DIY drop in bucket filters. Cheap and easy

[necrocanis]

So these if you have all the materials available will take about 30 mins to an hour each to complete depending on your abilities. Here is a suggested list of materials and costs at time of writing this.

Bucket 2$-5$
Bucket lid 2$
pond pump 500 gph $20
rocks(to cut down the buoyancy of the flter) free
120 plastic pot scrubbies $15
pillow or blanket batting(mechanical filtration) $5-$10


Tools needed
saw or something sharp to cut with
drill

once you have precleaned all your materials in hot water (no soap) you can begin construction.

 

[necrocanis]

As this video suggest you will want to mark the holes in your lid before drilling to allow for more even distribution of water in your bucket. Doesn't have to be perfect. I did this freehand about every 1" squares.

[video=youtube;2MbBtL9gdrk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MbBtL9gdrk[/video]

 

[necrocanis]

This is pretty straight forward. Drill out the lid. Put the lid on the bucket and it will catch most of the plastic tailings left behind.

[video=youtube;f0cidvyOHQg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0cidvyOHQg[/video]

 

[necrocanis]

Clean off the pieces of plastic still stuck to the lid (unless you don't want to) Then remove the handle. It is a bit tricky on the first side, but then the second side should almost fall out.

[video=youtube;wV-kIkq-bTs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV-kIkq-bTs[/video]

 

[necrocanis]

you can do like me and grab the first big rock that will keep your filter from floating away like me or get some pea gravel or cheap rocks at the lfs to put on the bottom.

[video=youtube;3pUwBEAAwdE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pUwBEAAwdE[/video]

 

[necrocanis]

Drill a hole in the side of the bucket towards the bottom that will allow you to thread the outlet nozzle to your pump so that it will push water out of the bucket. Put the prefilter side of the pump towards the bottom of the bucket so that it will pull the water completely through the biomedia before exiting the filter.

[video=youtube;9KFIp7iqCv0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KFIp7iqCv0[/video]

 

[necrocanis]

Now add everything to your new filter. Start with the rock, or rocks at the bottom of the bucket. Then add your bio materials on top of that so that you are leaving about 2-3" of space at the top of the bucket. Then press in the batting (or whatever you want to use for mechanical filtration) to the top. Snap the lid on tight. Make sure before putting the lid on that you cut a notch to one of the holes on the lid so that you can put the pump cord through the top of the filter. After everything is in place you can then submerge and test your new filter. Add cultured bacteria to boost the cycling of your new filter if desired. Once the filter is submerged plug it in and let it work it's magic!

[video=youtube;rtE2ZfDGqak]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtE2ZfDGqak[/video]

 

[necrocanis]

This is a quick and cheap solution for getting a filter up and running in your tank or pond. Best use is in a pond where space is limited for filtration purposes. You can add as many as you'd like. i will be using 2 of these on my 400 gal pond for now. I chose the fishing buckets from walmart that costs about $5 each, you can get plain white for around $2 though. I just think that the fish patterned ones look nicer in a tank or pond. You can also use these as an emergency filter for various reasons. If someone knows how to calculate the biocapacity of a filter like this feel free to add it here. I hope this will be helpful for someone looking to add some filtration to their tank or pond quick and cheap until they can get something better up and running.

 

[bassguy]

Good write up and way to think outside the box and think in the bucket

 

[necrocanis]

Good write up and way to think outside the box and think in the bucket

Thanks. I've used this many times, and when I refer to it everyone always asks what I am talking about. This way I have a thread I can link them to instead of having to re explain it every time lol. I am going to do some research on what capacity one of these filters could accommodate so that I can make sure all info is in this thread.