# hiding equip,& water movement behind 3d b/g



## ozman (Sep 7, 2012)

hi all,
sorry if this has been asked before(or a lot) but i'm concerned about water movement behind the 3d b/g
this will be my first time to own one and my first thoughts aside how great they look was they can hide all of my equipment.

then i got to thinking about the water behind.... with niche/hole cutouts for overflow at top covered so no fish can get behind,
sealed of course all round.outlets piped through to the front of the b/g would this create good water movement behind the b/g for the intakes & heater?

these are questions i'd like to explore before i purchase anything, i have not even bought my tank yet!

i do intend on a 350/375lt 4ft tank with 1x2700lph & 1x1400lph filters as i know that is not their media inc flow rate.

cheers to you all
ozman


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

You don't want to "pipe" the holes at the bottom for inlets. The filter inlets behind the background sucking up the water behind the background are what keeps the space clean. The filter inlets don't even have to be right behind the holes.

I have mesh on the inlet holes in the background, but you may find that any fry in the tank can fit through. And the space required to allow the filter inlet to fit behind is big enough to fit a net to retrieve the fry when they have grown too big to swim back.

The heater is the only item with a trick to positioning. Actually I use in-line heaters now, so no worries. But when I had heaters behind...the heater has to be between the BG inlet hole and the filter intake so all water entering the filter has to flow over the heater.


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## ozman (Sep 7, 2012)

thanks DJRansome, mmm as far as the heater goes i think i'll go with the inline to stop that problem.
it makes sense about the inlets as you pointed out, but my question is should i drill for two outlet pipes(two filter returns)
directing water into the tank from different angles & perhaps opposite ends to get nice movement in the tank ?

hope i'm making sense from my muddled mind :roll: *** a lot to learn and lovin every minute of it

cheers ozman


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

On a 48" tank I usually do two filters and two inlet holes. Behind the BG things are arranged like this:
Filter Inlet pipe > Heater > BG inlet hole > space > BG inlet hole > Heater > Filter Inlet Pipe

With the suction at each end, the entire space behind the BG remains clean. Equipment is grouped at each end.

From the front, the BG inlet holes are spaced at the one foot mark and the three foot mark.

The filter returns over the BG in my tanks just point straight ahead. The positioning is determined by the BG...I do not cut the tops. Wherever I can find 2 spots that are thin enough for the filter pipe to hook over without alteration. This creates two big loops of current with return over the top back-to-front and inlet at the bottom front-to-back.

I have 3 tanks set up like this and one 36" with a single filter in the middle. So far so good (7 years).

Be sure to locate them high enough to be 2" above any future depth of substrate you might want. I have a tank now where I want to increase the substrate to be 3" for plants and the holes are too low. : (


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## ozman (Sep 7, 2012)

thanks again DJRansome, your reply has given me all the info i think i needed.
you have been extremely helpful to me in your replies,thanks so much for sharing your knowledge

all the best to you :thumb:

ozman


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