Prefer to make your own filtration system or just buy?

[FINWIN]

Mine's a combination of the two. I've got built internal filters and bought filters with 'bumped up' bio filtering. Personal preference is HOB's for the versatility and cleaning (you can clean some and leave others untouched not disturbing water chemistry).

Kinda paranoid about overflows, sumps and floor flooding, but that's just me. I remember looking at Utube and there were 'wars' over the 'best' filtration. But it's really about efficiency, not brand names. Numerical ratings are misleading for certain and don't take into account the type of fish you have and their bio waste. I was more than a bit surprised at some of the inflated canister ratings, even the top brands.

 

[esoxlucius]

I recently built my own filtration for my new 360 tank. I'm very lucky in as much that working in the plastics recycling game I have access to countless plastic barrels, tubs, buckets, sheets, pipes, tubing etc. My place of work is an Aladins cave for the DIY hobbyist.

All I needed was an idea in my head, a few tools out of my shed, basic DIY skills and an efficient filtration system for my 360 was born.

It gives you a great feeling of accomplishment, not to mention saving you a few quid too.

 

[adamsfishes]

I've done both. I now feel like for anything about 180 or less, FX-6 (or two) is plenty good enough and very quiet, no need for anything more complicated. For anything over about 300, building a sump is pretty much required.

 

[celebrist]

I recently built my own filtration for my new 360 tank. I'm very lucky in as much that working in the plastics recycling game I have access to countless plastic barrels, tubs, buckets, sheets, pipes, tubing etc. My place of work is an Aladins cave for the DIY hobbyist.

All I needed was an idea in my head, a few tools out of my shed, basic DIY skills and an efficient filtration system for my 360 was born.

It gives you a great feeling of accomplishment, not to mention saving you a few quid too.

We obviously need pictures my diamond in the rough

 

[esoxlucius]

We obviously need pictures my diamond in the rough

Just for you. My no nonsense easy to maintain and very effective filtration system. First picture shows right hand side of my tank and the 55g drum which houses all my mech, bio and pump. Second picture is a top view looking inside the barrel and the third picture just shows the splash lid removed. It's a four tier system, top mechanical, then a crate with holes in to give me equal distribution of water into my trickle filtration, then underneath that is my submerged media. And the bottom crate houses my pump.

My running level in the barrel is just so my submerged media is actually submerged. Any outage and the water level rises but no where near to overflow level. I thought I might need to tweek it here and there to get it running perfect but it seems to be doing just fine as it is.

You see a lot of threads where people are frightened almost of setting up their filtration and my set up proves that simple works just as well as any system.

 

[tlindsey]

Just for you. My no nonsense easy to maintain and very effective filtration system. First picture shows right hand side of my tank and the 55g drum which houses all my mech, bio and pump. Second picture is a top view looking inside the barrel and the third picture just shows the splash lid removed. It's a four tier system, top mechanical, then a crate with holes in to give me equal distribution of water into my trickle filtration, then underneath that is my submerged media. And the bottom crate houses my pump.

My running level in the barrel is just so my submerged media is actually submerged. Any outage and the water level rises but no where near to overflow level. I thought I might need to tweek it here and there to get it running perfect but it seems to be doing just fine as it is.

You see a lot of threads where people are frightened almost of setting up their filtration and my set up proves that simple works just as well as any system.

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I love creativity. That's a great diy filter build.

 

[celebrist]

Just for you. My no nonsense easy to maintain and very effective filtration system. First picture shows right hand side of my tank and the 55g drum which houses all my mech, bio and pump. Second picture is a top view looking inside the barrel and the third picture just shows the splash lid removed. It's a four tier system, top mechanical, then a crate with holes in to give me equal distribution of water into my trickle filtration, then underneath that is my submerged media. And the bottom crate houses my pump.

My running level in the barrel is just so my submerged media is actually submerged. Any outage and the water level rises but no where near to overflow level. I thought I might need to tweek it here and there to get it running perfect but it seems to be doing just fine as it is.

You see a lot of threads where people are frightened almost of setting up their filtration and my set up proves that simple works just as well as any system.

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View attachment 1389830

View attachment 1389831

I am something of a filtration junkie so thanks for giving me a fix

 

[esoxlucius]

I am something of a filtration junkie so thanks for giving me a fix

Happy to oblige. I only push the finest quality gear and my filtration is the crystal meth of aquaria.

 

[krichardson]

I've kicked around different ideas for diy filtration systems but I haven't attempted any thus far.

 

[duanes]

I started putting my own filters (sumps) together out of old scratched up tanks (55s or 75s, or larger), and barrels years ago, and found I could get much more filtration, volume, and flow when I did it myself for a fraction on the cost.
I also like that I can filter 3-5 tanks on 1 sump, which also allows for instant cycling of new tanks with just a couple pieces of PVC.
I also build them so maintenance, and water changes are easy.


The 75 gal sump below handled the filtration of 4-5 tanks.