DIY Side drop filter

[Lion King]

Hi,

Does anyone know how to make DIY Side drop filter? By the way, how noisy is it compare to Wet/Dry filter?

Thanks Guys.

Tony

[Josh]

Hi Tony

Have a read of this THIS ARTICLE. It should explain it.

I find them silent

Josh

[Lion King]

Thanks Josh for the great article.

Okay, thanks, I might give it a go on my 5ft tank.

Tony

[fishdance]

Tony,

I use side drop filters with a powerhead, (not an airpump) so all my side drop filters ARE wet/dry systems. I use a drip tray so there are no spray arms and it is extremely effective and quiet. Pipe the return back to other side of the tank if possible.

Here is a photo to give you an idea. Later this 12 foot tank was heavily stocked and I removed the canister filter shown.

[m0oks]

Fishdance,

YOu got anymore photos? Interested to see how this works.

[kingtiger]

Fishdance,

YOu got anymore photos? Interested to see how this works.

Yes please

Cheers

Hilton

[Lion King]

Thanks Fish dance for your reply.

Yes, I would be very interested to see how it works as well .

By the way, your tank is awsome. 12" longggg... wowwww

Tony

[fishdance]

I am overseas for the next 6 months so no photos unfortunately but I drew up a rough sketch of the filter. Im not very good at the drawing program either so apologies. Photos would be so much easier.

Essentially the filter is made from 2 pieces of glass. One first piece is the same internal width as your tank and as high as you want your water level to be. Glue this about 15 cm from the end where you want your filter to be. It should be watertight so I used the same thickness glass as the tank walls.

The other piece is much smaller, 15cm wide and the same height as the first piece. It is installed as shown in diagram to create a small powerhead chamber (approx 15cm x 15cm) and a larger biomedia chamber. Glue this second piece about 10mm off the bottom so it will stand 10mm higher than the first piece. On the biomedia chamber side I also glued 2 glass rails near the top so I could lay some egg crate/undergravel plate and a sponge prefilter (could use dacron sheet). This helps spread the water as a drip plate. Fill the biomedia chamber with biocubes or whatever media you want. I usually use nylon prawn trawler netting rejects on my trickles since its easy to pull out and its free

To stop fish escaping over into the filter I also used some egg crate siliconed sideways. There was some water going over the first piece directly into the powerhead chamber so I glued a small 10mm strip of glass on powerhead chamber side too which is why I made second piece 10mm higher. Not really necessary but now all the water must go through the prefilter drip tray, through the biomedia chamber and then into the powerhead chamber. I use a powerhead to pipe the water back out to the other end of the tank. Leave a small gap between the side rails of your tank and the top of your internal wall to allow the pipe through.

Diagram shown without biomedia, drip tray or powerhead. Hopefully clear enough to understand.

I made this 12 foot out of 2 - 6x2x2 tanks since my lift couldnt fit a 10 footer. I have made much longer

[fishdance]

Hmmm diagram doesnt show this but the water level on the filter side only needs to cover the powerhead. Most of the biomedia and powerhead chamber will be out of water so you get the wet/dry filtration. When you do a water change, just turn off the powerhead and water will settle into the filter side just like a sump.

The main internal wall doesnt really need to be watertight, but should be tight enough that powerhead can empty the filter side so you can have the wet/dry. You might be able to find some real photos if you google?

[Ash]

I think that diagram is pretty good, it's exactly what I visualised as what you had

[Lion King]

Thanks for the great explanation Fish dance, that is very clear and helpful.

Thanks for sharing the knowledge

Tony