DIY 10 gallon mini-w/d

[X24]

Well with my weekend nothing planned and nothing to do, i decided i would cook up some extra filtration for my 55 grow out (i know big deal ) and i found a 10 gallon plastic tub that at one point i used as a QT tank, then i added in some .1" acrylic i cut with my handy dremel and glued it all together with one of my favorite DIY tools, Amazing Goop. It's kind of like superglue meets silicon, just let it set and its 100% waterproof and so far i've found it 100% fish safe.

So far i have around 1/3 of it made into the w/d part (i know its pretty small but its not the only filtration just being redundant) and i don't really know what to do with the rest of it.

It isn't a traditional w/d or sump, its small enough that i'm just placing it on top of the tank and the powerhead will pump water into it and a hole in the bottom end of it will drain back into the tank.

Pictures are coming soon.

Also money spent: $0; money spent if bought new: around $10-15 + powerhead or pump.

Cheap and effective i'm hoping.

 

[X24]

2 crappy pictures, but you get the jist(sp?) of it.

Small drip tray has some filter fiber in it to act as a pre-filter. I have cut up straws, a couple of sponges and a couple scrubbies to fill in the w/d area, and then the other 1/3 i have left i haven't a clue what to put in it. Its too small for my heater and it should drain too fast to have water sitting in it, but i will probably make the 2/3rd mark another sectional piece of acrylic so it would have an area of water for i'm not sure. Probably just end up throwing a container of sintered glass or ceramic rings in there.

 

[X24]

Tested and everything is working as planned so far, added a 2nd compartment that until i go to a petsmart or something will just be filled with lava rocks, leftover random media or something of that nature. So far i have sponges in the bottom of the w/d to lift the bio-media up, and for bio-media i have it almost full of cut up straws and nylon pot scrubbie material.

The powerhead at the head height probably only gets 150 gph but again this is just redundant filtering and a reason to test out some ideas when i get a larger tank that will only be filtered by a w/d.

 

[X24]

Well no pictures but it is finished and is working perfectly so far. Not something you'd put on a show tank, and the tank its on is only a grow out cichlid tank, but its one of the best working DIY things i've made yet.