# Canister Intakes



## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

I`ve had an idea festering for awhile..a pair of canisters, sharing an intake that would run along the tanks entire back panel, from end to end. 
Kind of a long "U" shape, with each canisters intake attached at the "U"`s end.
Was thinking of 1/2"CPVC painted same color as the background. Loads of holes for debris pickup and no flow restriction.. 
That would only have the intake lines running down the tanks back corners and across an area generally hidden by decor.
I know it has been done before, right???

is it a  
or a  
or more of a :zz:


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## planenut007 (Mar 21, 2009)

Kind of like a "super" surface skimmer, HMMM? I wonder.
I have a 5' spray bar connected to 2 FX5's at the top of the back of my 180, with pick ups in opp rear corners, creates great flow accross top, down front, and back accros the bottom.
That idea sounds like the same in reverse.
What about plumbing the outlets to an under gravel jet system, or even a reverse flow UGF, if using powerful filters, like the FX5's.HMMM really got me thinking now.


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## Mikey13 (Apr 1, 2008)

Maybe i'm wrong with this....but unless you had 2 identical filters(maybe still even then) would you not run into one sucking in more than the other and maybe having them compete against the "suck" from each others pump? Sounds like more hassle than it's worth, no?
Plus..you would have to have a tonne of holes drilled as you had said.

I dunno...keep us informed.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

I've really liked some of your ides in the past. Tell me more about this one. Did you intend for the intake to be at the top of the water or bottom? Any reason for being two filters rather than one pulling to the middle of a pipe? Perhaps to keep the lines at the corners for hiding them? I've been tossing an idea for running a pipe to the bottom back with a tee to a power filter in the middle. Seems my Emporer 400 does little to pick things off the bottom. I am thinking of the pipe "hovering' somewhat above the sand bed but covered by rockwork leaving lots of space for water to flow between the rocks to the pipe. What's on your mind down there?


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

Well, looks like the much abused 55g will be the test bed, again. 
I want to get the up the corners and over the tank rim parts tight to the glass. A bit of trial and error there. 
Wish I had a drill press for the holes. 
I am thinking holes 3/4 around the main pipe, with the undrilled(is that a word?) just off of the sand bed..maybe an inch. Might need to be more, so the diggers don`t foul it up by blowing sand at it. I would not want it near the surface. My hydor-nanos are set pretty close to the surface and create a vortex that keeps the water surface free of any scummies. 
Since this pipe will be close to 47 inches long, with a mass of holes..I am not worried about the filters fighting each other for suction rights. 
Not a big fan of UGJ systems..lot of work for the minimal gain I ever got out of one. 
Pretty sure I will still end up with allot of spots where the poo will collect..since that is what it does the best..


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

Idea to run through whether you want to use it--- I have used a radial arm saw to make slots rather than drilling holes. Seemed much quicker to get the larger amount of openings. They do come out a saw kirf wide but they can be done either across the pipe or parallel to the pipe. I find PVC and CPVC both saw pretty well even with a carbide framing blade with large teeth. Ido need to let the blade get full up to speed or it grabs and tears out a chunk.

I don't currently have diggers in my test tank. Just giant poo producers. :?

Were you speaking of my much abused tank or yours?? :lol:


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

No radial arm, but do have a table saw..did a few practice cuts on some scrap. This will save beau coup time..*thanks*... 
Doing it this way I will need to be more in control of my "manly mits". as the slots will weaken the pipe more than the holes would have.
Think I will go with vertical slots first, though the idea of a few horizontal slits feels pretty cool bouncing around my empty skull. 
Test tank residents are rotating in and out...most times it`s like a reform school for wayward bullies.


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## planenut007 (Mar 21, 2009)

I like the slot idea along the length of pipe, maybe take a few caps and cut the ends out and slide them onto the pipe for reinforcement.


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

Cut to size, slots in, painted..ready for install. 
While doing this it occurred to me..why not tie the canisters returns into a single spraybar that would run the length of the tanks top..Would be hidden/blend in with the tanks rim.. 
I have never glued any of my previous spray bars, so I could change the direction of the flow..trying to strike a balance between aeration and debris movement.
Might be a pain during feeding..having to rotate the flow..hmm, have to give that more thought.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

Cutting slits goes much faster than drilling holes in that each action gives you much more opening. With that in mind, I went with the slits and made many fewer. With that I wound up cutting about 1/3 the diameter out on each pass and to avoid making it seem too weak in any one spot, I spiraled up the pipe about a 1/2 inch for each cut and turned the pipe so that the ends of the cut just overlapped a bit. I didn't measure these but did a freehand eyeball job of it. Made a pretty neat looking spiral. I was covering with foam so didn't get too fussy. It kind of looks like a lighthouse with steps going up the outside.


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

OK, it`s in..
Once again, freaked the currant inhabitants of the test tank out during the install. That crabo needs to chill...trying to bite the hand that feeds it..or is it giving me kisses of gratitude.
As far as looks go, I can`t complain. With attention to painting the exposed areas of pipe, behind the slots, does not show. 
From 3ft. away it does not show, or draw the eye to it. The pipe being tight to the rear corners is a real plus, hardly seen at all.
With the actual intakes being an inch off of the bottom, I could place my return lines tight to the intake pipe, much neater look.
My returns have un-glued "street ells" that I can rotate for different flow patterns, or add a spraybar. Right now, they angled to flow against the tanks side panels.
The big test will come when moving some more fish into the tank, do a feeding, and see how far, towards center of intake, I actually get suction. That will show me if I would have been better off with 2 separate "L" shaped intakes.


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## larry.beck (Jul 31, 2009)

Any plans to post photos Kaiser? Would love to see your handiwork. Certainly sounds interesting!


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

For the particle removal testing, I used a combination of cichlid crisps and floating pellet food. The guys devour both with gusto and each makes a mess. 
As expected. the first 3-4 inches pull the best. Grabbing pretty much all that comes near it. From there out to about 6 inches, it is hit and miss, still pulls the tiny particles quite well but the larger often float on by. At 8 inches I could not see much being pulled though I still think water is moving. Other than using some food coloring(that just came to me).. 
I think I`ll try that before saying a max suction distance away from the uplift pipe. Maybe a syringe squirted near the pipe..


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

For getting the color down to an area to test without coloring the whole tank, try a section of PVC down to that area and drop the color in the top, maybe???


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

I failed to add why I thought this might be needed. The pipe might create less disturbance in the normal water current than a hand held item?


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## Danzx6r (Oct 12, 2009)

*KaiserSousay*
To get the pull @ 8" away would mean a filter producing enough power to filter your system once every minute or 2!!! Plus your inhabitants would run the risk of meeting filter media :wink:

I think most importantly in this set-up would be creating Pull from different areas of the tank without reducing flow rates.... I used a simple "Y" piece plumbing set-up on my Eheim intake & every now and again one would look like it was more of a slave intake rather than a full on intake.

I hope you get it right, but dont expect much debris beyond 4" to get sucked up! I will be following this thread with interest :thumb:

Dan


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

What I believe my "cross tank intake" is doing... It is creating a low pressure area out beyond the first 3-4 inches of pipe, where the actual suction takes place. So any debris floating by all the slots does not really get drawn into the intake, but if in the "right place, at the right time" it will enter the pipe and head off to one of the filters.
Heck, before it would just head for the nearest rock and hide. :lol: 
Had a few medication dispenser syringes left over from a sick cat, so, red food color in hand... 
I started near the center,appx. 23 inches from either lift pipe, trying not to give it too hard a squirt, from appx. 3 inches above the intake pipe. 
Well, that did zip, except show me the current in the tank. :x 
Moved down, closer to the intake..again, the return lines currents disrupted the color. But it did look as if any color that drifted over the intake , went in..hard to tell, might just have been a combination of bad eyesight and wishful thinking. :-? 
Tried again, at around 12 inches out from the end, 1-2 inches above, and it did go into the pipe.  
So, my conclusion is the "cross tank intake" is superior to the use of individual tubes from each canister..but, you could get pretty much the same result making an "L" shaped intake with the leg of the "L" being 12-16 inches.
Now, on to a couple big water changes..tank looks like a soviet may day parade.


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