Placing pumps on the bottom glass of tank

[ricwilli]

Has anyone placed powerheads on the bottom glass of the tank? I'm thinking of placing 3-4 maxi jets 1200 on the back bottom glass. My only concern is fish getting sucked in by the pumps. But than again, if they haven't gotten sucked in by the MP40, than maxi jets shouldn't be a problem.

The problem is that I have four MP40's and the way my rock-work is set up, there isn't enough flow on the bottom glass. To much crap settling on the bottom. I would like flow from the back to the front so that I can clean up the crap easier. It is a 215g bare bottom tank. So what do you think of the idea?

 

[albano]

I would like flow from the back to the front so that I can clean up the crap easier.

So why not put PHs very low on rear glass? Are you rocks on the bottom, or is there room for flow under them?

 

[ricwilli]

That is another way that I can do it. Which might be best. I just never seen powerheads so low/close to the bottom in anyones tank before. The rocks sit on the bottom glass. There is lots of deitrius underneath them. I hate it when the fish swim towards the bottom and all the crap starts floating around. My tank water never seems to be clean.

 

[Levito]

I wouldn't think it's a problem, and I know what you're talking about. I have a bare bottom as well and all the detrius accumulates under the rocks. I've never had the room to get a powerhead underneath them though. But I'd kinda feel bad to put that much flow under the rocks, a bunch of the fish like to sleep down there when the lights go out. I just make sure to get the siphon down under the rocks when I do my water changes so I can pull as much of it out as possible.

 

[fishman1069]

If your worried about fish getting sucked up, try putting a couple of koralia ph's down there. Put a k3 or 4 on each side of the tank, down towards the bottom. They give a nice light flow and should keep the crap from settling.

 

[albano]

I have about 1" of sand on the bottom, BUT ... 90% of my 'base' rocks are drilled and have acrylic 'legs', this allows the current to flow much better! IMO, you should try to re-do the rockwork to get as much as possible off the bottom