# DIY filters



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

I've noticed a couple new members(YEA!) who seem to have completely built themselves very effecient filters.
The two I think of are seove and discusbreeder.
seove has offered up good info on their system(thanks) but I really wonder more about all the details.
And discusbreeder,I want to hear what you got going on that you don't strongly advocate water changes.It sounds like a really large filter that eventually becomes almost all bio?
Eitherway and whoever you are I would like to hear about anyones custom built filter even if it is not DIY.
I have built or modified almost every single filter I use today on all my (almost 1,000g) of tanks!


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## discusbreeder (Oct 7, 2014)

Four fifty-five gallon drums in series
The first is a sedimentation tank where large debris is allowed to sit and deteriorate into chemicals and small particles

The second is a floss filter that traps the small particles and breaks them down further. The drum is three quarters full of floss. I buy hypoallergenic pillow stuffing because it is higher quality than most available aquarium products and significantly cheaper. For what you pay for a bag of floss at a pet store I can fill a fifty five gallon drum and have floss left over at Wal Mart.

The third is three quarters filled with thoroughly washed river or pea gravel. This tank begins the nitrogen oxygenation reaction and provides enough space to carry it of on a flow basis. The large mass of filter media processes the ammonia as it comes in.

The fourth drum is three quarters filled with washed volcanic rock. The porosity and nutrient composition of the rock provides for the additional surface area to finish the oxygenation of nitrogen. It is also provides mineral fortification in the water that are a necessity to fish health as well as the plants and other denizens of your tank. 

This high volume filtration, 210 gallon filter to 185 gallons in tanks, eliminates the need for constant cleaning and water changes.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Got to have pictures cause I really like what I hear!
the water flows into barrel #3(pea gravel) as an upflow fiter(pipe for inflow all the way to bottom) and then flowing up through gravel like a DSB?
I do believe it is possible,but haven't heard the word yet.
Is there any backpressure or "level differences"?
I mean I run in series, but force does not always equal mass(mostly vicesa/ versa).In my 3 series sump for my 75g reef(in photo gallery),the last vessel is always the lowest for water level.


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## seove (Sep 22, 2014)

My sump is made from a 54 gallon tub (with about 30 gallons of water). The lid of the sump has two 2-foot plant lights. The trickle filter is a 3-drawer system made from a 4 drawer cart (minus the bottom drawer). The bottom of the lowest drawer is an inch below the water line (to keep the trickle noise down). The 2 lower drawers are filled with pot and bath scrubbies as the bio-media. The top drawer has the K-Mart pillow filler as floss and layers of fine and coarse filter pads. The pads and floss are separated by "egg crate" (light diffuser) and all of the drawers have "egg crate" at the very bottom. The drawers have holes made with a soldering iron, spaced about 3/4 inch apart. A drill will crack the drawers. At the mouth of the overflow pipe I have a pot scrubby to keep the noise down. In the sump I have a sand substrate, plants, Guppies, Ghost Shrimp, Alage Eaters, and crayfish. In the overflow box I have a DIY Stockman standpipe to keep the drain noise down. The drain is 1 1/4" PVC. The return is 1" nylon hose with a DIY PVC spraybar. I had hose for the return but I found that the PVC is prettier and quieter. The tank that it filters is 55 gallons. Cllick on the pic below to get a view.


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## discusbreeder (Oct 7, 2014)

On one side of a standard 55 gallon plastic barrel you have a 2 inch ips (iron pipe size) thread. On the other side there is a 2 inch hose thread. The hose thread cap is fitted for 3/4 ips in the center. The back side of the cap has an opening that fits over a 1 1/2 inch pvc pipe. Cut the pipe to fit snugly to the bottom of the barrel with the cap completely screwed in. Drill twenty or twenty-five 3/16 holes through the last four inches of one end of the pipe and cement the other end into the cap with aquarium cement. Install pipe and cap in barrel, use pipe dope. Build a funnel for the barrels from a two inch threaded adapter and a four by two inch adapter with a short length of pipe so that your threads are protected. Install funnel and introduce filter media until barrel is 3/4 filled (have barrel in place or on wheels, a ton or so of weight). Remove funnel and plump to system.


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