I've wanted to build one of these in a tank for a long time so that there would be no dead spots anywhere in the tank and have excellent water flow.
Arl provided me with an extremely usefull and helpfull link that helped me put mine together. Here is that link... http://www.fmueller.com/home/aquaris...gy/filtration/
My tank is a 150 gallon I have 2 HOB filters as well as a DIY 30 gallon sump and DIY Overflow that I am also currently working on.
I am using 1/2 inch pvc because I am using 4 jets per one powerhead. 4 jets is a lot for one powerhead so I got smaller pvc so I'd hopefully still get good flow through each of the jets. Plus I did not glue anything because if it leaks....who cares....and plus if I realize that certain parts of the tank are not getting good flow and can aim the jets different ways.
Here is the pvc and some of the attachements. I started putting it together before I took the pic so some is already connected.
The corner pieces where the powerhead will connect looks like this.
After cutting all the PVC I connected all the pieces and aimed the jets the way I wanted them to go. I did all the measuring by hand and eye. I just used the top and sides of the tank as my template.
Here are the two Jets systems I put together.
and the jets in the tank...
and a pic of the powerhead in the corner. Both powerheads will have little filter things on them to add a little more filtration ...
I tested the flow of each of the jets and they seemed to be pretty good. I tried dropping some of my substrate by the jet and taking a pic but it doesn't really look like anything although it did push it pretty good.
Here is the pic just for kicks.
To create the jets I cut 2 inch pieces of PVC and boiled them to soften them up. Then I took needle nose plyers and pinched one of the sides together then put them in cool water to harden up again. This worked great and was really easy.
This is after the boil...
Then I pinched it with the plyers...
Put them in cool water to chill...
And bingo you got your jets...
to camoflage the jets I put a thin layer of sylicone on about an inch of each jet then dipped them in my substrate and left them overnight to dry.
In this you can see the affect of the coated tip.
the sylicone kind clogged up some of the jets so I just took a thin nail and cleared the jet of all sylicone and substrate.
And here are the jets put back into the pvc...
On this last pic you can notice the direction of each jet and how it will cause good flow to every part of the tank...(hopefully)
Anyway....this is where I am at as of now. I just got my new fish room cleared out I just have to find a friend to help me move the tank inside and I can finalize it all.
UGJ systems are great for keeping water flow at the bottom of your tank and pushing the junk that settles off the bottom and eventually into your filters. Opposite Idea of an Under Gravel Filter but same purpose with the added benefit of water movement.
This whole thing maybe cost me $10. Super easy and cheap. I'll keep you updated as to the effectiveness once it is completely set up and running.
Arl provided me with an extremely usefull and helpfull link that helped me put mine together. Here is that link... http://www.fmueller.com/home/aquaris...gy/filtration/
My tank is a 150 gallon I have 2 HOB filters as well as a DIY 30 gallon sump and DIY Overflow that I am also currently working on.
I am using 1/2 inch pvc because I am using 4 jets per one powerhead. 4 jets is a lot for one powerhead so I got smaller pvc so I'd hopefully still get good flow through each of the jets. Plus I did not glue anything because if it leaks....who cares....and plus if I realize that certain parts of the tank are not getting good flow and can aim the jets different ways.
Here is the pvc and some of the attachements. I started putting it together before I took the pic so some is already connected.
The corner pieces where the powerhead will connect looks like this.
After cutting all the PVC I connected all the pieces and aimed the jets the way I wanted them to go. I did all the measuring by hand and eye. I just used the top and sides of the tank as my template.
Here are the two Jets systems I put together.
and the jets in the tank...
and a pic of the powerhead in the corner. Both powerheads will have little filter things on them to add a little more filtration ...
I tested the flow of each of the jets and they seemed to be pretty good. I tried dropping some of my substrate by the jet and taking a pic but it doesn't really look like anything although it did push it pretty good.
Here is the pic just for kicks.
To create the jets I cut 2 inch pieces of PVC and boiled them to soften them up. Then I took needle nose plyers and pinched one of the sides together then put them in cool water to harden up again. This worked great and was really easy.
This is after the boil...
Then I pinched it with the plyers...
Put them in cool water to chill...
And bingo you got your jets...
to camoflage the jets I put a thin layer of sylicone on about an inch of each jet then dipped them in my substrate and left them overnight to dry.
In this you can see the affect of the coated tip.
the sylicone kind clogged up some of the jets so I just took a thin nail and cleared the jet of all sylicone and substrate.
And here are the jets put back into the pvc...
On this last pic you can notice the direction of each jet and how it will cause good flow to every part of the tank...(hopefully)
Anyway....this is where I am at as of now. I just got my new fish room cleared out I just have to find a friend to help me move the tank inside and I can finalize it all.
UGJ systems are great for keeping water flow at the bottom of your tank and pushing the junk that settles off the bottom and eventually into your filters. Opposite Idea of an Under Gravel Filter but same purpose with the added benefit of water movement.
This whole thing maybe cost me $10. Super easy and cheap. I'll keep you updated as to the effectiveness once it is completely set up and running.
