DIY Sump Filter (hardb0ileds FPK4000)

I thought instead of adding to the DIY stand thread I would start a new one for the sump filter.

This filter is for my 220g Murray Cod tank, I plan for this filter to handle up to 4000lph, hence the name FPK4000(Fish Poo Killer 4000! )

Here is a crappy basic plan I did when I was bored



It started life as a 3 foot aquarium(a hard life it was by the look of it ). I found it on someones front lawn whilst walking the dog, it had been put out for hard rubbish collection. I just so happened at the time to be getting bits together for the 220g, so I grabbed it.



First thing to do was to cut the bracing off. The tank will have multiple baffles siliconed into it which will provide plenty of internal bracing. Dont throw the bracing away though, we use that later on

I use a razor and just slice through the silicon. This tank had the centre brace already missing so that made my job easier!



I had earlier marked out all the baffles I wanted on the side of the tank in black marker, I then determined what water height I wanted(making sure the pump would be submerged sufficiently but that I dont lose too much room for the bio ball trickle area). From that I got measurements for the glass I needed to get cut for the baffles. When getting glass baffles cut, make sure to leave a couple of mm short at each side so you can get a bead of silicon in between the tank and the end of the baffle. The 4 pieces of glass cost me about $30 cut to size.

Here you can see the bio ball chamber baffle being siliconed in, I've propped the baffle up on some bits of scrap wood to get it to the height I want and then use masking tape to hold the top in position. Then glue it in!



Here's a tip, plan in which order to glue your baffles as you may find that when you get to the last one you cant get the silicon caulking gun in far enough to run a bead

Here I have glued the submerged media baffle in place, this will set the height of the water in the sump as it has to flow over this baffle. I have also glued a piece of 'egg crate' where the second baffle will go, this is where the water will flow under the second baffle.



Ok, here's all the baffles taped and glued in place. You can see the large chamber to the left where the bio balls will go, then the submerged media chamber in the middle, I then added an extra baffle right after that to prevent any crud from the submerged media chamber from getting into the last chamber where the submerged pump will be



Note the large piece of egg crate, this will be positioned at the bottom of the bio ball chamber so they are lifted out of the water, well mostly, I plan to have some scoria rock in the submerged part.

Be back in a minute with more

I must apologise again for the crappy pics, they are taken with my mobile phone

Here's another tip I forgot, I'm lazy so didnt bother too much with measurements marking where to put the baffles for the media chamber, so what I found really handy was a square. I just positoned one end of the baffle where I wanted it and then made sure everything was square before taping and glueing it in place



...it was also used extensively in the stand build

Ok, on with the sump. Whilst I was waiting for the silicon to set I thought I would take a drive to "The Warehouse" which is a place in Australia that sells cheap plasticy, crap, products basically! I had made the drip the plate for my last sump filter out of acrylic sheet and although it turned out great, it was a bit of a PITA to work with due to the limited tools I have.

I lucked out and found a plastic tub with dimensions pretty close to what I needed for the drip tray! $10 down and I took it home to check it out.



Perfect! it just needed the bottom cut out of it and then drilled with heaps of holes!

Again being lazy I couldnt be bothered measuring out a grid onto the tray bottom to drill the holes. So I just used the trusty masking tape to mark a border around the edge, the I put a strip across the middle like a + , then just kept laying strips in between strips until I had my grid for drilling the holes. The tape will also protect the plastic whilst drilling. I just drilled a hole at each intersection of tape.

Here it is cut to size, with the tape starting to come off after the holes were drilled.



Remember the bracing we cut off the original tank? Well here's where we need it. Whilst I was at the glass shop getting the glass cut, I bought a $5 glass cutter and 5min of the guys time to show me some tips. So now I could cut up the old bracing and use it as the various supports I need for trays and things in the sump

Heres a crappy pic of some of the supports for the drip tray and the egg crate(at the bottom)



....and remember, tape is your friend!!



Well thats all I got to today. Most of the hard stuff is done, not that it was all that hard! Now I just gotta find me a 5000-6000lph submersible pump to run this baby and hope it all works as well I hope it will!?

6000lph I hear you say!! I know I said I wanted this filter to handle 4000lph, I need the extra flow for a fluidised bed filter that will recirculate from a T in the sump return and go back into the sump, if that makes any sense? You will see how it will work in the end anyway

I'll post back when the silicon has set and I've progressed a little more

DeLgAdO said:

how about instead of lava rock you use some cell pore media?(9x9x1)

has more surface area and enhanced bio- fitleratino by FAR!!!

Superb project you got going here mate

Click to expand...

Scoria is similar size and shape to bio balls so I figured it would be a good media to have at the bottom of the bio ball chamber, plus its easy and cheap for me to get it.

I havent fully decided what I'm going to put in the middle chamber yet?

...cheers

Thanks Rayman It is actually turning out better than I expected and is very easy to put together, the hardest part is chasing up all the bits and pieces! I just hope it works as well as it looks like it will!

An FPK4000 update!

Yesterday the silicon was still curing, on the tube it says that for aquarium use this silicon should be left to cure for 7 days before adding water!!

Seeing that its sitting outside in warmish weather with unlimited ventilation I'm hoping more like 4-5 days will do the trick. None of the silicon joins are really load bearing. I'm too impatient!

Anyhow, whilst the silicon was curing I thought I should go shopping for the filter media! I picked up a sheet of coarse open cell foam from the local pool/rubber shop($15) and a bag of scoria rock from the local home hardware/gardening warehouse($8 for 20kg!). I'd already purchased a couple of bags of bio balls from an online aquarium supplies shop, they were the most expensive media(about 500 for $70)



The scoria looks like it will be great and soooooo cheap! It is a bit dusty to start with so needs rinsing pretty well. I will have to keep an eye on it and see if it will break down over time, but unless the media is moving around and rubbing against each other I dont see it being a problem. Each little rock has lots of surface area and is very porous, I tried to take a close up of it but my camera phone isnt too good at macro shots! Anyhow here I am rinsing the scoria and a close up of the scoria.





I think it will do really well in the submerged section of the bio ball chamber. I am still undecided what to use in the middle chamber? The only criteria is for it to be cheap - which rules out most 'off the shelf' media from the LFS! To start with I will place the contents of the Fluval canister I have running on the tank at the moment in this section, this way the filter should be working from the get go without having to wait for the bio balls to be colonised by the BB An option maybe to use some more of the scoria if it looks to work well?

Next issue is a return pump! I cant use the sump even if the silicon has cured if I dont have a return pump! After much ummmmm'ing, ahhhhh'ing and research, I decided on a Laguna PowerJet Maxflo 6000

It flows 5900lph. is supposedly quiet, decent head rating and has good power consumption for the flow rate, best of all for a quality made pump it was reasonably priced at about $230AU This was the most expensive part of the sump! I could have gone for a cheap pump to save costs(ie. my other sump pump flows 3600lph and cost me $45AU, a similar one with the flow rate I require for this sump I could have got for ~$80AU). But being that this set-up is in my bedroom, a quiet pump was a must, also this one should last as it also has a 3 yr warranty!). One thinig to keep an eye out for when buying a pump is power consumption! The cheaper pumps tend to use a lot more power to flow the same amount of water than a quality pump. But having said that one of the quality pumps I was looking at that was a lot more expensive then the Laguna used a lot more power than the Laguna. Remeber these pumps run 24/7 365 days a year so a little extra power usage adds up over the year! I will hopefully have the new pump delivered mid week!

I thought I should try and do a diagram to explain the sump workings - I havent done a very good job of this as yet! So here is the sump as it is at the moment waiting for silcon to fully cure and then to be stocked with media and the submersible pump.

As you can see, the drip tray is in position(some spare pvc fittings sitting in it), the 'egg crate' is in position, the bio balls and scoria will be sandwiched between these. In the middle(submerged media) chamber I have placed some of the foam in the bottom to rest the media on and prevent solids from being washed through into the pump chamber.



...and here is the same pic, but I've scribbled all over it in an attempt to explain the water flow process.



This is the Fluidised Bed Filter which is missing from the diagram. It is currently on the tank being cycled.



It will be run off a T on the sump return line and then exit back into the sump, at this stage I'm thinking back in front of the submerged media chamber so this water will get a double pass through this media.

So, there it is so far! I'm sure I've done a crap job of explaining everything so ask questions if your not sure of anything, and if you see any problems with the design, tell me now before I finish it and make an idiot of myself! As with all these DIY's, they usually take some fine tuning once they are finished!