DIY 6 Gallon Bucket Canister Filter

[rallysman]

Even then check it regularly.

 

[Dr Joe]

 

[CHOMPERS]

I'll bet you have already done this

 

[X24]

wow i overestimated the FX5, You can get them under $200 used, but their media holding capacity i severly overestimated.

Of course the cleaning and servicing on non-diy canisters would be much easier and any problems can easily be worked out because of the large amount of people owning them online being able to share fixes for their problems.

Grab a more reliable pump as Q1's have been known to fail, and then keep tinkering with it. Once you make one you'll see what things you could have/should have done and maybe it'll turn out better then you expected, or maybe it will turn out worse then expected (as a lot of my projects usually come out) but atleast you can then tinker with it. Chances are once you find out a final plan you'll have spent twice as much as the final product costs, but remember, keep it simple (that makes putting it together easier and less room for failure) and try to keep it cheaper (half the point of DIY)

 

[Dr Joe]

I'll bet you have already done this

Picture a 10g chlorine bucket with a 3300g sump pump . It was a thing of beauty .

Hardest thing is getting a good fit around the edges of each level of filtration so it wouldn't channel past the material.

Put all connections (bulkhead. electrical) thru the lid, this ay you have a flat surface (you unscrew the bucket to clean, kind of like holding the light bulb and turning the house ).

Dr Joe

.

 

[Jgray152]

wow i overestimated the FX5, You can get them under $200 used, but their media holding capacity i severly overestimated.

The Fx5 is very disappointing with media capacity.

Of course the cleaning and servicing on non-diy canisters would be much easier .

I disagree. The Fx5 you had to remove the trays which also removed the bio media just so you could get at the mechanical filtration. The modded Fx5 is so much easier to clean. This DIY canister filter may not be able to be disconnected as easily but will filter MUCH better than any other canister filter you can buy for less than $500.

Grab a more reliable pump as Q1's have been known to fail, and then keep tinkering with it. Once you make one you'll see what things you could have/should have done and maybe it'll turn out better then you expected, or maybe it will turn out worse then expected (as a lot of my projects usually come out) but atleast you can then tinker with it. Chances are once you find out a final plan you'll have spent twice as much as the final product costs, but remember, keep it simple (that makes putting it together easier and less room for failure) and try to keep it cheaper (half the point of DIY)

I have had a lot of experience with the redesigning of the Fx5. You can view that thread in the Setups and Filtration forum ( I think its called). I will be working on this design for another month or so before I start building it.

I will look into other pumps as well.

 

[X24]

Also maybe ask Dr. Joe for some of his secrets, sounds like he might be able to save you some time.

 

[Jgray152]

I already have done most of this to the fx5. Im very mechanically skilled and know some about fluid dynamics so this shouldn't be very hard at all.

 

[Jgray152]

Here is another design.

With this design, the pump would be on the output side. With vacuum in the output pipe, the light blue tube rising from the output pipe "should" allow air to esacpe. Even when the pump is off, the filter should purge enough to prime the pump. I doubt it would purge 100% on its own though. Although it would be a cool idea to play with, with some small pipe and tubing and a sealable container.

With this idea though, there will be a tiny bit of bypass using 1/8" or 3/16" solid tubing but nothing that would be noticable.

 

[Lil_Stinker]

I like the pump on the output better..

Where do you expect to keep the water level? full? or where?