Substrate water extractor

fishbone · Post by **fishbone** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 2:46 pm

This DIY is most likely highly esoteric but I am posting it anyway just in case someone else found themselves in my situation.

The Set-up
I have a 75 gallon palludarium: half land, half water. Both sides are 6 inches deep. The canister filter on the water side creates a small waterfall. This water movement, paired with the ambient temperature, causes evaporation which in turn is what keeps the humidity at a nice and steady 75% or more.

The Problem
The moisture in the air condenses and ends up as water accumulation on the bottom of the substrate. If not addressed, it causes flooding. Over the course of a week, depending on the temperature in the room where the crabitat is, I end up collecting anywhere from a cup, to as much as half a gallon of water.

The Solution
The idea was to come up with a way to siphon the water out from the bottom of the tank while preventing sand from climbing up the airline and clogging it up.

What is needed
-airline
-airline suction cup(s)
-pocket-style aquarium filter media with included holding frame
-fine aquarium gravel, enough to fill up the filter media
-optional airline regulator/connector

The basic idea is to shove one end of the airline about halfway into the filter media with the holding frame in place, fill the media with gravel (don't stretch and overfill it), then close the top off and bury this contraption to the bottom of the sand. The gravel allows the water to easily pool in that area and the airstone will act as a filter, preventing sand from clogging the airline. This works wonders in my tank. Do your best to have the buried airline end as close to one side of the filter as possible and bury that side down, so it will be as close to the bottom of the tank as possible.

I used a Tetra Whisper Biobag, any other filter media will work as long as it is the same pocket-style toaccommodatee activated charcoal and comes with some sort of frame which keeps it's shape and closes it up. DO NOT USE the activated carbon, for obvious reasons.
http://www.tetra-fish.com/sites/tetrafi ... 276&cid=55

Instead of running the entire length of airline up out of the tank and down long enough to reach to whatever I was going to use for the water, I cut it to length only to reach up close to the top of the tank or at least high enough to clear the substrate. I then hooked up the airline regulator and stuck the airline to the side of the tank with the suction cup. You don't have to use a regulator, any connector will do but I found that the valve which controls flow (you will be using it at full open at all times) makes it easier to grab onto it and connect/disconnect the line. Google for "aquarium air control kit". Petco carries a cheap kit which has a bunch of different connectors and suction cups.
http://www.petco.com/product/7492/PETCO ... riums.aspx

So whenever I have to siphon water out, I just hook up the long airline to the t-fitting and get the water out. You'll have to suck on the airline to get the water out as if you were trying to siphon gas out of a car. The lower you go with the airline, the stronger the "pull" on the water will be.

fishbone · Post by **fishbone** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 3:02 pm

I thought about adding an airstone to the burried end of the airline but I don't have it set up that way so I can't vouch for how well it would work. Theoretically you would add the ultimate sand filter/barrier, but depending on how bulky that airstone is, it may actually be counter-productive. If any portion of it happens to stick out of the water puddle, you'll end up drawing in air and not so much water.

Silver Buttons · Post by **Silver Buttons** » Tue Aug 03, 2010 11:23 pm

Do you have any pictures or diagrams of what this looks like when it's in place? Sorry, but I can't picture it, and drainage is a big problem in my tank.

fishbone · Post by **fishbone** » Sat Aug 14, 2010 6:05 pm

I wish I had one handy but I don't. I'll try to keep it in mind next time I'm fiddling around and set-up a mock extractor like the one I'm talking about.
Basically imagine a sack full of gravel, with a straw sticking out. The sack lets water pass through in it, the gravel lets it pool, and you can suck it out through the straw. Make sense?