Inline filter idea

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Amaroq

Amaroq

Candiru
MFK Member
Jul 1, 2007
490
1
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In The Little Town Of Bedrock!
Alright so here is my plan I thought of today in a effort to save the amount of weight on my floor. I thought about making inline filters like they have for RO water but out of PVC or some clear plastic. The containers would be 3" or more and then I would have a 1" or more tube on the inside of that. I would then drill holes in the bottom of the inner tube so water would have to pass through the filter media before it could go through the 1" tube to the next 3" tube.

Here is a picture I sketched up on paint to help give you an idea. The water is marked blue when it is inside the 3" container and pink when inside the 1" container. It also doesn't mean that its only gonna be 3 long I was thinking maybe 4. Two mech, one bio, and one for chem/polishing. The pump would then be placed on the outside of that last filter so it could push the water back up to the tank.

Filteridea2.jpg


Does this sound possible? I was thinking maybe making two of those because I have two intake pipes and would like to get the most use out of them as I could.

Cheers!
 
I have a setup similar, will try to take some pics...but I used regular housing materials designed for 'whole house' filtration and are intended to be used in-line. I did this because I made a built-in tank in the wall and didn't have room for a sump nor access for an HOB.

The first thing I realized was that I used a pump that wasn't intended to PULL water, but to PUSH water - a very distinct difference! Since the pump has to pull all the air out of the line and the filters before water flows, this is important - unless you can come up with some way to prime it first...and even then, it's not as powerful as it could be...

So, I switched it around and put a smaller pump IN the tank to push the water out, through the filters and then back into the tank and it works MUCH better. I actually get better flow from a smaller pump this way since I'm now using it the way it was designed.
 
Is it not possible to put the pump in front of filters then to push it though the filters? The plumbing that the pump is then attached to my overflows so water is just gravity fed to the pump and if I were to do even just 300 GPH per overflow I could use 1" tubing and easily get away with it seeing as they can pump out 600GPH while being gravity fed ( they being 1" tubing).
 
I have a feeling that once you pick up all the supplies you're going to need, that you'll end up spending nearly as much as a couple of those whole house filters would cost.

Its definitely worth a try, and depending on how big you go, could potentially be cheaper or at least more efficient for your money. But how are you going to clean them out?
 
TheFishGuy on CF did it in a way that I'll be emulating in my 300g build. He took 5g buckets and put a bulkhead in the bottom, then wrapped cabinet door packing foam (he's a carpenter by trade, so he gets the foam all the time) around the sides of the buckets. Then, he dropped a wire trash can down into the 5g bucket - the kind that's solid on the bottom and a wire mesh on the sides. His overflow drops straight down into the wire trash can, hits the bottom and swirls up and out through the sides directly into the foam. After filtering through the foam, it comes out the bottom of the 5g bucket and continues on its way to his sump. In his case, he has four of these set up in-line to his bio-filter.

Here is a link to some pics of this setup. It's an old thread and the tank that these were originally used for filtering has now been expanded to about 1600 gallons using the same system. Cheap, easily scaled to a bigger system, and easily maintained.

Edit: I just looked again...the foam goes inside the wire mesh trash can, so changing it will be even easier! Simply take out the can, dump the foam into a sink, rinse it with tank water or replace it, then put the can back into the 5g bucket. Done.
 
All it takes to clean the filters is the filter wrench that comes with them when you buy them. Every now and then I take the screen off the pump and wash it out as well. The only thing I wish I HAD done was to buy the clear ones so that it's easier to see when they're gunked up. Good luck!
 
My $0.02,
I like to reinvent a wheel every now and then.
Just putting some stuff together is fun.
This would not be one I would choose.
The whole house filter($20 most everywhere) has just to many things going for it.
Standard filter cartridges fit. Threaded fittings. Easy off, spin on housing. 100% leak proof.
A number of people use these for superior mechanical filtration on an assortment of tank sizes.
I use it for a powered vac system.
I put a HOB together.
Lots of ways to use them.
HOB001.jpg

VacPics034.jpg

P1000472.jpg

The above is not mine, but is one of the cleanest systems I have seen.
Good luck on your project.
 
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