Brand name?

[Gershom]

Thank you all for the input!

I am going to (hopefully) convert my filter systems to in-tank foam, using matten, corner, and/or block foam types, moving away from under gravel and hang-on-back.

I like the idea of swisstropicals corner filters, but don’t want to drain and silicone in the glass strips, so I made an acrylic portable version (pictured), and I am working on a simpler thing held in a curve by cross attachments and held in the corner by suction cups. If that works out I will update with pics.

Even if I wanted to install bulkheads in my tanks (I don’t), I really don’t have any place for sump systems, so I am trying to keep things simple!

 

[Gershom]

Thank you all for the input!

I am going to (hopefully) convert my filter systems to in-tank foam, using matten, corner, and/or block foam types, moving away from under gravel and hang-on-back.

I like the idea of swisstropicals corner filters, but don’t want to drain and silicone in the glass strips, so I made an acrylic portable version (pictured), and I am working on a simpler thing held in a curve by cross attachments and held in the corner by suction cups. If that works out I will update with pics.

Even if I wanted to install bulkheads in my tanks (I don’t), I really don’t have any place for sump systems, so I am trying to keep things simple!

 

[celebrist]

View attachment 1552298Thank you all for the input!

I am going to (hopefully) convert my filter systems to in-tank foam, using matten, corner, and/or block foam types, moving away from under gravel and hang-on-back.

I like the idea of swisstropicals corner filters, but don’t want to drain and silicone in the glass strips, so I made an acrylic portable version (pictured), and I am working on a simpler thing held in a curve by cross attachments and held in the corner by suction cups. If that works out I will update with pics.

Even if I wanted to install bulkheads in my tanks (I don’t), I really don’t have any place for sump systems, so I am trying to keep things simple!

Love this modular concept

My poret has held up for over ten years with no issues, like my dad always said you get what you pay for

 

[Gershom]

Beautiful tank!
Great depth of view!
Are those piranha?

 

[celebrist]

Beautiful tank!
Great depth of view!
Are those piranha?

Spotted silver dollars . Very peaceful tank

 

[Gershom]

My design isn't good...it's good enough!

That reminds me of something my daughter-in-law says: “Better is the enemy of good enough “
She is right, and so many times in the shop I have screwed things up by trying for better, that…. Well, you would think I would have learned it by now!

But unfortunately, I am a bit OCD.

 

[Gershom]

I tried curving the foam sheet without any enclosure and couldn’t get it to hold a straight, stable shape.
Returning to the acrylic corner filter and looking at different materials, I settled on sheet metal. I found some stainless steel in my shop, about 22-24 gauge, and made a corner filter.

After that I took galvanized sheet off an old cook oven (one of the benefits of living on a farm and having junk at my shop). But a half-moon filter is easier to make, and will work near the back center of a tank, so I switched and made them instead of corner filters.

Both corner and half-moon showed a tendency for the foam to try to slide out (see picture of the top of the corner filter), and I had several ideas to prevent it: cable ties holding it in (easiest and looks ok), stiff wire going through the back of the foam, or triangle notches bent in to hold the foam (visually clean).

There might also be a tendency for the filter to lean away from the tank wall. I haven’t had it happen, but just in case, I put suction cups on the glass with a cable tie across the front of the filter to hold it back.

The diagram shows the size I made, using 1 by 2 foot sheet metal, and 2 inch Poret sheets; 19.5 x 12 inches. I think the foam might stay in the metal holder a bit more tightly if the foam was wider, maybe 14-15 inches instead of 12. Or perhaps thinner—1.5 inches instead of 2.

Anyway I have these in 4 tanks now, and so far they look good and seem to be performing well.

 

[jjohnwm]

Nicely done! I admit that I prefer my style which uses a couple of scrap pieces of plastic moulding siliconed vercially to the the two opposing walls in the corner, with the foam bend into a quarter circle and just dropped into place...but mine is a PITA because it requires a clean, dry tank to install those mouldings. Yours can be built at your leisure and then easily and quickly dropped into place.

How is that stainless steel blackened? Any concerns about possible toxicity of the coating?

I only have one tank still operating with the corner filter as described above, and that's mainly because in addition to an airlift operating it as you have done, I also have a small pump located in the space. The pump moves water from the bottom tank on that stand to the top tank; the top tank has an overflow back down to the bottom one, so it's really a tank on top with a large sump on the bottom; the corner filter keeps the pump from clogging with debris. The top tank also has a Poret sponge column airlift-operated filter so that if I need to run the two tanks separately rather than as a system, all I need to do is turn off the submerged pump and both tanks continue to run just with the Poret/air-lifts.

I've pretty much returned to the column sponge filters. If you have a Mattenfilter that is 18 x18 x 2 inches, that gives you 648 cubic inches...which is capable of easily handling a massive bioload. A Poret column filter that is 6 x 6 x 18 inches (the size of the uncut column as purchased) is...wait for it... 648 cubic inches! Even if you deduct 20 or so cubic inches to allow for the center hole...that's still essentially identical to the Mattenfilter...and can be more easily moved within the tank or removed completely for rinsing.