Fish in overflows

[b-ridge]

Does anyone keep a fish or 2 in there overflows? I'm curious to know if there are any fish that would help keep the bottom of the overflows clean. Looking for a easier to way to keep my overflows clean

 

[ENB]

I am pretty sure rkaragozler has some fish in his overflows.

 

[b-ridge]

I know for certain he does. I think I only saw cleaner gobies

 

[thirty6]

How bout few hermits? I try to keep fish out of my overflow. Kathyc gave me good suggestion that has been working ever since

 

[b-ridge]

@thirty6
What suggestion was that

Well I took out all the water in both overflows. It was a bunch of sand and junk down there. The vacuum wouldn't/couldn't get it I assume cause it was wet. I don't know what to do from this point. So I'm gonna fill it back up with water and see if my nitrates went down any. Going step by step

 

[Jlavine]

You can try to create a mesh basket or just line the inside of the overflow down to the floor with mesh or screen and remove it when you want to dump what accumulates.

 

[thirty6]

Kathy suggested putting a pc of rock on top of the mesh cover in the area around the overflow. I had a few wrasses jump in and were pia to get out

Sort of opposite of what your looking to accomplsih

 

[BioMan]

I have snails in there.

 

[Aquadicted]

you only need 1 hermit and maybe 1 snail in there...

 

[bklynreef]

What i do once a year and do it at your own risk if you know how your overflows work.
1. Put a filter sock where your overflow drains in to
2. Pull your overflow pipe out as long as its not glued in and it usually isnt
3. Lets the water tank water run through it and stick your hand in and swirl all the garbage out.
4. Put the overflow drain pipe back in, take that filter sock out and wash it however you wash your socks and now you have a clean overflow box for the next year.

 

[thirty6]

What i do once a year and do it at your own risk if you know how your overflows work.
1. Put a filter sock where your overflow drains in to
2. Pull your overflow pipe out as long as its not glued in and it usually isnt
3. Lets the water tank water run through it and stick your hand in and swirl all the garbage out.
4. Put the overflow drain pipe back in, take that filter sock out and wash it however you wash your socks and now you have a clean overflow box for the next year.

I cant reach mine to do any of this, short with alligator arms!

 

[jnelson]

I have a bunch of bristleworms that found their way into my overflow, along with a few snails. I do have a durso drain with a bulkhead strainer though, so that should keep the snails from clogging the drain when they get larger. In addition to this, I'm fortunate enough that my tank is shallow, so I use a turkey baster to kick up detritus at the bottom of the overflow when I'm doing water changes.

 

[b-ridge]

I was thinking of doing that also as far as taking the overflow pipe out. But won't that mess up my bulkheads? Last thing I need is a leaky bulkhead. It would take at least a week to get new scheduled 80's

 

[jnelson]

Yeah definitely don't take out the plumbing if you can avoid it, you don't want to risk cracking a bulkhead or the glass.

 

[bklynreef]

What i do once a year and do it at your own risk if you know how your overflows work.
1. Put a filter sock where your overflow drains in to
2. Pull your overflow pipe out as long as its not glued in and it usually isnt
3. Lets the water tank water run through it and stick your hand in and swirl all the garbage out.
4. Put the overflow drain pipe back in, take that filter sock out and wash it however you wash your socks and now you have a clean overflow box for the next year.

Like i said "dont risk it unless you know how your drain pipes are connected".

 

[b-ridge]

I do know my pipes are not glued in

 

[bklynreef]

Usually the bulkhead is connected to the tank not the pipe, the pipe is usually just popped in without glue. if you know how you built or who built your tank, ask them if its possible.
I just twist slowly and up until it pops out and do the same thing to put it back in. It shouldnt have much force since theres nothing really holding it in there but the rubber gasket that surrounds the bulkhead but again, each tank is different and done differently so this goes with a grain of salt. if you dont know then dont mess with it, you dont need the headache for some dirt in the overflow. you can always shut your pumps and syphon it out with a tube and repeat the process until its debris free.

 

[b-ridge]

I did siphon out as much as possible. Even tried with a vacuum. Maybe because the debris was still wet that the vacuum didn't get much. It did get some but not all to my liking