Debris Trap?
- Thread starter Fishman0
- Start date
I think this is your best one so far. The only thing I can think of is if you can make influent flow around the sides when it exits the pipe, instead of hitting the side wall head on. That would create a swirl flow and cause less turbulance and better flow dynamics so the large particles have a better chance to settle out.
I can't wait to see how this turns out. It's looking like a very inexpensive way to reduce organics.
I can't wait to see how this turns out. It's looking like a very inexpensive way to reduce organics.
Danger_Chicken;3592576; said:
thanks, thats the plan.
Does anyone know if those bulkheads mentioned before, would work with a material as thin as this sidewall? I know it says it wouls work with sch. 40 but I am not sure of this type. (It may be 1/8" but i am not sure)
You are planning a mini vortex filter same as used on a pond!
They work great on ponds when plumbed to a bottom drain. All of the solids settle to the bottom and are easily drained before moving to the actual filters. I would not think it would be all that practical on a standard tank, but one with large fish and heavy feeding it could work great.
A few key things I learned while building one for a pond:
Ideal flowrate is under 10x the volume of the settling tank. So a 5 gal container would be around 50gph.
You want the input to be 1/3 the way up the cylinder and angled to swirl the water. 1/3 up an it will disturb the solids little as possible as they settle and they would have to work their way up the cylinder.
Normally you want a valve on the input, so when you flush it you close the input and then open the drain. When you reopen the input line the woosh of incoming water cleans the line and SC.
If you cut a large opening in the top (bottom) off the water tank and ran it to a sump would be my choice. To loose as little water as possible during a flush run the output out near the bottom of the cylinder (instead of the top) and run a unglued standpipe up to near the top of the cylinder. Close the input line and pull out the standpipe before draining and the water drops to near the bottom of the cylinder, then you only loose a bit when you flush (if thats a concern)
Since solids sink and thats what you are after you would want to try and pull water from the bottom of the tank. Possibly a DIY pvc overflow with the downpipe to the bottom of the display tank would work good. Pull the debris from the bottom of the tank and then drain into your sump. With a ball valve you could control the settlement rate. This would not be your primary overflow.
The uniseals are ideal. They are quick and easy to put in and flexible once in use if you need to wiggle the plumbing. I used them in my 330 gal settlement tank which is a thinwall (1/8") poly tank and they worked perfect. They work even better on thicker walls like 55 gallon barrels.
Here is an example of a 55 gallon one.
They work great on ponds when plumbed to a bottom drain. All of the solids settle to the bottom and are easily drained before moving to the actual filters. I would not think it would be all that practical on a standard tank, but one with large fish and heavy feeding it could work great.
A few key things I learned while building one for a pond:
Ideal flowrate is under 10x the volume of the settling tank. So a 5 gal container would be around 50gph.
You want the input to be 1/3 the way up the cylinder and angled to swirl the water. 1/3 up an it will disturb the solids little as possible as they settle and they would have to work their way up the cylinder.
Normally you want a valve on the input, so when you flush it you close the input and then open the drain. When you reopen the input line the woosh of incoming water cleans the line and SC.
If you cut a large opening in the top (bottom) off the water tank and ran it to a sump would be my choice. To loose as little water as possible during a flush run the output out near the bottom of the cylinder (instead of the top) and run a unglued standpipe up to near the top of the cylinder. Close the input line and pull out the standpipe before draining and the water drops to near the bottom of the cylinder, then you only loose a bit when you flush (if thats a concern)
Since solids sink and thats what you are after you would want to try and pull water from the bottom of the tank. Possibly a DIY pvc overflow with the downpipe to the bottom of the display tank would work good. Pull the debris from the bottom of the tank and then drain into your sump. With a ball valve you could control the settlement rate. This would not be your primary overflow.
The uniseals are ideal. They are quick and easy to put in and flexible once in use if you need to wiggle the plumbing. I used them in my 330 gal settlement tank which is a thinwall (1/8") poly tank and they worked perfect. They work even better on thicker walls like 55 gallon barrels.
Here is an example of a 55 gallon one.
While investigating for ideas for my future fish room/breeding room in the garage I checked out the Aquaculture links on the internet.
In a closed loop tank aquaculture system(which is like an aquarium system on steriods) I saw several of these Debris traps in designs.
As I design my system I plan to use a combination of Aquarium and Aquaculture ideas.
The Aquaculture industry has a lot higher fish loads per gallon of water than we do in the Aquarium industry and they have put a lot of thought and trial and error in their systems as we have for Aquariums.
Some of them use a similar system to the one on this thread to remove the heavier fish and food waste before the water goes to the mechanical filtration and then to the bio filtration.
In a closed loop tank aquaculture system(which is like an aquarium system on steriods) I saw several of these Debris traps in designs.
As I design my system I plan to use a combination of Aquarium and Aquaculture ideas.
The Aquaculture industry has a lot higher fish loads per gallon of water than we do in the Aquarium industry and they have put a lot of thought and trial and error in their systems as we have for Aquariums.
Some of them use a similar system to the one on this thread to remove the heavier fish and food waste before the water goes to the mechanical filtration and then to the bio filtration.
