How do you clean bottom pane on BB tanks.

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by Trigger Man

Had one of those, snapped it and realized that the handles are actually just a thin piece of metal with air in the inside. I've got to find me a industrial one or not press so hard I guess.

I broke the cheapo handle on my multi attachment cleaning apparatus too..grrr. I was about to turf the whole kit in the trash but I really liked all the attachments for the thing. So I went to the store, picked up a piece of wooden dowel material with the proper diameter and fixed it good. Trying to drill out the crappy metal on the attachment piece was a chore, but once done I epoxied the wooden handle in there, coat of marine varnish and now it's a beauty. I remember after buying the damn thing that I wished I'd bought the model with the longer handle so during the repair, I made sure the new wooden handle was longer than the original.

[reefermadness]

If you have algae growing on the bottom pane of glass (besides coralline) in a BB setup you probably are not set up optimally for a BB system. For the best results in a BB system you need little rock (open scape) which best is suspended from the bottom some how or touches the bottom very little. No rock should touch any side pane and you need A LOT of flow to keep all the detritus suspended. An over sized skimmer should also be used. At this point you will probably still have some detritus and small particles build up on the bottom which need to be syphoned out every week or two so it is good to have lots of open space to get your hand it and clean.

[Trigger Man]

Originally Posted by mike31154

I broke the cheapo handle on my multi attachment cleaning apparatus too..grrr. I was about to turf the whole kit in the trash but I really liked all the attachments for the thing. So I went to the store, picked up a piece of wooden dowel material with the proper diameter and fixed it good. Trying to drill out the crappy metal on the attachment piece was a chore, but once done I epoxied the wooden handle in there, coat of marine varnish and now it's a beauty. I remember after buying the damn thing that I wished I'd bought the model with the longer handle so during the repair, I made sure the new wooden handle was longer than the original.

Good to know, gonna have to try out your solution to the problem.
Thanks,

[Canadian]

I use an Eheim Sludge Extractor - it works great! Of course I've modified it a bit but it works well to remove any detritus.