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Filtration:Diy Filter.


Luke Austin

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I'm thinking of making a my own filter for my 5x14x18 tank. I'm looking at the over the top trickle type thing thats in the DIY bit on the SCP website. I wa just wondering if anyone's done thi or similar and any probs i should look out for.

Does the powerhead/pump in the tank have to be a certain type? with or without a prefilter??

thanks for any info, Luke.

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Hi Luke -

It was my trickle filter you were talking about, so I have done it before :p

I used a 2500 litre / hr pump (I think) on a 6x2x2 (it had a sponge prefilter)....

I generally rinsed the sponge once a week.

Worked a treat.

Make sure you make the "return" hole much bigger than it needs to be... and put a piece of egg crate in front of it to stop it getting blocked.

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Hi Luke

So long as the fittings are tight I don't see any probs with using flexpipe

the main thing is having enough outlets so it doesn't back up I use 3 x 19mm

elbows fitted to the o/head unit running a 2000lph pump (Jun HX5000) lifted 48cm then run through first filter mat and crushed coral down then over filter sponge and bio balls and back to the tank (5'x2'x2') this is working fine

L2H

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Hi Luke,

Try Ben from Age of Aquariums (one of the SCP sponsors), he sells some pretty good pumps at reasonable prices. Otherwise I found that hydroponic stores sell pumps cheaper than any LFS.

Good luck with your filter, I've been in the process of making a filter for a little over 2 years now!! I just get lazy sometimes

Cheers

Sam.

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I made a couple of those - slightly different to the model but same principles - and used the flexible tube. They worked very well for ages. The only reason I'm not using either of them is that all the tanks are currently in the house and the filters weren't the prettiest. Also they are a little noisy - water noises.

On one I used an outlet that was much larger than the inlet, for the other I used the same size but two of them.

I used the pre filter. As Dave said, just squeeze it out regularly.

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I use the black irrigation hose for all my filtration with the zip lock clamps. Works great and is only about $6- $8 for a huge roll!! And I found it slips over most pump outlets easier than the green rubber hose.

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I made one of those bucket trickle filters. The problem was the noise of the pump (vibration), my pump was outside the bucket and connected directly to the side on the bucket, ie no extra sump container. This vibrated the whole bucket and caused the cabinet doors to vibrate also.

I finally ditched the bucket ($12 plus fittings($4)) and bought a glass mini reef ($85). I then fitted the spinner and bio balls from the bucket to this. No more vibration noise. I use half bio balls and half gutter guard to bring the filter material closer to the spinner to reduce water splash noise.

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Yes edward, this type of setup needs the filter to be above the tank.

The pump pushes the water from the tank up to the filter, and then gravity causes the water to fall through the filter media and back into the tank.

In the event of a blackout, the pump will stop pumping water out of the tank, and any water currently working its way through the filter media will continue to do so (our friend gravity) and will end up in the tank.

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