Petrodes Posted May 11, 2006 Share Posted May 11, 2006 Hi all...am experimenting with a variation of side-drop filters and would appreciate comments as to what size air pumps people are using in ltrs/min please...also how does one measure acurately the flow thru such a filter???...thanks ...Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaZ Posted May 11, 2006 Share Posted May 11, 2006 I have side drops. I run 6 tanks, (12 air stones) on a pump which does 60L/min I think. However, I am using black poly-pipe to get the air to the tanks so I am losing a bit of air before it gets there. I don't work on a set L/min for each tank or anything, I just make sure there is plenty of air running through each one. More air = more turnover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 I am running 12 tanks with 3 air stones on each (Probably about 40 stones when Everything is going) with a pump rated at 60LPH and it would be at its limit for what I like I have found the flow of side drops to be very good. You dont need to flow much air through them to get big water turn over Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeW Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 How many tanks do you have on this system? If it's 2 the answer is different to if it's 32. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petrodes Posted May 12, 2006 Author Share Posted May 12, 2006 thanks for the replies..i have added a picture of what I am experimenting with...at present it is running a 24x14x18 but I am sure the concept could be adapted to run any size tank. comments would be welcome...thanks ...Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted May 14, 2006 Share Posted May 14, 2006 G'day Peter Your concepts looks interesting. Can you explain how it works and what components are in your filter? To answer your question. If you use a general quality air pump that is relatively new then I would use about 1.5 liters per air stone. Thus a 30 lph pump should handle about 20 airstones. If you are talking about good quality airpumps like a Hiblow then it drops to around 1 liter per airstone. cya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petrodes Posted May 14, 2006 Author Share Posted May 14, 2006 Hi Matthew...thanks for your comments...the concept is basically a pipe, inside a pipe, inside a pipe, working in the same way a drop-side filter does...water flows up between the two pipes, down into the filter thru the media and is then pumped out thru a 20mm pipe useing the air stone. At present the media is : 1 x coarse filter pad (ehiem 2213) 2x wool filter pads, 1 x bag of fluval carbon (fluval 104 ) and 1 x pkt of Fluval biomax media (fluval 104) Advantages over side-drop IMO are:1. circular intake means less space required than straight line. 2. easier cleaning as whole filter lifts out without disturbing any filter material. 3. Filter totaly dismantled for total clean. Crude measurement of ltrs/hr suggest in the vacinity of 300ltrs/hr with single airstone...feel sure that I can increase this by variations in air flow ??? Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colfish Posted May 14, 2006 Share Posted May 14, 2006 hi Pete very interesting,[good for a couple of hrs, over a beer] however, if you intend to run a number of these, be aware that an 18" lift, through a 20mm pipe is a big ask any "run of the mill" air pumps. whlist new, it probably would be ok but as it ages and the diaphram weakens the volume falls of rapidly. cheers; Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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