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The fish look very content, Viktor. You call it a grow-out tank. Are you breeding all of these?

Cheers, Eric

Thank you Eric. I don't breed anything (intentionally). Perhaps I use the word wrong, a growout tank to me is a temporary housing and the fish will be upgraded. Probably doesn't apply to all the current inhabitants but to a good half.

Great video on cleaning the sump Viktor. This method seems much easier? Even more enjoyable as we all get to watch without having to get dirty ourselves.

As you already know, I use several joined rain water tanks to create my sump total volume. This multi chamber approach allows you to accurately plan the water flow paths and bypass one section for cleaning without having to totally turn off the main filtration flow. The fish hate big changes as you mentioned in video. So my two suggestions (feel free to ignore of course) are:

1) Install several budget chamber tanks inside your sump. A simple ring of waterproofed steel reo mesh (as used for concrete) provides a circular ring frame you can drap pond liner onto. I would implement radial flow into each of these tank as this settles approx 50% of suspended solids each time for almost no extra cost. You will be able to bypass and flush clean these tanks without having to totally drain the main sump and with the first tanks doing much of the mechanical filtration, there is less effort and cleaning of the latter tanks (which can be predominantly biological filtration).

2) Consider a floating intake for each of your ten water pumps. While the pump body can remain on the bottom, having a flexible hose with intake strainer tied to a float allows you to take water from the surface which is the cleanest and most oxygenation layer. The float and flex hose means you can pump safely if the sump level fluctuates.

Email/ zoom call me directly if you need clarification.

Wise and wonderful suggestions, as always. Thank you, Aquaholic!

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