How to make a External Bio Filters

[fozzy_wozzy_woo]

All,

The filters i need to build my filter system will cost me almost €1000 so i will nned to build it myself. so i need a website with a good diagram and description on how to build a bio filter.

oh yes it going to do around 3800L

 

[fozzy_wozzy_woo]

ok i have worked out how to make it .. make a pressurised filter i was going through the shed and i came accross 2 x 50ltr beer makeing vats.. ha ha ....

it is perfect... and it is free. so i need to know now. doest the dirty water hit the bio balls first or the spongy foam..?
and because i have two i will be able to clean 1 and keep the other still running.

do you only clean these things when the nitrite gets high??. some sites say to clean them other sites say dont clean them.

Do i need to add a pressure guage?

 

[CongoCalvus]

Have you tried www.garf.org They have lots of diy stuff.

 

[ste2k3]

I would be carfull making a pressure filter as any mistake would be a potential flood. an better option would be a sump tank. you will need a pre filter or foams/filter wool etc. then a heater, then your biological filter and last, your pump(s). I don't think you will need a pressure gauge but it would be handy so that you can tell when it needs cleaning.

ste

 

[fozzy_wozzy_woo]

This is the design i have made for the bio filter.

any flaws please tell me please.

I have placed the pump after the filters as this will cause suction to the lids instead of before the filters which will cause outword pressure to the lids.

 

[ste2k3]

thats a pretty good design, although can you get access to the inline heaters as making them may prove dificult. also, you may need more biomedia that that. you could just put a course foam and some floss in the first one and a layer of zeolite and fill the bottom with biomedia and then just pack the second full of it. another thing, if you don't mind regular mantanence, you could consider a rainbowifguard mechanical filter module, this has a fine pleat and a pressure gauge built in and it would go inline. you wouldn't need and foam then.

just a couple of ideas but it loks great, keep us posted and get pleanty of pics

ste

 

[fozzy_wozzy_woo]

Due to the whole project costing loads of cash i will need to make lots of corner cutting. This why i am going to build the filters.

The reason i have placed all the foam in one and the zeolite and bio filters in another is that i was told to only clean the bio's and zeolite once a year or two years and the foam every three months. this way i can keep all the bio undesterbed.

Im going to keep around 40L of bio and 10L of Ziolite.

I have decided to go with ceramic tubes instead of bio balls as i can get around 10x more surface area

I have found loads of nice filters but they all cost cash. i can get most of the things from my work....


Im also going to make the inline heaters from a design that i have seen on a web site. once i stat makeing every thing i will keep a record of every thing i have made on this site. once i have finishe the project i will gather all the information together and may be they can place it on the normal part of this web site.

 

[ste2k3]

sounds good. good idea about cleaning it out but i would be tempter to clean it every six months rather than every year.

ste

 

[fozzy_wozzy_woo]

well what i will do is to take a reading of the pressure every week then i will clean it after 3 months then clean it again 4-6months after that. what i will do is watch the pressure and the nitrate levels in the tank closely, if all of a suden the pressure goes up then i know to clean it.

 

[fozzy_wozzy_woo]

Ok here is the inline heater system i am building.

This inline heating system will house 4 x 300w heaters, one in each corner. approximatly 4000 -4600L will flow through this per hour.

At the moment it is missing two corners (forgot to buy them). but as you can see in each corner on the left the 300w heater will be installed.

The water will flow in the from left to right.

Here is a closer look at the heater unit

the black connector in the centre will connect into a 19mm pipe

I have now received 2 x 60 L barrels which i will change into the filter tanks. I have them in a pressure test at the moment

 

[ste2k3]

looking great. just one question, I like the inline heater idea and I know that you can buy them but I was thinking of making one. how did you seat the top of it?

thanks

ste

 

[fozzy_wozzy_woo]

what i have done was to buy an end cap the same size as the pipeing.

The pipe is normanl kitchen water pipe. I placed a peice of this in the tank for a week to see if there was any reaction.

so what i did was to drill a hole the same size the glass then pass the heater through the hole. because there is a good 2-3cm of space on the inside of the cap. which i am going to fill with wet aquarium silicon. then im going to leave it upside down for a day.

every joint of the plastic is joined together with PVC Pond sealant. (watch out for this as it says it sets in 12hrs....) balls it does ...It set in 30 seconds for me.

once i get all the thing totally built. im going to go all around all the joints and place more PVC glue around it so it totaly seals the thing.

Click on the links below to see more pictures.

Pic1
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Pic6
Pic7

 

[ste2k3]

very neat and a good idea. oh and the pipe weld goes hard in about 15-30 secondy but is only fully cured in about a day

ste

 

[Adrinal]

way over my head. but im still here rooting for ya!

 

[fozzy_wozzy_woo]

I HAVE NOW MOVED ALL INFORMATION TO THIS LINK OVER THE BUILDING OF MY TANK.

Building a Large Aquarium

CLICK ON THIS LINK ABOVE