My trickle filter.

[esoxlucius]

I've posted pics of my four tier DIY trickle filter on my 360g tank before, but nothing as in depth as this. It's been running since the tank was set up in 2019. There were a few initial tweaks needed in the first few months but I haven't really had the need to mess with the configuration since.

I usually do a "deep clean" once every 12 months or so. This entails taking the whole filter apart, rinsing all the various media in tank water, taking the pump out, dismantling it, and cleaning the impeller etc.

However, it wasn't long before I realised that I didn't really need to take the four tier filter apart at all, all I needed to do was to uncouple the pump and clean that really.

The reason being, and this is the absolute joy of trickle filters, is that if they are set up right with no deadspots where flow can't reach, then they are basically self cleaning. And to achieve that critical and even flow over all the filter media I use a simple plastic sheet with lots of holes drilled in to "spread" the flow of water.

This ensures that all areas of the crates within the filter are being flushed with gushing tank water. And of course the media within the crates can then do it's job.

Below are a few pictures of the filter. The whole four tier crate system sits in a large blue barrel. The pump is in the very bottom crate but I've built it so the pump can be taken out easily without removing the trickle filter at all if I desire.

This first picture is the top layer of mechanical filtration. Just sponges in this one, though underneath that drilled blue sheet is a layer of filter floss too. That blue sheet is the most important part of the whole thing. It ensures even flow over all areas, no dead spots where crud can collect.


This second picture is what's under that top crate. A single thick piece of filter floss. This is my second stage of mechanical filtration.


This third picture is what's under the top two crates. The top layer is just sponges and underneath the sponges are a load of plastic bio balls. This is my first biological stage.


This fourth picture is what's underneath the top three crates. This is just full of ceramic bio rings and is the second biological stage. Underneath this crate is another crate housing the pump. But the pump can be easily accessed through a large hole in the side of the very bottom crate.


And that's it, my four tier DIY trickle filter. It is an absolute joy.

 

[AR1]

I've posted pics of my four tier DIY trickle filter on my 360g tank before, but nothing as in depth as this. It's been running since the tank was set up in 2019. There were a few initial tweaks needed in the first few months but I haven't really had the need to mess with the configuration since.

I usually do a "deep clean" once every 12 months or so. This entails taking the whole filter apart, rinsing all the various media in tank water, taking the pump out, dismantling it, and cleaning the impeller etc.

However, it wasn't long before I realised that I didn't really need to take the four tier filter apart at all, all I needed to do was to uncouple the pump and clean that really.

The reason being, and this is the absolute joy of trickle filters, is that if they are set up right with no deadspots where flow can't reach, then they are basically self cleaning. And to achieve that critical and even flow over all the filter media I use a simple plastic sheet with lots of holes drilled in to "spread" the flow of water.

This ensures that all areas of the crates within the filter are being flushed with gushing tank water. And of course the media within the crates can then do it's job.

Below are a few pictures of the filter. The whole four tier crate system sits in a large blue barrel. The pump is in the very bottom crate but I've built it so the pump can be taken out easily without removing the trickle filter at all if I desire.

This first picture is the top layer of mechanical filtration. Just sponges in this one, though underneath that drilled blue sheet is a layer of filter floss too. That blue sheet is the most important part of the whole thing. It ensures even flow over all areas, no dead spots where crud can collect.
View attachment 1547938

This second picture is what's under that top crate. A single thick piece of filter floss. This is my second stage of mechanical filtration.
View attachment 1547939

This third picture is what's under the top two crates. The top layer is just sponges and underneath the sponges are a load of plastic bio balls. This is my first biological stage.
View attachment 1547940

This fourth picture is what's underneath the top three crates. This is just full of ceramic bio rings and is the second biological stage. Underneath this crate is another crate housing the pump. But the pump can be easily accessed through a large hole in the side of the very bottom crate.
View attachment 1547941

And that's it, my four tier DIY trickle filter. It is an absolute joy.

May i ask you why it is called a "trickle filter"?. Does water slowly trickle through the filter media?. I ask that because my pond has a similar DIY bucket filter in which a powerful pump throws water in the bucket which then rises through the filter media, then falling in the pond. My apologizes if i missed smething in your post. I am not such a good reader.

 

[esoxlucius]

May i ask you why it is called a "trickle filter"?

Trickle filter is the common description used in the hobby for this type of set up. However, "trickle" suggests the flow is slow, almost drip like, but in reality, depending on your pump size and other variables, you can get these things to shift a fair amount of water, more like a "gush" than a trickle, lol.

They're gravity fed obviously and the water flows through them. Mine is fed from that grey PVC outlet pipe you can see in the pictures.

It is also vitally important you don't have your trickle filter totally submerged because then it would basically be a kind of sump! When my tank is running that blue barrel has about 12" of water in the bottom, enough to submerge the pump, the trickle filter itself stands well proud of the water level.

 

[duanes]

I agree totally
Barrels have always been great space savers for my filtration systems.
The barrel below, along with the fluidized bed nexr to it, fit below a stairway, and filtered 5 (100+) galtanks.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/i97/dstuer/fluidizedbed/.highres/02-16-07_1705.jpg?width=320&height=320&fit=bounds

https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/i97/dstuer/sumps/.highres/nocentanniday0232.jpg?width=320&height=320&fit=boundshttps://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/i97/dstuer/sumps/.highres/pano009.jpg?width=320&height=320&fit=bounds

It also contained heaters, pumps and other utilitarian out of sight.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/i97/dstuer/sumps/.highres/02-16-07_1703.jpg?width=320&height=320&fit=bounds

It also added extra water volume, and easier access most wimpy commercial units fail to provide.

I do get the convenience many of the little plastic unit afford.....but....

 

[jjohnwm]

Wow! Esox, they say that great minds think alike; I guess the same goes for mediocre minds because the filter on my 360 is virtually identical to yours!

Yours is much neater and more presentable than mine. Mine is in a Rubbermaid garbage can, and my mech filter at the top is strictly foam with no floss, but very much the same idea. My "trickle tower" is filled with plain old plastic shotgun wads, which are sold for the reloading of shotgun ammo on home presses. They are nothing more than convoluted/perforated little tubes of plastic, looking very much like a giant version of K1 media. Mine are at least 15 years old, since that's the last time I bought any for this use, and they will last forever.

I use them for two reasons. First: I'm cheap. I may perhaps have touched upon that before. The last time that I checked the price of those little ceramic noodles they worked out to a cost per unit volume of something like 20x...yes, twenty times!... per unit volume!!! That's the catch: per unit volume. A gallon of shotshell wads likely has far less surface area than a gallon of noodles...but my garbage can contains far more than enough for any bacterial population I might ever require or desire.

Also, at risk of sounding heretical, I have always had a sneaking suspicion that the usable surface of noodles that have been in use for awhile is far, far less than when you pour them out of the package brand new. The ceramic is porous, and much of the surface area they tout is inside the material...but I think that as biofilm and bacteria develop, many or most of those ultra-fine pores become clogged and filled in, never to be cleaned out, reducing the total surface area considerably. You still have plenty...more than enough...but not nearly as much as the marketing guys make it sound. Shotgun wads are very "airy" and open, the channels within them will never get clogged.

Second: wads are easily cleaned, although it's a rare occurrence. Once I smartened up enough to loosely contain them in a large perforated laundry bag, rinsing them off was as simple as grabbing the whole thing, taking it outside and hosing it off (easy for me, with non-chlorinated well water). I shudder to think what that bag would weigh if it were full of ceramic noodles rather than wads.

But these are literally trivial details; your filter and mine are kissing cousins from a design standpoint.

I'm just trying to figure out if that means that I am wrong...or that you are right! Either strikes me as unlikely...


AR1 , the term "trickle filter" is one that old codgers use as it was once a common name for this type of filter. It's better referred to as a "wet-dry" filter. The idea is that the medium is not submerged under water, but rather is up in the air with water flowing down...trickling, gushing, whatever...through it. The water is a thin film covering the medium and constantly moving, so it is highly aerated and provide the maximum possible oxygen to the bacteria on the medium.

 

[esoxlucius]

I'm just trying to figure out if that means that I am wrong...or that you are right!

Well, if each of our filters, although very slightly different, perform as they should, which they both obviously do, then I'm guessing we're both right!

The only thing that niggles me is that you've done yours in full DIY mode, proper hardcore, using your shotgun cartridges, as opposed to my fancy pants ceramic rings and plastic bio balls. It makes me look like I fell hook, line and sinker for the spiel that's dished out regarding these type of products, lol. I can assure you I didn't!

I got them on the cheap as part of a deal. If it wasn't for the price reduction I too would have gone down the skinflint route and threw something else in that BB could colonise, which is basically anything as long as it won't rot or dissolve in your filter over time.

Also bear in mind than a fair % of BB isn't even in your filter, it's all over the system on every underwater surface. So even if your shotgun cartridges weren't quite as efficient as the fancy stuff, the BB elsewhere in your system helps take up the "slack".

 

[AR1]

the term "trickle filter" is one that old codgers use as it was once a common name for this type of filter. It's better referred to as a "wet-dry" filter. The idea is that the medium is not submerged under water, but rather is up in the air with water flowing down...trickling, gushing, whatever...through it. The water is a thin film covering the medium and constantly moving, so it is highly aerated and provide the maximum possible oxygen to the bacteria on the medium.

Thankyou jjohnwm for explaining the concept. I learn something new everyday, like the filter media doesn't need to be completely submerged in water to allow beneficial bacteria to grow. In my filter, the filter media is completely submerged and so i guess the concentration of oxygen is lower.

However esox mentioned that these are gravity fed, meaning no pump is required to put water in the drum?, if i understood correctly. So how does one ensure that the rate of input flow balances the rate of output flow?

 

[esoxlucius]

However esox mentioned that these are gravity fed, meaning no pump is required to put water in the drum?

Correct, gravity fed from the display tank to the trickle filter, but then you still need a pump at the bottom of the filter to return water back to your tank. The pump gives you your closed loop system.

Water is continually pumped to your tank, and gravity fed to your filter.

 

[AR1]

Correct, gravity fed from the display tank to the trickle filter, but then you still need a pump at the bottom of the filter to return water back to your tank. The pump gives you your closed loop system.

Water is continually pumped to your tank, and gravity fed to your filter.

So what if the pump stops working, then the barrel will overflow and eventually the aquarium will get empty. Isn't that risky?

 

[esoxlucius]

So what if the pump stops working, then the barrel will overflow and eventually the aquarium will get empty. Isn't that risky?

No, the outlet pipe on the display tank is at a certain fixed height, this is what gives you your water depth in your tank.

If you have a power outage, or the pump fails, then yes the water stops flowing obviously, but it can only drain out to whatever height your outlet pipe is at.

So, if my pump stopped I'd have a little bit of run off into my barrel but it'd slow down and then stop very quickly.