Thanks to forums like these, we can get creative with our DIY skills. Limited or not. Thanks for the help, inspiration and ideas guys. So here is my contribution of how to's.
First up my 55g and its plumbing:
This is my 55G. It’s got a DIY stand, DIY canopy, DIY background, DIY overflow, DIY moonlighting and a DIY sump. Oh and a DIY Feeding-ring. First up the overflow.
It's incorporated into the background, as is all the "in tank" plumbing. I built it out of glass and silicone. To prime it, you stick an air tube up the siphons and suck the air out. Once primed, always primed. This overflow setup has been running for 6 months without any help from me. It has survived a couple of 5 - 6 hour power outages, and weekly, when I do water changes, I unplug the pump. The thing I really like about them is that I can see if there is water in the siphons.
The water is drained to the sump via 2 lines. Why 2 lines? Because I had enough hose to run 2 lines.
The water flows through a series of ups and downs and medias. It runs past a 300W heater and gets pumped back up to the tank by an 1800l 1.8m Max Head pump. It turns the tank about 2.5 times an hour with all the head pressure. I know it aint setting records, but when I feel I need more filtration I can always hook up one more pump and maybe run a spray bar with it... But my fish are happy, and secretly I think my Bio filtration is rock solid because it isn't rushed.
This is the return line as it enters the tank.
The piece of air tubing is connected to a tiny hole in the return line. This acts as a siphon-break. When the pump goes out, air is sucked through this line, and breaks the "back siphon" in about 2 seconds. When the pump is running a tiny amount of water gets pushed through the hole/line. So the line just runs it to somewhere safe. The red light is called a "Lumi LED". It’s a 1/2Watt LED I use for moonlighting.
And here is how to prevent food going down your overflow:
Other filters... This is my filter setup on my 20g LONG. It was just an experiment at the time, but turns out to be working pretty well.
Water is sucked in from the bottom through a rough sponge/prefilter, then past some ceramics thingies for BIO, and then through a finer sponge for polishing.
It gets pushed back into the tank via a tiny 400l/h pump, which I throttle back to about 280 - 300l/h, and double spray bar system(one near the pump and the other in the middle of the tank). Two spray bars because it was the only way I could get descent enough water movement in such a long/narrow tank.
Any way. I hope this will switch on the light above someones head.
First up my 55g and its plumbing:
This is my 55G. It’s got a DIY stand, DIY canopy, DIY background, DIY overflow, DIY moonlighting and a DIY sump. Oh and a DIY Feeding-ring. First up the overflow.
It's incorporated into the background, as is all the "in tank" plumbing. I built it out of glass and silicone. To prime it, you stick an air tube up the siphons and suck the air out. Once primed, always primed. This overflow setup has been running for 6 months without any help from me. It has survived a couple of 5 - 6 hour power outages, and weekly, when I do water changes, I unplug the pump. The thing I really like about them is that I can see if there is water in the siphons.
The water is drained to the sump via 2 lines. Why 2 lines? Because I had enough hose to run 2 lines.
The water flows through a series of ups and downs and medias. It runs past a 300W heater and gets pumped back up to the tank by an 1800l 1.8m Max Head pump. It turns the tank about 2.5 times an hour with all the head pressure. I know it aint setting records, but when I feel I need more filtration I can always hook up one more pump and maybe run a spray bar with it... But my fish are happy, and secretly I think my Bio filtration is rock solid because it isn't rushed.
This is the return line as it enters the tank.
The piece of air tubing is connected to a tiny hole in the return line. This acts as a siphon-break. When the pump goes out, air is sucked through this line, and breaks the "back siphon" in about 2 seconds. When the pump is running a tiny amount of water gets pushed through the hole/line. So the line just runs it to somewhere safe. The red light is called a "Lumi LED". It’s a 1/2Watt LED I use for moonlighting.
And here is how to prevent food going down your overflow:
Other filters... This is my filter setup on my 20g LONG. It was just an experiment at the time, but turns out to be working pretty well.
Water is sucked in from the bottom through a rough sponge/prefilter, then past some ceramics thingies for BIO, and then through a finer sponge for polishing.
It gets pushed back into the tank via a tiny 400l/h pump, which I throttle back to about 280 - 300l/h, and double spray bar system(one near the pump and the other in the middle of the tank). Two spray bars because it was the only way I could get descent enough water movement in such a long/narrow tank.
Any way. I hope this will switch on the light above someones head.
