my own bit of filter theory

[ad_smith]

i was thinking of building a filter for my new tank... its gonna be gravity feed( think thats the term)... im gonna pump it to the chamber above the tank, as there is no room below, then let the water pass thru all of the media and then let gravity pull it back thru a return pipe into the tank.

the thinking i could have a seperate chamber in the sumpwhere i could grow algae or put a load of plants and they could use up the nutrients in the water and use up some of the nitrate in the water...

dunno how right i am in thinking that.. could someone give me some pointers if im on the right lines

cheers
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[SirMinion]

Yeah, that'd work, but...

If your gravity return flow gets even slightly blocked by detrius, then your flow into the filter will be greater than the flow out resulting in the filer overflowing.

Just a thought.

 

[ad_smith]

Yeah, that'd work, but...

If your gravity return flow gets even slightly blocked by detrius, then your flow into the filter will be greater than the flow out resulting in the filer overflowing.

Just a thought.

yeah i was thinking that but the return pipe is gonna be pretty big and i'm gonna have an overflow pipe further up the sump that returns the water to the tank from a bit of a height which will make a lot of noise when the when the water hits the surface so i know when its getting a bit full.

 

[rvm]

you could make a ball valve like in your toilet to stop the pump if it every get close to overflowing and you're not there!!

 

[Fish Buddy]

Just be careful about the algea part. Plants are ok but some algea (pl) when it matures, emits a toxic waste very harmful to fish. I like plants better anyway