Cleaning the Tanks

Procedure

1. Make sure the pump is running and put on an apron and boots
2. Turn off the water flow in tank 2
3. Carefully scrape down the sides of the seed clam bucket with your hand making sure there are no seed clams stuck to the sides. 
   1. Some seed clams like to stick to the sides right near the t-valve which can be hard to reach. Those clams are easier to scrape down if you twist the t-valve so that it is vertical instead of horizontal. 
4. Once all the clams are scraped off of the t-valve and sides of the bucket, remove the planter from under the bucket and place it out of the way.
5. Twist off the t-valve 
6. Quickly move the bucket off of the nipple and then make sure the hole is above the water line so that clams can’t escape. 
7. Place the t-valve to the side
8. With your hands or a scrub brush, clean off the sides of the bucket on the inside and outside.
9. Transfer the bucket from tank 2 to tank 1 and align the bucket so that its rim is supported by the tank’s ledge and the rim of the other buckets in the upweller (see picture below for a better understanding of bucket alignment)
   1. This is so that the seed clams are still in the water but the water doesn’t rise above the hole. We don’t want any seed clams escaping.
10. Repeat steps 4-8 with all of the buckets in tank 2.
    1. Buckets in tank 2 that have one-year-old clams can be placed anywhere in tank 2 and the water line can go over the hole in the bucket because those clams will not escape.

11. Turn off the aeration in tank 2
12. Clean off the planter pots that were in tank 2 and place them to the side
13. Once all of the buckets are in tank 1, slowly loosen the coupling that seals the pipe that directs the water out of the tank.
14. Once the coupling is loose, move the pipe halfway over the drain hole.
    1. We don’t want to totally move the pipe away from the drain because we might overflow the outflow pipe.
    2. Water should be draining out of the upweller tank.
15. As the water level gets to around 1 inch high, fully remove the pipe away from the drain and remove the second part of the coupling
16. Scrub down the sides of the tank and start directing the mud in the tank towards the drain with your hands or a scrub brush. 
    1. It might be helpful for someone to hop in the tank to reach all 4 sides of the tank
17. If there is still mud in the tank when all of the water is drained, turn off both of the valves for tank 1 
18. Turn open the valve to the hose
    1. There should be a lot of pressure in the hose
    2. Before using the hose, look around and cover any electronics that might get wet
19. Spray down the tank directing the rest of the mud down the drain.
20. Once the tank is fully cleaned, close the valve to the hose
21. Screw both parts of the coupling back together and then align the pipe back over the drain and shove the coupling insert back into the drain hole to seal it back up.
22. Grab a pantyhoe and place it around the PVC pipe where the water flow comes out.
23. Slowly open the valve to allow water to flow out of the pipe
24. After a minute, take the pantyhoe off 
    1. This is to prevent the initial sediment that pours out of the pipe from flowing into the newly cleaned tank.
25. Do the same thing with the other PVC pipe
26. Place the pantyhoe in an empty bucket to clean later.
27. Let the Tank fill up with water
28. Once the water level is high enough to cover the clams when the buckets are placed back on the nipple, you can begin transferring all of the buckets that belong in tank 2 back to tank 2. 
29. With the bucket in one hand and the t-valve in the other, place the bucket back onto the nipple while quickly screwing the t-valve back onto the nipple before any clams escape. 
30. Spread out clams evenly if necessary
31. Put the clean planter pot back under the bucket
32. Once the water level is above the aeration stones, turn the aeration back on.
33. Repeat this whole process with tank 1
    1. Important differences between procedure for tank 2 and tank 1:
       1. All buckets in tank 1 have one-year-old clams so there is no need to prevent the water from going above the hole because these clams will not escape.
       2. Replace “t-valve” with “valve” in the procedure
       3. When adjusting the pressure for the hose, turn the valves off for tank 2
       4. the coupling in tank 1 is in a different location