sides of the tank, with the inlet being close to the bottom and the outlet being towards the top.

In most cases, not with sand. with sand you want to be atleast 4" off the bottom closer to 6".

 

[petlover516]

In most cases, not with sand. with sand you want to be atleast 4" off the bottom closer to 6".

inlet or outlet? sorry for being vague, but by close to bottom i mean 4-5".

 

[WhiteGloveAquatics]

you want the supply atleast 5" 4 at most off the bottom of a sand bed. the higher you go the better the flow over the sand as well as the water column itself.

outlets can be anywhere, basically think of it as a HVAC/R system, if the returns are low, supplies are high, if supplies are low then return is high, creates a constant circulation.

Ive had a few sand tanks and still do, 4" seems to be the absolute closest to the sand without it being inhaled by the impeller.