Substrate too deep?

[Glenn]

What filter are you using and how often you change the water? I wanna do something similar

Sorry... I should really learn to check back more often.
It's a Fluval 305, though I replaced their crappy stock hoses with regular pvc ones.
It works well enough at clearing out the poops and maintaining water quality but you still gotta keep up with the water changes!

If he's in the water constantly I usually do small water changes every few days (10% or so) to keep ammonia in check. During the winter he was buried so all I did for four months was top off the water half
You need to keep an eye on ammonia levels when he starts swimming again after a long break though, as the whole system will cycle all over again.