Its been done sandfilter up and running on fish tank.

[ITHURTZ]

Always wanted to try it, the cfs 700 on the tank now is starting to be dumb and keeps ingesting air and not pumping water, iv torn it apart m utiple times checked everything and am just tired of messing with it. Older I get the lazier I get. I have hot and cold plumbed behind the tank, I was draining this out the window but was getting lazy on that ha. The plan WAS to drill al hole in the floor and run some pvc outside like a sump pump for the backwash line but the lady veto'd that. She cant stop me, Ill drill a hole through the stand through the floor when I can, so until then I guess ill have to unroll the sump pump discharge hose attached to the valve and open the door.

Standard ebay 10" pool sand filter. "2600gph" 1/3 hp. This seems to be the smallest filter you can get. I was a little worried about the 20x turn over rate of the 125 gallon. So best thing I could figure out is dual outlets. Everything is plumbed in 1.5" pipe.
Ebay add made the specs a little smaller, but its not a huge difference
Resized_20231222_183331 by Corey S, on Flickr
Resized_20231222_183325 by Corey S, on Flickr
Resized_20231222_182550 by Corey S, on Flickr


Next for the obvious reason I went with gravel. I dont want to deal with sand clogging, channeling, and eventually needing to be replaced. I want a 1 and done system. I didnt want pea gravel, I wanted something smaller, but I didnt want micro rocks. I settled with walmart gravel, a TINY bit smaller than I wanted but I think it will work out great. I used 25lbs of gravel.
Resized_20231222_181916 by Corey S, on Flickr
Resized_20231222_182211 by Corey S, on Flickr
Resized_20231222_182136 by Corey S, on Flickr
Resized_20231222_182336 by Corey S, on Flickr

Here you can see the sump pump discharge hose and gauge. Guess next week during a water change Ill test out the backwash and rinse function
Resized_20231223_194630 by Corey S, on Flickr
Resized_20231223_194441 by Corey S, on Flickr


The cfs700 thats pissing me off, still hooked up and running to keep the tank alive for now(bb). It doesnt fit in the stand so its sits there until I figure out where it will go, maybe the other side.
Resized_20231223_194821 by Corey S, on Flickr


I had a few leaks on the first startup, I replaced all the barb fittings that came with the filter except 2, and wouldnt you know it those 2 leaked. Stupid me bought valves but I went meh and went without them. So draining the tank 80% to break siphon and 600 towels later and lots of swearing I got the motor to multip port barbs replaced. So IMO the barb fittings that come with the filter are garbage.
Black is OEM, gray aftermarket. White pvc aint pretty, but algae will eventually hide it.
Resized_20231223_191410 by Corey S, on Flickr

 

[ITHURTZ]

Dual 1.5" outlet
Resized_20231223_194521 by Corey S, on Flickr



Inlet and return
Resized_20231223_194951 by Corey S, on Flickr




The suction, was hard finding something large enough to not strain the inlet. I messed up and the glue set up to fast, I wanted the inlet on the right side by the glass, behind the plant it stays LOL. I am thinking about taking a sponge out of the cfs700 and covering the inlet so to not suck up any platy fry, suck in big debri or get anyone trapped. The suction was in the plumbing isle, 2" inlet reduced to 1.5"
Resized_20231223_194524 by Corey S, on Flickr



I did find another leak at the gauge, very tiny small drip, ill take care of that next week
Resized_20231223_195222 by Corey S, on Flickr



The filter just fits underneath with a few inches up top of room for the valve. What a mess. 10 gal quarantine tank vs 125gal.
Resized_20231223_195523 by Corey S, on Flickr
Resized_20231223_194426 by Corey S, on Flickr



Video, dont know why It does youtube shorts, I dont know how to change it. Noise wise it isnt quiet. It sounds like a small pool pump(it is a pool filter after all). Doesn't help that the stand is wide open right now either. Im pretty sure the fan is making the most of the noise. Once I get everything buttoned up we shall re-evaluate. Video makes it a little worse than it actual is.

10" ebay sand filter 1/3hp filled with small gravel on 125gal aquarium

www.youtube.com

All in all I am glad I went with the dual return and not 3. IMO it provides the perfect amount of current. Enough to cause the amazon sword on the right to gently sway and the crypts in the middle to move a little bit more. During feeding I feed on the left side, I had minor pellet drift vs the cfs700 which I had none. I also added a drain to the bottom of the filter. A. to drain it if needed. B. to see if I can get any settled debri at the bottom over time OR hook up air. We will see how things go! Until next time.........................

 

[ITHURTZ]

So I feel like I am in a journey now, and I 100% regret not installing valves and unions! Little bit of water on the floor today, multiport to "canister" was leaking so I tightened it up a bit, then I see water comming from the inlet side. Wiped everything down and it looks like its seeping through the plastic itself. I contacted the seller see what happens with this "lifetime warranty"

In the pic you can see where the water is coming through, that was freshly wiped dry before pic.
Resized_20231224_121659 by Corey S, on Flickr

 

[jjohnwm]

Interesting project, I plan on following along with interest. Your DIY set-up looks like mine, i.e. hoses and tubes and hardware going every which way. I want the thing to work; I don't give a crap if it looks a bit..."rustic"...

I've been toying with the idea of trying something similar, although I was more leaning towards a diatomaceous earth filter rather than sand/gravel. That multi-position valve looks like it would be a real joy if it works as intended. If I may ask: what is the difference between the Rinse, Waste and Backwash settings? I'm thinking that Waste may simply be for water changing, but how about Rinse vs Backwash?

Ah, yes...leaks...one of the true joys of DIY aquarium plumbing...and the reason why almost all my tanks are in my unfinished basement. It looks like you leave the stick-on label on your plumbing fittings? I've had a few slow drips because of that, and now carefully remove the label and clean off residue before slipping the hose on. And, yes, everytime I skip or don't bother or otherwise neglect some little item like unions or valves or whatever...it always comes back to bite me on my behind.

Looking forward to hearing how this idea works out long term.

 

[ITHURTZ]

Live and never learn LOL

Backwash setting would be for water changes. It reverses the flow through the gravel flushing anything out that got caught.

Rinse setting is for after backwash, it clears out debri in the left over water floating around the filter after it was pushed out.

Waste is a filter bypass, basically like a tube going from the tank out the window. Just goes in the multiport and right out the waste line.

I took most stickers off, might have missed 1 or 2 from all the fustration.



Water looked pirsitine today though! I just imagine the flex seal patch the guy throws on a leaking water tank and it stops........ I dont want to shut it down! They are just little seeps for now....hmm

 

[ITHURTZ]

Pumps still pumpin, I put a strip of flex seal on the leak, I get about 1 drip a minute now. WIth this setup on the 125gal my tank has risen 4 degrees in temp and now sits at 80. Its heated for 76, summer it hits 79-80 so I am not worried about it yet. Seems to have peaked at 80.

 

[kendragon]

You might have over tightened the fitting to the multiport. Looks like the multiport connection was designed to take a fitting with o-ring for sealing. Your replacement one doesn't have a o-ring which required you to tighten till the threads seal which either bottomed out or over stress the plastic valve.
Over tightening is a common problem when installing pool pumps. Many manufacturer tell you not to use thread sealant because the lube allows over tightening and petroleum degrades PVC.

 

[ITHURTZ]

Ya I thought about that, I know I didnt bottom out because those things want to go in deep and I just tightened to my liking and stopped when I got close. Sucks 1 didnt like it. We will see, maybe Ill have to make a pvc ring that can be glued around it.

 

[ITHURTZ]

Did a water change today. It took 2minutes to drain 70% of the 125gal LOL. Glad I had no leaks on the backwash line, lame throwing it out the front door but one day I will secretly get that hole in the floor drilled. I am loving this thing. Gauge was only reading about half a psi higher than when installed before backwash, back at 4psi now.

 

[ITHURTZ]

1 week up and running, the water is spotless. I will be interested in the nitrates as there will eventually be no canister to sit there full of debri. Hoping the backwash cleans itself out pretty good every week. Tons of flow but plenty of spots for the fish to hang low and sleep without worries, they are all healthy active piggies. I think the calico telescope is the one that keeps destroying the big plants, I dont ever get a break.

sandfilter1 by Corey S, on Flickr