DIY wet/dry and over flow DONE(pic heavy)

joey02

Plecostomus
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May 22, 2007
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I have decided to give making a DIY wet/dry with pvc overflow a try. Although i haven't decieded on what tank to put it on, or even what size tank it can handle. I tryed hooking it up to a 40gal and it works great, altough i used an XP3 as the return, so i still need a pump.

I will start with pics of the overflow.

supplies for the overflow



put together



painted



pvc cement i used



paint i used



how it fits onto a tnak



Buckets i used for the wet/dry(6 gallons each)



I painted everything black just to make it "look" better



inside of the bucket with holes drilled into the bottom. i also used long strips of egg crate siliconed to the bucket to support the mechanical portion of the filter.



bio media (96 scrubbies)



media fitted into bucket



as for the mechanical portion of this filter, i wanted to do something different, and something that was easy to maintain. pics will explain.

mechanical filtering container



with lots of holes



I will be using course spinge and filter floss for mechanical. heres a pic with the sponge, still need some floss.



Here is the top of the mechanical container, my pvc pipe fits directly onto it, which i will not be cementing just for easy removal fo cleaning/repacing filter floss.



here is the bottom of it



here is the mechanical portion together



and here is the mechanical portion on top of the bio-tower.



I did it that way so that more fresh air could enter the bucket of media for the benificial bacteria to thrive on. i also did it this way as mentioned above, for ease of maintanence.

I thought that if i cut the bottom out of a step stool, that would make a good base to prop the wet/dry on to keep it out of the water. i do plan on haing the water level in the sump to the bottom 2-3 inches of the bucket to avoid any "rain fall" noise.



stand in the tank



stand/wet/dry in the tank



complete




I used 3/4" PVC, which i read gets 325GPH. And i still need a proper pump.

I may use a larger tank as the sump, instead of the 25gal its in now.

I didnt include and instructions with the build, but pictures speak for themselves, so i took lots of them.

any questions/comments/advise???

i still have to clean the inside of the bucket and mechanical portion as well so excuse the horrible paint job please.

if you notice, i didnt want to drill my tank, or make any permanent changes to either tank. so both the wet/dry and overflow were designed with that in mind.

anyone know what size tank this could handle up to? if i only had maybe two 8" cichlids in the tank? (i made this for fun, and to see if i could do it)
 

Knowdafish

Feeder Fish
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Aug 12, 2007
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Wow! Nice job, write up and pics! Thank you :clap:clap:clap for painting the PVC black! I think white PVC looks terrible in a tank!
 

Camshaft Ramrod

Jack Dempsey
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May 10, 2008
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Good job on the black. I was in a hurry and never painted the pvc in my tank black and
I have been regretting it ever since.
 

joey02

Plecostomus
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May 22, 2007
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ozpkchris;2326309; said:
very cool i've been thinking of doing something just like that... let us know what kind of pump you go with,,,, what size tank are you using this on
thanks, i havent decieded which pump to use yet, will probely use a mag-drive. i dont what size tank i will use this on either. maybe a 75gal?

Knowdafish;2326361; said:
Wow! Nice job, write up and pics! Thank you :clap:clap:clap for painting the PVC black! I think white PVC looks terrible in a tank!
thanks, painting everything black was a must for me!! with a black background, they will be hardly noticable.

timeneverfreezes;2326405; said:
Nice job!

pack your scrubbies tighter! :nilly:
i pushed them in as far as they would go, but it was just for the picture so their just dumped in right now. when i set it up, i will pack the scrubbies in properly.

Camshaft Ramrod;2326409; said:
Good job on the black. I was in a hurry and never painted the pvc in my tank black and
I have been regretting it ever since.
thanks, make a new one and paint it black!! its cheap to do.
 

zennzzo

Feeder Fish
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Oct 18, 2005
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Mile High in Northern AZ, baby!~
timeneverfreezes;2326405; said:
Nice job!

pack your scrubbies tighter! :nilly:
Yes by all means, more and tighter... and you might wanna put more or bigger holes in the bottom, they look like they will plug up eventually...and to have to remove the media to clean is a pain
 

joey02

Plecostomus
MFK Member
May 22, 2007
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thekingofdiy.com
zennzzo;2327648; said:
Yes by all means, more and tighter... and you might wanna put more or bigger holes in the bottom, they look like they will plug up eventually...and to have to remove the media to clean is a pain
your right, i will be making the holes bigger in the bottom just because of the potential cloging issue. thanks for reminding me!!
 
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