DIY 6 Gallon Bucket Canister Filter

[FireMedic]

Advantage of W/D, you do not need to shut-down to change floss or coarse filtration materials (usually) and you can build them yourself.
Chompers, I really dig your style!
Respectfully,
FireMedic.

 

[beno]

Check out the swimming pool stores in your area (if any). Dry chlorine products come in buckets with resealable screw off lids. You can get one for free if you ask nicely (or carry an Uzzy).

I don't know about you, but I'd be very cautious using any bucket that used to hold chemicals.

 

[X24]

I don't know about you, but I'd be very cautious using any bucket that used to hold chemicals.

Them chemicals they have in it are just chlorine. Washing it out and then giving a liberal dose of Declor will take care of any leftover chlorine in them.

So far your DIY canister looks decent but unless you can make it a lot cheaper it really isn't worth it at all.

 

[Jgray152]

So far your DIY canister looks decent but unless you can make it a lot cheaper it really isn't worth it at all.

I think so. For under 200 you get a filter that will have;

OVER 900 GPH Filter flow rate from a QUALITY PUMP.
22 Liters of Bio Media
110 sq inch top surface are of mechanical filtration. Up To 440 cubic inch (7.5L) of mechanical surface area.

A Brake down of the mechanical filtration based on above;
1" coarse foam
1" fine filter foam
1" very fine foam (more like 1/2 wet)
4-5 micron polishing pads staged from largest to smallest particle filtration.

Advantage of W/D, you do not need to shut-down to change floss or coarse filtration materials (usually) and you can build them yourself.

True. I have never seen or heard of a problem shutting down the filter for a few minutes though.

The way the canister will be designed, the bio media will never be disturbed.

 

[beno]

Them chemicals they have in it are just chlorine. Washing it out and then giving a liberal dose of Declor will take care of any leftover chlorine in them.

So far your DIY canister looks decent but unless you can make it a lot cheaper it really isn't worth it at all.

Good point. But I'd still spend a couple extra bucks for a brand new bucket just in case.

 

[X24]

Them chemicals they have in it are just chlorine. Washing it out and then giving a liberal dose of Declor will take care of any leftover chlorine in them.

So far your DIY canister looks decent but unless you can make it a lot cheaper it really isn't worth it at all.

I ment "those" chemicals lol.

And you can get pretty much the same thing as this for around the same price + warranty + professional look if you buy a normal canister.

This is a good idea, but if you want to sell them (which you never specified whether this was just personal or if you wanted to sell them or whatnot) you are going to have to cut price down quite a bit. Right now for less then $200 you can make a w/d that could filter a tank 3x as big, have more room for mechanical filtration, more room for bio filtration, nitrate removing abilities ect. And then there are those that like canisters that will either go FX5 or Eheim.

To make this really worth it cut costs, get a better pump (mag drive or just something a little higher quality that can be put under some load, as this is a no-bypass filter) and there ya go.

Oh and about the better mechanical filtration, you have so much room in w/d filters that you can run 3 pairs of micron filtration bags (200, 100, 50) along with other mechanical filtration and get crystal clear water and STILL have a huge bio area.

 

[rallysman]

Where is the pump located on this?

If it helps here's another way for a DIY bulkhead fitting:
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=116609

 

[Jgray152]

And you can get pretty much the same thing as this for around the same price + warranty + professional look if you buy a normal canister

Not at all. I have NEVER seen a canister filter for under $200 that has over 900 GPH and over 20L of bio media capacity and operating with a quality pump.

The ehiem 2080 pro 3 has 14L of possible bio media capacity and only about 340 GPH flow rate for $400-$500 US.

This is a good idea, but if you want to sell them (which you never specified whether this was just personal or if you wanted to sell them or whatnot) you are going to have to cut price down quite a bit. Right now for less then $200 you can make a w/d that could filter a tank 3x as big, have more room for mechanical filtration, more room for bio filtration, nitrate removing abilities ect. And then there are those that like canisters that will either go FX5 or Eheim.

If I was going to sell them I wouldn't put the plans and materials on the web for everyone to see. Including the price for all the materials .

The Fx5 and Ehiem won't even come CLOSE not by a HAIR to the flow rate and capacity of this filter.

I have a Moddified Fx5 that holds 11L of bio media and over 320 cubic inches of mechanical filtration.

To make this really worth it cut costs, get a better pump (mag drive or just something a little higher quality that can be put under some load, as this is a no-bypass filter) and there ya go.

Quiet One pumps are not good? They are mag drive. Why cut cost ? What is to expensive with this setup?

Oh and about the better mechanical filtration, you have so much room in w/d filters that you can run 3 pairs of micron filtration bags (200, 100, 50) along with other mechanical filtration and get crystal clear water and STILL have a huge bio area.

Thats fine, I can run 100, 50 and even a 10 micron pad if I wanted in the canister filter. 20L of bio media is plenty for a 180 Gallon tank.

Wet Dry filters take up a lot of room where as canister filters take up very little.

Don't at all think im trying to put down Wet/dry filters because they are great and if you have a very large tank, wet dry is almost always the way to go especially for high bio loads.

Where is the pump located on this?

Its going to be an external pump on the intake side. For now anyways. The pump may work better pulling through the filter than pushing through the filter so some experimenting will have to be done.

Thanks for the link too. That will help out great!

 

[rallysman]

From past experience I know that you'll have to pay close attention to the Q1 4000. You need to clean the impeller and magnet regularly or it may not restart. You can also get it for a lot less money than what you're planning on. Drs foster and smith have pretty good deals usually.

 

[Jgray152]

Ya I may think about putting the Q1 pump on the output side of the filter so it doesn't get gunked up. I think I may go with the 6000 series.