DIY filter

[oceandeep85]

All-

I love tinkering, designing and building and have always wanted to design, build and use my own filter. I've come up with an illustration that shows the basics of my idea. I still need guidance and insight on powerhead placement (should I PUSH the water through the filter or PULL it through the filter?), consideration on Gallons Per Hour for Powerhead to use (160gph - 400gph.. what's going to move the water up and down and through media with enough power for decent return flow? what would you choose?), media suggestions, media placement suggestions, comments, criticisms.. etc.

Also, one of the objectives is to provide a 'sump' of sorts by adding these filter chambers and more volume to the water column with enough return flow that I can double it as current or flow in the 10 gallon display. I am only interested in a pair of clowns and LPS and softie corals to keep. Don't need anything too fancy for SPS just yet. Flow doesn't have to be extreme.

Also- let me make this clear.. YES, I AM aware that sumps and filters can be bought for about the same price with far less work. YES, I AM aware that this is for a 10 gallon nano and this may be overkill.. YES, I AM aware that it may present its own set of issues... but it's not about ease, it's about designing and building something effective on my own.


SPECS:

Cylinders will be a total of 13" height with endcaps on. Calculations indicate that each cylinder will hold a water volume of .16 (without media)

I have purchased white GE Silicone door and window sealant to make connections water tight and water proof.

Total system should add about a half gallon or more to the water column.

Tank dimensions: 20"X10"X12"(height)


with that, check out the attached illustration and hammer away, reefer brothers and sisters! :shades:
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[oceandeep85]

Also- I do have another ball valve that will be in the return line back to the tank to control flow or stop it if need be. So the 'canisters' will be fully detachable from the system.

I'm also playing around with the idea of turning the intake into a DIY surface skimmer/drain with PVC pipe, so the act of sucking water out of the tank will create a drain down a PVC pipe and into the filter system.

 

[dball711]

Just a couple of thoughts, why not just use a sump? The design looks like it will work and I would use the pump to pull water through but I think in general the design will suck up a lot of the flow rate regardless pushing or pulling water through. My guess is your challenge will be to have enough water flowing through the filter even with a 400GPH pump. What I would really like to see is a surface skimmer to get water out of the tank. This alone really helps with circulation.

 

[oceandeep85]

dball711;971300 wrote: Just a couple of thoughts, why not just use a sump? The design looks like it will work and I would use the pump to pull water through but I think in general the design will suck up a lot of the flow rate regardless pushing or pulling water through. My guess is your challenge will be to have enough water flowing through the filter even with a 400GPH pump. What I would really like to see is a surface skimmer to get water out of the tank. This alone really helps with circulation.

great points, dball-

How about this adaptation? of course the skimmer could be adapted to utilize gravitational force more than the pump, but here's what I'm thinking right now..
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[dball711]

Yes that looks good, I would like to see this in action. If I was doing this I would cut it down to 2 cylinders (maybe larger) and combine the first 2 chmbers into one and the last 2 in to one. I'm just concerned about pushing or pulling water throug 4 chambers and it will only get more difficult as it reun and clogs up. I would als owonder how to run a heater in the last chamber since htese all are going to need to be sealed up air tight to work.

Like I said I would love to see this up and running, I have been designing filters for salt water tanks for almost 30 years (mostly all-in-ones and some hang on the backs). Its a hobby and a passion.

 

[oceandeep85]

dball711;971311 wrote: Yes that looks good, I would like to see this in action. If I was doing this I would cut it down to 2 cylinders (maybe larger) and combine the first 2 chmbers into one and the last 2 in to one. I'm just concerned about pushing or pulling water throug 4 chambers and it will only get more difficult as it reun and clogs up. I would als owonder how to run a heater in the last chamber since htese all are going to need to be sealed up air tight to work.

Like I said I would love to see this up and running, I have been designing filters for salt water tanks for almost 30 years (mostly all-in-ones and some hang on the backs). Its a hobby and a passion.

Well, I'm hoping to detail my progress in this thread. Like I said, I know it will have its own set of challenges, but I'm ready for them. I may nuke the last chamber for the sake of better flow, but the beauty of this whole thing is that I've kept in mind that I may want to add or subtract chambers once I can gauge the performance.

Follow along. I'd love expert input on this. I'm starting the basic assembly this evening.

 

[oceandeep85]

DBALL-

What if I were to just pick up another 160 gph powerhead and plumb one into the line on each end of the filter setup. That's 320 gph total with some force on the front end and some force to draw it out on the other end. Do you think that would work?

 

[morganatlanta]

That tank is too small for this fancy a filter. The parts will also cost you more than a small pre-made canister.

If you do want to DIY, I'd use a single 4" pipe and just stack the media, separated by egg crate and plastic canvas. Put each layer in a bag so they are easy to pull out.

I don't think putting a pump on both ends makes sense either. With a pull only pump, you have a problem priming, so use a pump to push at roughly 10x your tank volume. I like the small Sicce pumps.

 

[jrhunter0000]

dball711;971311 wrote: Yes that looks good, I would like to see this in action. If I was doing this I would cut it down to 2 cylinders (maybe larger) and combine the first 2 chmbers into one and the last 2 in to one. I'm just concerned about pushing or pulling water throug 4 chambers and it will only get more difficult as it reun and clogs up. I would als owonder how to run a heater in the last chamber since htese all are going to need to be sealed up air tight to work.

Like I said I would love to see this up and running, I have been designing filters for salt water tanks for almost 30 years (mostly all-in-ones and some hang on the backs). Its a hobby and a passion.

2nd this cant wait to see it up and going.

 

[dball711]

OceanDeep85;971325 wrote: DBALL-

What if I were to just pick up another 160 gph powerhead and plumb one into the line on each end of the filter setup. That's 320 gph total with some force on the front end and some force to draw it out on the other end. Do you think that would work?

I don't think this will give a true 320gph if they are in line, it would work if you had 2 lines out and a pump on each line.

 

[jdavid]

Looks pretty sweet man! Trial and error may present itself but I know you're fully aware. I like the second one with surface skimming much better,good thoughts on that Dave (dball)

Just one thing.. The silicone you picked up MAY have some sort of antimicrobial/anti fungal agent. Make sure you research that, a google search will definitely reveal any issues and provide a list of aquarium safe silicone products. Just about anything you can think of there's someone asking about it in relation to the aquarium hobby somewhere on the internet

 

[oceandeep85]

Update-

For the folks who have suggested using a sump or the fact that I could have bought a canister filter... Thanks, but you clearly didn't read through my initial post.

It was about 8p last night before I finally got home and could dig in, so I got some of the basics done. Most of the cutting and drilling, but haven't really sealed anything up or glued anything together yet. I've scrapped the extra chamber and have shrunk it down to only 3 tubes. Once I had gotten the 3 tubes assembled and could really see just how big a 13"X 2" tube will be, it was apparent that 3 chambers would be MORE than enough to do an unbelievable job without much maintenance. At this point I'm probably looking at changing the carbon and filter floss once every 6 months... it's impressive how much media there will be and how much flow will be going through them, this is more than enough. It's probably enough media for a 75 gallon tank or more. I was getting tired and a little lazy and shanked one of the tubes, so I'll have to make another one so everything lines up properly, but, so far, so good. I still haven't quite resolved the powerhead issue. I'm hoping Petsmart or Petco will have some MaxiJets that have the circulation mode on them for about 20-30 bucks. Most of them are rated at between 5 and 6 hundred gallons an hour on circulation mode. However, I worry about the quality. Most reviews on them aren't kind in terms of long-term reliability... but we'll see. Maybe one of them will be a good short-term solution so I can at least get the thing up and running and see how this goes. If it bombs, at least I have another pump to use.

Will post pics and progress when I can.

Happy Friday, Reefers

 

[oceandeep85]

Also, Josh- I'm using GE Silicone for window, door, attic and basement. It's 100% silicone and many folks not only recommend it for aquarium use, many folks have used it with great success. You have to get the kitchen/bathroom silicone with additives or use acrylic silicone to have any issues.

 

[bulkrate]

I had a thought for what you could do with that last chamber - chaetomorpha/caulerpa macroalgae reactor! Get some 3-5K LED 1W white & maybe a couple 660nm red strip lights, reflective window tinting film (to line the outside) and a needlepoint backer "cloth" to serve as a strainer to keep bits from getting back into your display tank.

Force that on an 18-20 hours lighting cycle that overlaps the dark periods of your tank and you'll get some PH control, ammonia/nitrate/phosphate uptake and a breeding area for copepods (which will help feed your fish and break down detritus).

You may find you need to run the reactors with parallel inlet feeds with individual valves to control flow levels to what's appropriate for whatever media you're running, but looks neat! I think it's good to have options outside of a plumbed sump... this one looks intriguing.

EDIT: Be careful with the silicone... even GE Type I's been implicated in some sump-related tank poisonings. Apparently the formula was recently tweaked to contain trace levels of BioSeal mildew inhibitor (even on the stuff that reads 100% silicone) possibly within regional markets or some other condition. Oh, and let the stuff cure longer than you think it needs to. I'd get the stuff from Petco or directly from an aquarium manufacturer... even at a markup it's not THAT expensive.

 

[jdavid]

I'm not sure activated carbon stays good for 6 months, you'll actually want to use only a cup or two of carbon and change every other week or once a month. Use less, change more often.

As far as filter floss, regular polyfil (synthetic pillow stuffing) is available at Walmart or hobby lobby in huge bags for only a few bucks. as detritus accumulates in the filter floss it becomes what some refer to as a nitrate factory.. The idea is to trap and large particles before they return to the display, but it does not actually remove the nutrients from the water column unless you change or rinse the stuff. Every other week.

 

[jdavid]

BulkRate;971566 wrote: I had a thought for what you could do with that last chamber - chaetomorpha/caulerpa macroalgae reactor! Get some 3-5K LED 1W white & maybe a couple 660nm red strip lights, reflective window tinting film (to line the outside) and a needlepoint backer "cloth" to serve as a strainer to keep bits from getting back into your display tank.

Force that on an 18-20 hours lighting cycle that overlaps the dark periods of your tank and you'll get some PH control, ammonia/nitrate/phosphate uptake and a breeding area for copepods (which will help feed your fish and break down detritus).

You may find you need to run the reactors with parallel inlet feeds with individual valves to control flow levels to what's appropriate for whatever media you're running, but looks neat! I think it's good to have options outside of a plumbed sump... this one looks intriguing.

EDIT: Be careful with the silicone... even GE Type I's been implicated in some sump-related tank poisonings. Apparently the formula was recently tweaked to contain trace levels of BioSeal mildew inhibitor (even on the stuff that reads 100% silicone) possibly within regional markets or some other condition. Oh, and let the stuff cure longer than you think it needs to. I'd get the stuff from Petco or directly from an aquarium manufacturer... even at a markup it's not THAT expensive.

I just buy the Marineland aquarium silicone for peace of mind..

 

[bulkrate]

I'd go with JDavid's suggestions on the carbon and floss - a bag of the polyfil stuff (the non-flame-retardant kind!) is dirt cheap and I'd replace it at least every week. I wouldn't even bother with rinsing, just replace with a new wad and use that as part of your nutrient export approach - remember that cr@p removed with the floss is no longer cr@p in the tank!

Ditto the carbon.

 

[oceandeep85]

Hey, guys- Just got back from a meeting downtown.. I was reading the commentary but unfortunately couldn't respond.

So, I'm headed to Petsmart and Petco after work to look for upper-end maxijet powerheads.. Josh (JDAVID) sent me a really awesome video and suggests that the MJ900 might do just the trick. - I'll also make sure I get a tube of the right sealant too, I don't think the GE stuff would do any harm.. but it's not worth the risk... I don't want to lose colonies of coral or other livestock down the road and always wonder if it's the sealant... so, thanks guys, I'll return the caulk gun and sealant to Lowe's and get my money back. Unless one of you wants it them.

Jeremy (Bulkrate)- I freakin' love the idea of the macroalgae reactor. I really do. I'm going to mock up some designs and I'll share it with everyone. For now, I'm sticking to the three chambers. If I can/want to/need to add on a 4th in the future, my design will allow for it to easily be done.

Bassett.. the cylinders are 2" diameter cylinders of PVC pipe from lowes.


Now- I need some clarification on this carbon issue. I've specifically designed the daisy-chain so that the water will be flowing DOWN through the mechanical, UP through the carbon, and down again through matrix or other bio-media and then back out into the tank.

I've heard both arguments.. that it SHOULD tumble, and that it shouldn't.. JDAVID's made some pretty compelling arguments for why it should, but anyone know why it shouldn't (other than it breaks apart and whatnot?)

Remember that the inlet/outlet holes inside the bottom and top of the "reactor" tubes are micro-holes. It'd really be hard for anything to escape the reactor chambers if it wasn't the size of dust.

 

[jdavid]

Yeah, could be that I'm wrong about the carbon. I prefer mine to tumble gently, to keep it separated.

I prefer for water to move through my media, and not around a big clump of it. But, I'm ready to be educated.

 

[oceandeep85]

Awesome.

2 weeks seems a bit excessive, but I hear what you're saying.

PetCo wants $50 for the MaxiJet 1200

but the 600 and 900 are on clearance. I got them to set a MaxiJet 900 aside for me for $32.70 so I'll get the sealant when I pick up the powerhead.

Now all I'm worried about is trying to plumb in the powerhead to the setup. Any thoughts on placement? Some say to PUSH the water, others have said to pull it... seems to me most filters are pulling through media... what do you guys think?