DIY Monster Canister Filter!

[Jgray152]

no because you can spread the flow. its like using a drip tray!

Not at all. The flow does spread but not ALL of it. The bio media will take up space and reduce the area for flow. 1" per second is for a 6" diameter circle. Filling that with bio media will reduce the "area" within that 6" diameter circle.

IF you want ALL the flow to spread without any presure drop you would have to increase the diameter of area where the media will be.

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.

Looks good. It may be loud though. How are you going to purge it? I was thinking of puting a pump in the bucket but I wanted as much area to work with as possible.

 

[Fish Eat Fish]

Did the first test this morning and so far im very pleased

The garden hose couldnt even close to keep up with the flow rate of this thing. I could only test it for about 5 seconds at a time before it would empty itself

 

[zennzzo]

You may have to restrict the outlet so the inlet will be able to keep up...otherwise it will cavitate...
If you have any leakage problems, I have some cheap and easy bulkhead solutions for going through the side of the plastic bucket...~Zennz

 

[Fish Eat Fish]

You may have to restrict the outlet so the inlet will be able to keep up...otherwise it will cavitate...
If you have any leakage problems, I have some cheap and easy bulkhead solutions for going through the side of the plastic bucket...~Zennz

I think that once the siphon is started the inlet should not have much of a problem keeping up. The pump in the sealed bucket and the water going out will provide low pressure in the canister. this combined with the siphon pressure of the tank should allow it to keep up.

But if not than yes I will definately restrict the outlet. Thanks for the advice

 

[zennzzo]

Right and it's that low pressure that will cause sucking leaks and cavitation...the hardest ones to find...I did something like this a while back and scrapped it for a power feed/gravity return system. I was in a place where power failures were way too often and I was out in the ocean crabbing for days at a time...

 

[Fish Eat Fish]

Right and it's that low pressure that will cause sucking leaks and cavitation...the hardest ones to find...I did something like this a while back and scrapped it for a power feed/gravity return system. I was in a place where power failures were way too often and I was out in the ocean crabbing for days at a time...

The thing is though that I dont think once its up and running and fully flowing that there will be too much low pressure as once the siphon starts (the top of the tank is higher than 6 feet) it will push alot of water and almost bring the system to equilibrium. besides the return which will always be high pressure

 

[zennzzo]

The thing is though that I dont think once its up and running and fully flowing that there will be too much low pressure as once the siphon starts (the top of the tank is higher than 6 feet) it will push alot of water and almost bring the system to equilibrium. besides the return which will always be high pressure

I was going by the fact that your garden hose couldn't keep up with the pump...With the right size hose comming from the tank it wont be a problem, but then you might run into dwell time problems...(Amount of time that the water is in the filter itself)...
You'll get her figured out I'm sure. I was just trying to give you a heads up on some of the issues I ran into ...Good Luck bro...~Zennz

 

[Fish Eat Fish]

I was going by the fact that your garden hose couldn't keep up with the pump...With the right size hose comming from the tank it wont be a problem, but then you might run into dwell time problems...(Amount of time that the water is in the filter itself)...
You'll get her figured out I'm sure. I was just trying to give you a heads up on some of the issues I ran into ...Good Luck bro...~Zennz

yea thanks for the help. Im using 3/4 inch ID hose which is much larger than a garden hose...much more expensive too

 

[deeda]

I'm curious what model pump you are using. It looks like a sump pump. Were you able to find one for continuous rather than intermittant use?

 

[Fish Eat Fish]

I'm curious what model pump you are using. It looks like a sump pump. Were you able to find one for continuous rather than intermittant use?

it is a sump pump. 1/4 horse power 1500 GPH. It says right on it "continuous duty" so it should do the trick