# Background sandfall...with a powerhead?



## TwistedRopes (Oct 30, 2012)

Hello everyone! A little background, since this is my intro post as well *bananadance

I used to be a semi-serious freshwater fish keeper. I only had one (main) tank, 140 gallon, but it kept me plenty busy. My fish were happy and bred often, and I'd sell the fry back to a small, local pet shop. I did this for years. I also had various reptiles, and terrariums and semi-aquatic tanks were also within my realm.

So I'm not completely new to the world of aquariums, but a lot of the awesome info floating around on the net now is new and fascinating to me.

These days, I've downsized a bit. Okay, a LOT. Now I keep triops instead of fish. (If you're unsure of what a triops is, google will bring up fascinating info and pictures for you. Otherwise, think overgrown, more interesting seamonkeys.)

As interesting as triops are to observe and breed, I'm far more interested in the aquascaping aspect of the tanks. But my aquascaping is on a tiny scale since most of my tanks are around a gallon, sometimes less. They make for wonderful biotopes!

*(TLR START HERE)*

I want to build a custom 3D background for one of my tanks incorporating a filter and sandfall. Thing is, I'm trying very hard to avoid using an air pump. I'd like for this tank to be as silent as possible. Space is also at a premium, and if I can do this with a single powerhead, I can hide the entire thing in one corner of my tank.

I realize that I'll have to go for a slightly larger tank for this project since the foam backgrounds take up so much room. I was hoping 3 to 5 gallons would be large enough to do this, and still give my little guys enough space.

I'm including a rough drawing (I'm no artist!) of my idea below.










Would this work? Why or why not?

Also, if it would work, what size powerhead should I go for with 3 to 5 gallons? I'm assuming that having both the inlet and outlet in use would significantly lower the gallons per hour.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Extensive googling on this has yet to show me a single underwater waterfall using a powerhead.


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## matt_bailey (Oct 6, 2012)

Looks good but i hope you will have plenty of spare impellers as when you free the sand like that it will allways find a way to go back through your pump. you maybe able to create the same efect using a series of long air stones and a good air pump this way you will not have to keep replacing impellers as they get worn but it will also enable you to regulate the amount of movement for the required effect. this is just my thought and would be great to see some pics when you make it  .


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

Looks interesting. I think it would work, but I would put a foam filter on the outlet to prevent sand from draining down into your powerhead. Also realize that whenever you turn this thing off you'll need to prevent the sand from falling into the powerhead anyways.

Look up eductors, they might help shed some insight on how you could better model the sand entrainment system with the powerhead.


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## dalfed (Apr 8, 2012)

Not sure but it looks like you may have problems with the water blowing out of where you want the sand to return, unless something is installed to direct water flow past the point of return.


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## TwistedRopes (Oct 30, 2012)

dalfed said:


> Not sure but it looks like you may have problems with the water blowing out of where you want the sand to return, unless something is installed to direct water flow past the point of return.


I thought of this as well. But triops need very little filtration and don't like much current, so I thought I would just use a very weak powerhead. Turn it down until it's just moving the sand. Maybe I'm wrong about how this would work?


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## dalfed (Apr 8, 2012)

Let us know when you try it very interesting idea.


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## TwistedRopes (Oct 30, 2012)

Gizmo said:


> Looks interesting. I think it would work, but I would put a foam filter on the outlet to prevent sand from draining down into your powerhead. Also realize that whenever you turn this thing off you'll need to prevent the sand from falling into the powerhead anyways.
> 
> Look up eductors, they might help shed some insight on how you could better model the sand entrainment system with the powerhead.


Going to go look up eductors now.

As for the sand falling into the powerhead when turning it off..what about this?


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

It might work, but it would be a bear to reset. If you use large pumice pieces (light weight) and a foam post-filter, you could stick to the original plan.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

There was an ADA tank setup like this once. They used an airstone I believe.

Ah here we go: Creating a Waterfall in a Planted Aquarium | First News | CamThao.Us


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## TwistedRopes (Oct 30, 2012)

Gizmo said:


> It might work, but it would be a bear to reset. If you use large pumice pieces (light weight) and a foam post-filter, you could stick to the original plan.


Foam post filter..you mean, at the powerhead outlet, so sand can fall down safely? There's a thought. And it wouldn't add any more resistance than adding that elbow in the second diagram.




majerah1 said:


> There was an ADA tank setup like this once. They used an airstone I believe.
> 
> Ah here we go: Creating a Waterfall in a Planted Aquarium | First News | CamThao.Us


I'm trying to avoid an airpump. The link is awesome though, thanks for that! It's reassuring how much their diagram looks like mine, LOL.


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

I've done this using air stones but never power heads.

Is there a particular reason you don't want to use an air stone?

I think a catch will be the flow of the powerhead being to strong and ultimately blowing the sand too far out from the catch tray. It may be possible to keep the uptake open at the top and fabricate an angled piece from the point of exit for the sand to catch it as it falls back down and then direct it out. (same principle I used with the air stone).

The other sticking point was already mentioned about the sand falling back into the powerhead when turned off. I don't believe your second drawing will work rather well as the flow from the powerhead will be impeeded against the tube wall. However....if you can fabricate a flapper valve on a piece of pvc tubing and then put that over the powerhead's out flow, that might work.


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