DIY 6 Gallon Bucket Canister Filter

[Jgray152]

The canister will be full as in no air at all after I finish the design.

Here is my DIY bulkhead im going to try out. The barbed fitting will be inside the canister at the top above the mechanical filtration. This will get the whirlpool effect started.

I wont need the extra Acrylic pictured above with this bulkhead.

 

[Jgray152]

Here is the new design.

Here im using plastic megaphones to help increase flow.

 

[Alan Russell]

I can't wait to see how this turns out. I'm anxious to know if it works and hoping it does. I can see one in my future if it's a success. Work faster!

 

[Jgray152]

haha. It will be more design sketching for another month or so before I start buying parts.

I want to order the cover so I can see what I have to do to it, if anything so the canister will purge properly.

 

[Jgray152]

This canister setup shoudl be good for 1600-2000 GPH of filter output. Thats 1" per second for a velocity of flow which will give plenty of contact time for biological filtration. Although you may need to increase pipe diameter for flow rates more than 1500 GPH but maybe not.

I don't know what the best amount of contact time is, but I can only assume that if I have 14" High x 12" diameter column of bio media, than thats 14 seconds of contact time 1" of water column has.

 

[Jgray152]

I decided to do some work on the design of the cover. After many thoughts and designs, I have sketched this out.

The way it works is as the water level rises and the air gets forced or pulle dout through the purge tube, the air will start to get forced to the sides of the cover. Especially after the water level get to the point of touching the cover, all the air will be forced to the sides and pushed around to the purge tube.

 

[Jgray152]

I have been looking into different pumps since the Quiet One pumps have some bad reviews from members on this forum. Although many reviews say they are great but without detail as to their operation I can't believe they are.

Soo... Here are some pumps that I am looking at and tell me what you guys think... Im looking for over 1000GPH with high efficiency motor/pump design for the lowest amount of wattage used.

Pond Master Mag Drive 18. 1800GPH @ 145watts / Max head 22'
Pond Master Mag Drive 12. 1200GPH @ 110watts / Max head 15'
Coralife Turbo-Sea 1090. 1090 GPH @ 80 watts / Max head 13'

 

[Jgray152]

The canister its self would be around $40-50 to build.
The pump is the most expensive and would be around $150

So the total build would be, again, just under or just over $200.

If this was successfull, would there be any interest at all for anyone to buy one pre-made? I would probubly only want to make about $50 off it for the labor to put it together and to test it under running conditions for 24-48 hours. So the canister built would be around $90-100 or so w/o shipping and w/o a pump. It shoudl be large enough to run 2000-2500 GPH through with good contact time.

I am going to use some plexi about 4-5" wide to wrap the inside of the bucket in the area where the bio media would go for more structual support incase the mechanical media gets clogged enough for the pump to collaps the bucket under extreme negitive pressure.

 

[BushFishRox]

I think you should build one and test it, then share your findings possibly even video tape it before you start trying to sell it... especially when you are claiming that it should be able to handle 2000-2500 GPH...

 

[Jgray152]

Im not trying to sell it. That would be rediculous especially when I don't even have it built and tested yet. I was asking if there would be any interest "IF" it was a success.

especially when you are claiming that it should be able to handle 2000-2500 GPH...

Don't think it can? Calculations say it could be thats all theory so yes testing needs to be done after its built