contact time is affected by flow. and with fx5 just pack it with so much media it only pumps 600lph like i did. or tune it back
DIY Monster Canister Filter!
- Thread starter Fish Eat Fish
- Start date
It doens't matter how much media you pack into it. The more space media takes up, the less area there is for flow which is only going to increase the velocity of flow and reduce contact time further. Now there is a % gain for contact time considering there is more media but you still going to have really low contact time.
I decided to go with a round 5 gallon bucket instead. Not the size I had intended but its all I could find with a gasketed lid. I am about 99% sure this will work like a charm and Im already half done with it. I plan on finishing it yet still tonight and maybe even setting up my whole tank. I should be able to fit at least 50 scrubbies in there and with that flow it should be a great filter for my tank.
also the lid thats on there is the paint bucket style. Its extremely hard to get it off even when im trying to so I doubt it will come off while under pressure wether it be negative or positive.
And to the people saying that I dont understand the physics involved...I say be prepared to be wrong...im not cocky but I am confident.
And to the people saying that I dont understand the physics involved...I say be prepared to be wrong...im not cocky but I am confident.
PICS!
The inlet and outlet
From the inside
Getting the plug through a small enough hole to silicone
The pump sitting plumbed in its new home
Now just have to let the silicone dry and add some scrubbies and she should be ready to plumb to my tank
The inlet and outlet
From the inside
Getting the plug through a small enough hole to silicone
The pump sitting plumbed in its new home
Now just have to let the silicone dry and add some scrubbies and she should be ready to plumb to my tank
i was thinking about doing the same thing, but had no idea if people have done it. great job man, hope it turns out ok.
Why is noone considering large diameter PVC for this? Schedule 40 will handle anything an aquarium can throw at it. The lowes by me carries 6" PVC pipe & fittings. If you wanted to be bold you could go with an 8" or larger, at higher expense. You could set up a 10' column of 6" PVC. even at 1" / second, at 10' that's still good contact time. Sealing it all up would be a piece of cake. You could even use a rubber fernco cap at one or both ends in case you ever needed to empty the thing & refurb it.
I have already researched this. I had already priced it out. I had already made plans using this. In the end, it was WAAYYY to expensive. 10 - 12" diameter PVC is expensive.
If you read this thread you will see that I already had it planned.
http://www.fishforums.com/forum/diy-do-yourself/19756-fluval-fx5-modification.html#post175937
Anything smaller than 10" would clog up real quick. 6" is usless. Ask the Fx5 owners how quick a 6" diameter basket clogs up. When designing a filter, you want the most sq inchs of top surface area you can get to reduce the chance of clogging and to allow the least amount of pressure drop.
Where is someone going to put 10' of 6" pipe? Yes you could do this for bio media but NOT for mechanical filtration.
Also purging it would be difficult if you don't factor that in when designing it.
