DIY HOB reactor

[jschall]

Alright, here's what I'm trying to do:

I want a little box that will hang on the back of my 75 gallon aquarium such that the box will overflow into an aquarium. Just like a HOB filter but without the pump. It should be fairly tall. I'm going to put purigen in the bottom and then get a tom aquatics aqualifter to pump water into the bottom of the purigen, such that it will flow up through the purigen and overflow out the top, stirring the purigen as it goes.

Every time I've used purigen in a bag, it either gets through the webbing or some of it doesn't get any flow through it (I take the bag out to recharge and discover the purigen in the middle is still light colored.) This would also allow me to easily remove the purigen for recharging.

 

[KaiserSousay]

I get what you want to do.
I think I would go with a small, 100gph or so, pump to move the water. These are pretty cheap to buy and not as prone to failure as the aqua lifter diaphragm is.
I think it would give you more control over how your water gets dispersed as well.
Have you considered a PVC container?
Something as simple as a piece of 2in pipe. Flow into the bottom, through the Purigen and out an open top fitting.
Low flow and next to no pressure lets you use a wide variety of vessels for your Purigen.

 

[wow_it_esploded]

I agree with KaiserSousay but you must put a check valve in between pump and purigen chamber because otherwise, when you turn the pump off, purigen will flow back into it.

 

[KaiserSousay]

I agree with KaiserSousay but you must put a check valve in between pump and purigen chamber because otherwise, when you turn the pump off, purigen will flow back into it.

Sorry
Didn’t make myself clear enough.
Since all those little pumps are submersible, it would hang in the tank.
Output line up, over tank rim(that would be the hanger) and down into the bottom of the PVC pipe.
Water would flow from pump, through purigen filled pipe and out through 1 or 2, 90deg. fittings.
The line from the pump would create a “trap” in case of power outage and not let the purigen flow into the pump.
Same thing could be used to hold charcoal, nitrate absorber, or whatever media.
Just a side note, an old noisy HOB can be put back in service by running the outflow from the pump into it`s filter chamber.