Noddy65 Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 Hi all I have 2 six foot tanks that currently are filtered by sumps at the ends...the water trickles into the sumps, runs throught the filter medium and is returned to the tank by a water pump...these are not external sumps, they are built into the end of the tank itself. The tanks are empty now and I was exploring the possibility of converting the space at the end of the tank used for the 'sump' filter into an air driven side drop filter. A system where I could drop some glass spanels in would be best but I cant get my head around how to make this work...any suggestions? Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenman Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 send Josh a PM,he has photo's of his,if not i can take photo's of mine. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noddy65 Posted March 7, 2008 Author Share Posted March 7, 2008 Thanks Phil Ill send him a pm....Id like to see them in operation for myself as well... Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noddy65 Posted March 8, 2008 Author Share Posted March 8, 2008 Heres drawing of two options...what do people think? Any advantages for either...would this give enough water turnover for a 6 x 18 x 18 tanks? Thanks for your time Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michiel Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 Heres drawing of two options...what do people think? I think the drawings are beautiful Seriously, just check Josh's webpage wich is linked in his posts. Have a nice day Michiel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 Pic one is the closest to what you need to do. i have holes in mine, but you can just cut the corners out of the glass and have the returns on the outside. You could also make them from perspex if you add piece 1 in your first drawing. It is easier to work with. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noddy65 Posted March 8, 2008 Author Share Posted March 8, 2008 Thanks guys...looks like the first pic is the one to use...much simpler etc....one of the six footers is actually divided in half with the weir at one end....Ill have to rig up something to draw the water over the divider, Ill probably use a modified side drop unit just without any filter material... Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noddy65 Posted March 10, 2008 Author Share Posted March 10, 2008 One more thing...what diameter pvc piping for the uplifts do you people recommend. I went to Bunnings today and they had various diameters...I was thinking 20 mm but would this be too wide? Also.....is there a recommended height difference between the pice 1 in my drawing and the exisitng glass wall i have in the tank?....its about 40 mm from the top of the tank so piece 1 could only jut above the exisitng wall by 30 - 40 mm or so. Also Josh...what do you mean by cutting the corners out of the glass and having the returns on the outside...if I used perspex I could cut holes like you did.. I could also get some perspex from Bunnings as well I suppose. Again thanks for all you help everyone. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DartzMan Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 Gday from a newbie I am currently DIYing my own Tank and Stand.... and I am also interested in the Drop Filter system My tank is L Shaped and about 105 Gallons, 1100mm Side A X 1100mm Side B X 550mm High and 450 front to back 10mm Glass I was thinking of having one of these filters in each corner and covering them up with background leaving a gap at the bottom for water entry and a couple holes in the top of the Background for water return What I was thinking....... ( shouldnt think). using power heads instead of using air pumps, would this enable me to also add Bio balls and other filter material to the filters and give me a good water turn over?...... Also would it be possible to have my heaters inside of the compartments as well Looking forward to your responses Kevin B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noddy65 Posted March 26, 2008 Author Share Posted March 26, 2008 Ok...Ive done all the plumbing... There were a few issues. the exisitng internal wall left me with only a small gap at the top, the largest PVC pipe I could use for the uplift was 20 mm (pretty small). The diameter of the smallest airstone I could find is around 15 mm, leaving only a small gap for the water to be carried up and around the airstone. I did a simple test. I measured the amount of water uplifted by using an airstone vs using just an airline. With airstone was around 750 ml in 20 second (2.2 litres/min) , just a plain airline was 1.5 litres in 20 seconds (4.5 litres/min). Since I have three uplifts in each filter the water moved is 6.6 litres/min vs 13.5 litres/min. Ill go with the no airstone system. I found a paper on the net about using PVC pipes as an undergarvelt filter so i thought Id give this a try. The uplifts and undergravel sections. I made cuts in the undergravel section for teh water to be sucked into. This is the three uplifts installed, no water or filter material yet. And this is where (hopefully) the water will be lifted up to and into the tank. The top tank was also divided in half, with no filter on that side of the tank. I needed to move the water from the far side of the tank into the side of the tank with the drop side filter. I made two uplifts joined by a piece of PCV tubing with small slits cut in it. Ill also pop a powerhead in this side to move more water. The water level will be above the height of the divider so water should flow back into the far side of the tank. Just need to rig up something to stop the fish from swimming from one side of the tank to the other. The next step is to fill the tanks with water, pop some filter material in and see if this works. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vukie. Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 I really interested in this setup, ho far down the PVC do the air feeds go? and how big are the air pumps that are being used? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noddy65 Posted March 27, 2008 Author Share Posted March 27, 2008 I have the air feeds almost all the way to the bottom of the uplift tubes. I run a central air pump, just a big Resun model but I had it running 40 + sponge filters in my old house with air to spare. Rather than doing slits in the tubes Id drill holes next time, I think the slits will eventually clog with gunk...at some stage Im going to have to strip it down and drill holes. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishdance Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 Rather than doing slits in the tubes Id drill holes next time, I think the slits will eventually clog with gunk...at some stage Im going to have to strip it down and drill holes. If you have a circular drop saw or even a hand held circular saw then you can put a series of slits far faster and more accurate than a drill. If you have a 3mm thick blade, you will have 3mm wide slits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishdance Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 What I was thinking....... ( shouldnt think). using power heads instead of using air pumps, would this enable me to also add Bio balls and other filter material to the filters and give me a good water turn over?...... Also would it be possible to have my heaters inside of the compartments as well Kevin B, Some people use powerheads instead of air lifts. Since they do move so much water, many turn their side drop filters into wet/dry filters. I have dug up an older link on this for you. http://www.aceforums.com.au/index.php?show...c=33881&hl= You can leave heaters hidden here as long as they dont get dry and there is sufficient circulation to prevent uneven hot spots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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