Upcoming project: Creativity, Form and Function.

[FINWIN]

Below are the original containers I planned to use for the filters. The others haven't arrived yet. The pvc pipe is larger in the interior than I anticipated so likely the t-joints won't be used...I'd have to go down to a 3/4" likely to make it work which wouldn't stabilize the powerhead. I can still use those pieces to make small caves.

I'm going to run a test on these to see if I even need the pipe since this would be a closed system. I used pipe before to mostly stabilize the powerhead seated up top. These would be open at the top anyway so heavy media could hold the powerhead. Gonna have to play with it a bit. Because these walls are solid I'd have to prime the vases them by filling with water first. Since the assembly would be submerged this would only need to be done once.

With the other design with openings in the walls I will also test to see if the pipe is necessary. Whichever design has the better flow I will go with. The pipe will be drilled in any case.

I'm also looking into if stainless steel is safe in freshwater aquariums. Reason being there are perforated pipes available in stainless steel. Such pieces are used in filter parts. Not sure if a larger scale use would work.

Comparison size to a standard coffee mug. Each vase holds 2.1 gallons volume. As recycled glass they are pretty cheap!

 

[cockroach]

I did look at those! Always wondered if they lost BB if the power was out. And how long the surface area would hold bb with no motion.

Yeah, Living here, power outages have luckily not been much a factor in designing things.
Do you lose power often?

 

[jjohnwm]

Biomedia that needs to be changed twice per year sounds like a good idea for the manufacturer; not so much for you. But...does it "need" to be replaced due to breaking down...or do they simply want you to replace it so you buy more?

How does this design differ from a quality sponge filter? You can buy Poret foam in the form of a column that is something like 20 inches tall, with a footprint of either 4x4 or 6x6 inches, complete with a roughly one-inch hole straight from top to bottom. Cut it to whatever height you require, insert a swiss-cheesed pvc pipe down to the bottom, extend it as high above the top as required, affix the powerhead to it, and you're golden. If the powerhead requires a tube that is significantly larger than you can fit through the predrilled hole in the sponge, it's easy to stick a sharp long-bladed knife (bread knife or similar) through the hole and score the length of it several times, which allows the insertion of a larger tube, at least up to 1.5-inches ID.

I'm not sure I understand the purpose for the T-fitting at the bottom. It seems you will be drawing water mostly through that, with very little actually through the medium or sponge...or am I misunderstanding this? I always cap off the bottom end of the pipe so that all water is forced to pass through the sponge.

I think that the 4x4-inch Poret cartridge would fit nicely down into those artsy jugs, perhaps even the 6x6 size. The stuff lasts for many years without deteriorating when used as rarely-cleaned Mattenfilters; more impressively, it lasts for many years even when squeezed out, pressure-washed and generally abused on a weekly or even daily basis.

 

[esoxlucius]

I'd have an extremely serious rethink before using bio media that requires changing every 6 months. The bio media in my trickle tower system has been in place hardly untouched since it was installed in June 2019!! No issues whatsoever.

I mean, how the hell do you do a media changeover when the time comes to replace it? You'd have to gradually phase in the new media, whilst gradually phasing out the old, or have the new stuff already seeding somewhere and do a straight swap and just hope the balance in BB is such that you don't suffer a breakdown in cycle.

It'd be a right pita that's for sure. There are so many other medias you can use which will last pretty much last forever.

All bio media needs, although not necessarily essential, is a rinse in tank water once a year or something to wash any gunk off it. Regularly replacing it? No chance.

 

[FINWIN]

Yeah, Living here, power outages have luckily not been much a factor in designing things.
Do you lose power often?

We get random outages here at times...I suspect its the transformer at a nearby shopping center but I have no proof.

 

[FINWIN]

Biomedia that needs to be changed twice per year sounds like a good idea for the manufacturer; not so much for you. But...does it "need" to be replaced due to breaking down...or do they simply want you to replace it so you buy more?

How does this design differ from a quality sponge filter? You can buy Poret foam in the form of a column that is something like 20 inches tall, with a footprint of either 4x4 or 6x6 inches, complete with a roughly one-inch hole straight from top to bottom. Cut it to whatever height you require, insert a swiss-cheesed pvc pipe down to the bottom, extend it as high above the top as required, affix the powerhead to it, and you're golden. If the powerhead requires a tube that is significantly larger than you can fit through the predrilled hole in the sponge, it's easy to stick a sharp long-bladed knife (bread knife or similar) through the hole and score the length of it several times, which allows the insertion of a larger tube, at least up to 1.5-inches ID.

I'm not sure I understand the purpose for the T-fitting at the bottom. It seems you will be drawing water mostly through that, with very little actually through the medium or sponge...or am I misunderstanding this? I always cap off the bottom end of the pipe so that all water is forced to pass through the sponge.

I think that the 4x4-inch Poret cartridge would fit nicely down into those artsy jugs, perhaps even the 6x6 size. The stuff lasts for many years without deteriorating when used as rarely-cleaned Mattenfilters; more impressively, it lasts for many years even when squeezed out, pressure-washed and generally abused on a weekly or even daily basis.

I have sponge columns in each corner with the configuration you describe right now. 4 sponges rated at 125 gal each. Prior to that I had painted breadboxes using the same design with holes cut in the top and bottom.

The idea as I explained is to increase efficiency and volume but clear a bit more room. I'd like to remove the ACL110s if possible, or just keep one for extra mechanical filtration. Right now I'm running 3 hobs with two stack columns of sponges on powerheads. Haven't had to touch the sponges in 4 years.

I explained I would rethink the t-piece and could make small caves from them. They are larger than the listed dimensions. The 1 1/2 tube size is fine for the powerhead. I could actually stuff the sponges I already have into the containers plus media from the aquaclears. That new media would be near the top under the sponges so in the event it does need to be replaced (I'm skeptical) That can be removed quickly. Or I may get more bio bale ribbon, it's not expensive.

The mesh sheets arrived yesterday. They are similar to the plastic dividers and very stiff. I am experimenting with it for flow at the bottom by attaching it but we'll see. The tubes are gonna be drilled with holes anyway.

For the sponges, four snips perpendicular (north south east west) made with scissors will work around the precut holes. I'll post updated ideas on this soon.

 

[FINWIN]

I'd have an extremely serious rethink before using bio media that requires changing every 6 months. The bio media in my trickle tower system has been in place hardly untouched since it was installed in June 2019!! No issues whatsoever.

I mean, how the hell do you do a media changeover when the time comes to replace it? You'd have to gradually phase in the new media, whilst gradually phasing out the old, or have the new stuff already seeding somewhere and do a straight swap and just hope the balance in BB is such that you don't suffer a breakdown in cycle.

It'd be a right pita that's for sure. There are so many other medias you can use which will last pretty much last forever.

All bio media needs, although not necessarily essential, is a rinse in tank water once a year or something to wash any gunk off it. Regularly replacing it? No chance.

Before I converted to the sponge stacks I had breadboxes with bio bale ribbon and ceramic media at the bottom. All I did was pop the top off, shake out the huge lump of biobale, swish it for 2 seconds in a bucket of tank water and was done. the bag of ceramic media would fall out and I would swish clean that too. Didn't take me but a couple of minutes. I'm all about efficiency. Nothing sticks to bio bale except the bb. Or think of it as rinsing out a glass of water but instead of using a faucet you're using tank water.

I saw a you tube video of the fluval media. If I can find the link I'll post it.

That new media won't comprise a large portion of filter space and it will be bagged at the top under the foam. Old media will be underneath to seed it.

 

[FINWIN]

Forgot to mention I have black lava rock too if the fluval stuff bombs.

 

[FINWIN]

Link. Seems inconclusive about the 6 month thing...

Fluval's New Bio FX Filter Media - Initial Impressions - YouTube

 

[FINWIN]

Moving right along...
As you can see, the t joint thing won't work. This idea is a bust. Bigger than advertised measurements. So will make these lil' caves for the hrps. In my previous filter these t joints worked, but the material build was different. Sometimes you can't account for that by measuring alone.

Nope...