htm Posted February 18, 2005 Share Posted February 18, 2005 Its taken a little sourcing but managed to find a plastic container that was suitable for the dimensions i had to work with for my DIY overhead trickle. Its a 12 litre plastic tub with 2x 25mm poly elbows in the bottom to return the water back into the tank. I have an aquaclear 301 powerhead that does something like 650L/H and it sits ontop of my 36" x 18" x 18". After allowing for rocks,gravel id say it would be somewhere under 150 litres.Planning on putting a sponge pre on the powerhead. My understanding is that i should have at least 10% of volume for the bio balls so i guess i need to make up a little for the short fall(or is what i have enough?) After making the first one (as i have tanks) i was quite surprised at how easy it is to DIY a filter like this one and if one uses a pre filter that isnt housed in the tank, how much easier it is to maintain.I use to have canisters years ago(fluval) always seemed to be a bit of a messy affair when it came to cleaning the media(maybe it was just me). With bioballs and powerhead this small filter cost me about 70 or 80 dollars. As i havent cycled the system yet i dont know for sure but i would think such a system would be a whole lot better than internals or canisters. My problem was that i have the tanks in a unit that is designed to hide all the cables (it is all enclosed )and didnt have enough room otherwise i would have made it bigger and probably tiered it so that i could use chemical filtration if i needed or wanted to. I know hands still need to get wet with the husbandry of tanks but for my liking the more thats above the water the better.I was going to hook the system up to an undergravel but adivce from this forum made me change my mind,and will be going with a pre sponge. Like i said i havent cycled the tank or had it working with stock but i have had it running and it works a treat(mechanically).I am hoping that it will be as good as a sump trickle(biologically). The only small problem,or big depending on the whinging 10 yr old :-) is it is noisey and it is in his bedroom-hehehe. I am still waiting on the bio balls so at the moment the water is hitting the bottom of the tub,im hoping that when i put the bio balls in and some filter wool over the top of the balls that the noise will reduce. Anyway if anyone is interested and is relatively new to the hobby as i am i can post some pics to give novices like myself a mental picture to work from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r.d.m Posted February 19, 2005 Share Posted February 19, 2005 have you incorporated something in the design in case it blocks and overflows? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted February 19, 2005 Share Posted February 19, 2005 two 25mm outlets is pretty redundant with 2000lph, let alone 650lph - I would think it's fine (unless left unattended for 6 months or something) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaZ Posted February 19, 2005 Share Posted February 19, 2005 The only small problem,or big depending on the whinging 10 yr old :-) is it is noisey and it is in his bedroom You're a cruel man I had trouble getting to sleep when I used to have a tank in my bedroom, and it had an eheim canister and no air pump or anything noisy. I'd never manage with all that rushing gushing water sound. Better get some plastic sheets too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ged Posted February 19, 2005 Share Posted February 19, 2005 Better get some plastic sheets too I don't think Baz is talking about needing them for your tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htm Posted February 19, 2005 Author Share Posted February 19, 2005 hehehehe. I guess it might come acroaa a little cruel but boy he makes me pull my hair out at times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted February 19, 2005 Share Posted February 19, 2005 G'day Getting back to the question of noise. Make yourself a drip plate. Just get some sort of plastic container that filts into the top of the tub. Drill lots of small holes into it. This will decrease the noise of the water. Enough???? I suppose you will just have to try it. HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htm Posted February 20, 2005 Author Share Posted February 20, 2005 I have it working on a 24" x 18"x 18" and what i have done is put some dacron wadding over the bio balls, this has decreased the noise considerably,to the point that noise isnt a problem. Is this going to decrease the efficiency of the filter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViS Posted February 20, 2005 Share Posted February 20, 2005 No it will actually increase the efficiancy, as the dacron will catch all the crud, allowing the bioballs to do their job without becoming clogged. You will need to replace (or wash out) the dacron every week or two, or it will become clogged itself and not let water through onto the bioballs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierced Soul Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 POst some pics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gigitt Posted February 27, 2005 Share Posted February 27, 2005 Pics Please... very interested. Also where did you buy all the gear? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htm Posted February 28, 2005 Author Share Posted February 28, 2005 I will post the pics as i have to make another two. My problem was that i had very little overhead space so needed to go to losts of stores to find an appropriate sized plastic container. I ended up finding a plastic tool box that has a 12 litre capasity which is plenty for the 24 x 18 x 18 tanks. I use a sponge as a pre-filter that only cost $11.00 off an online site. I went to a LFS and the same songe was $30 so i was real happy. I am getting a 72 x 18 x 24 made up and will use the same principle but make a hood big enough so as not to have any problems with container size for the trickle. Im not sure if it is as efficient as a sump, and i guess a sump is a little more versatile(being able to use a skimmer for marines) but with the overhead trickle you dont lose as much output from the powerhead due to the water not needing to travel as high. Anyway i will post the pics once i have them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.