fluidized bed filter D.I.Y

[Starting up]

Hi all
I'm just about to d.i.y a fbf and am after your input. At the moment i have access to 79mm inside diameter clear pvc pipe and am wanting to know how long to make it if i want to flow about 800-1000lph? What is the best "sand" to us? I will be most probably running it as a open top in my sump unless it is going to be to large.

Thanks all and any good links very much appreciated

 

[bukster]

to make it capable of flowing more you need to make it taller and more importantly wider. the wider it is the slower the water flows and the less sand it carries out. also the more time in the fbf the more the bacteria can do

 

[bukster]

p.s. y do you want it to flow so much? if you slow it down it will work a lot better. i'm getting a fb900 for my 180g and it only flows 200gph max, and will be plenty(actually rated for 900g tanks)

 

[Starting up]

OK so what sort of flow would i expect to use on a tube that is 79mm inside diameter and say 400mm long?
Thanks for any info you can share as the shops around here are no into this and may not know what your talking about.
Thanks again

 

[bukster]

don't feel bad my lfs aren't knowledgable on them at all either. as for the flow, that is roughly 3" x 16" i wouldn't expect to flow a ton through it. http://www.pentairaquatics.com/products/detail/fluidized_bed.html that a link to the fb900 i'm picking up tomorrow it's 34.5"tall and 7.5" x3" half round. even though it is this big you want the water to go slowly over the media so it only flows i believe a few hundred gph. but don't let that discourage you from using it as it'll still make an awesome suplemental filter. just pop a powerhead on it with a ball valve. slowly open the valve until the media is suspended in the tube without being too close to the top and spilling out. keep in mind though, even though it only flows a few hundred gal an hr it'll still filter up to a 900g tank. gl. if you have any more questions just ask