DIY Canister filter

  • Get the NEW AquariaCentral iOS app --> http://itunes.apple.com/app/id1227181058 // Android version will be out soon!

tvsb

AC Members
Jan 9, 2012
23
0
0
Croatia
Real Name
Tomislav
Small contribution to the community.
External filter with all the parts cost about $60.
I made it from the sewer drain pipe and it proved to be an excellent choice for the safe operation of the filter.
For the circulation i have used pump with a flow rate of 600 liters per hour.
I will present a sketch of the system and pictures of building step by step.

This is only a sketch of the system, I'm not good with drawing in win paint :)
filter schematics eng.jpg

here is all parts i use for filter:
IMG_0253.jpg

The caps, i drilled holes for hose and cable connections from the pump. The hole should be slightly smaller so that we can screw up the connections in the plastic, although it is not so important because we have rubber seal for the connection.
2.jpg

Screw the connections with rubber seal
3.jpg

Now we shall customize pump connections and put the cable through caps. I found a piece of tube and adapted it to the pump outlet.
The pump will not be permanently fixed, i leave the possibility for the eventual dismantling for repair or cleaning.
4.jpg

5.jpg

10.jpg

Now cut bowl in the following way (see picture), apply hot glue to the bottom of the bowl and the bottom cap. My glue is black because i melt it with propan Brener :)
6.jpg

Heat the bowl and cap, to soften the adhesive.
7.jpg

Merge each other with pressure (see photo) This is the base of the filter :)
8.jpg

Then we put a spacer for filter media, I used cart for the clips ( red thing )
11.jpg

Fit other elements (see figure) and must oil the rubber seal within each element
9.jpg

Almost finished filter
12.jpg

After I connect it to the aquarium, i noticed some mistakes and corrected it immediately.
My filter is approximately 1 meter below the tank and supply pipes are wide so i had a little more pressure in the filter and the elements were separated from each other.
Solution is on the following photo.
13.jpg

14.jpg

And finally the finished filter, perfect seal. I threw in a few liters of aquarium sponge. When i clean the filter all i need to do is close the valve and unscrew the side cover / cap.
15.jpg

Drain inlet pipe, it is good to have valves on pipe so we can shut down leaks when cleaning the filter. Valve is good to have because when the filter is put into operation after the cleaning, and when valves open, system is automatically filled with water.
16.jpg

sve.jpg

The filter works like a charm.

I hope that i didn't screw something with my english :)

IMG_0253.jpg 2.jpg 3.jpg 4.jpg 5.jpg 6.jpg 7.jpg 8.jpg 9.jpg 10.jpg 11.jpg 12.jpg 13.jpg 14.jpg 15.jpg 16.jpg sve.jpg filter schematics eng.jpg
 

steffish

AC Members
Apr 18, 2006
270
0
16
Very nice job! Thank you for sharing how you have put this together.
 

Humblepie

AC Members
Jan 27, 2012
20
0
0
45
I'm surprised it is working well. I'm guessing the pump is doing way more work than it should be though based upon your design. Why? because you aren't using gravity to help your pump at all in your design. You are going to burn the motor out on that filter WAY too soon. There is a reason why the input to all canister filters on the market have it come in at the top of the canister and not the bottom.

Well good luck to you, but I wouldn't use it based upon your design at all.
 

stoneyredneck

AC Members
Apr 22, 2011
158
0
0
48
I think I would have chose to put the pump at the bottom as well, but I disagree that is will cause his pump to work any harder. It is still going to suck water in and push it back to the tank. If anything the pump will work less hard because it shortened the trip by however tall this contraption is.

I am thinking the bottom would keep your pump from sucking air though. If those filter pads get dirty it stands a chance of the water not reaching the top as fast as the pump is sucking it out. Still a good looking project though. (Edit: Sorry not sure what I am thinking here. Closed system means no air, so no way to suck anything but water)

Curious about one thing though. how do you prime the system when empty?
 

Humblepie

AC Members
Jan 27, 2012
20
0
0
45
I think I would have chose to put the pump at the bottom as well, but I disagree that is will cause his pump to work any harder. It is still going to suck water in and push it back to the tank. If anything the pump will work less hard because it shortened the trip by however tall this contraption is.

I am thinking the bottom would keep your pump from sucking air though. If those filter pads get dirty it stands a chance of the water not reaching the top as fast as the pump is sucking it out. Still a good looking project though. (Edit: Sorry not sure what I am thinking here. Closed system means no air, so no way to suck anything but water)

Curious about one thing though. how do you prime the system when empty?
No, the reason you input into the top, even if the pump is at the top, is because you use siphoning through gravity and air pressure to up fill the canister. When the input is all the way at the bottom, the siphoning action stops as soon as water reaches the bottom. Which means the pump now has to SUCK up the water to it instead of letting the canister fill to the top through siphoning. Which is way more work for the motor. Do understand what I'm talking about? Or do I need to draw diagrams or reference a video of how siphoning works?

It's cool and all that the OP tried this. It is good first attempt, but a poor design over all. Simple design strategy to remember is to pump water up from a pump and to siphin water down to the pump. If the pump has to do both then it's doing too much.
 

tvsb

AC Members
Jan 9, 2012
23
0
0
Croatia
Real Name
Tomislav
No, the reason you input into the top, even if the pump is at the top, is because you use siphoning through gravity and air pressure to up fill the canister. When the input is all the way at the bottom, the siphoning action stops as soon as water reaches the bottom. Which means the pump now has to SUCK up the water to it instead of letting the canister fill to the top through siphoning. Which is way more work for the motor. Do understand what I'm talking about? Or do I need to draw diagrams or reference a video of how siphoning works?

It's cool and all that the OP tried this. It is good first attempt, but a poor design over all. Simple design strategy to remember is to pump water up from a pump and to siphin water down to the pump. If the pump has to do both then it's doing too much.
Oh god, obviously you do not understand how siphon works, you tell that water will come to bottom and stop, wel that is not truth, water will pass whole filter and go up to the tank water level !!!
Another thing, this is not my design, this is just my version, this design has already been used for many years with great success ! Pump will not suck anything !
don't be mad, and please read whole post before comment, you are obviously missed something, you don't need to drow diagrams because i drowed it already, just look at the top of the thread !
The sketch that i drew is not fiction, these are the laws of physics !
I wouldn't post this thread if this is something not good enough, so don't scare people with no reason please.
best regards
 

tvsb

AC Members
Jan 9, 2012
23
0
0
Croatia
Real Name
Tomislav
Reason why pump is on top is because in this way pump will only pull clean water, if pump were on bottom pump will suck dirty water from tank ! (see picture)
 

Humblepie

AC Members
Jan 27, 2012
20
0
0
45
Oh god, obviously you do not understand how siphon works, you tell that water will come to bottom and stop, wel that is not truth, water will pass whole filter and go up to the tank water level !!!
Another thing, this is not my design, this is just my version, this design has already been used for many years with great success ! Pump will not suck anything !
don't be mad, and please read whole post before comment, you are obviously missed something, you don't need to drow diagrams because i drowed it already, just look at the top of the thread !
The sketch that i drew is not fiction, these are the laws of physics !
I wouldn't post this thread if this is something not good enough, so don't scare people with no reason please.
best regards
Ummm, no. Yes there is "some" siphoning action going. Here do this as an experiment.

Take a glass fill it full of water. Take a tube, suck water into it and put your finger at the end to prevent it from coming out when you stop sucking after you fill the tube. Make the output of the tube from the glass of liquid lower than the glass. Let go of the output. After a few seconds practically ALL the water in the glass will be gone. That is because of air pressure pushes on top of the liquid in the glass after gravity pulls liquid from the tube. That's a siphon.

The next part of the experiment is to do the SAME thing, but this time, turn the very end of the tube UP. Guess what happens? It won't siphon. The gravity isn't taking anything out of the tube anymore so the air pressure on the liquid in the cup doesn't press down. That is what you are doing with your design as shown for your canister. The end of the tube is pointing up (well sideways). You are trying to fill the overflow container for the siphon from the bottom up instead of the top down. Siphons do not work that way that well. Eventually the backpressure from the overfow will prevent the siphoning action you may have going, which forces the pump to do the rest of the work.
 

tvsb

AC Members
Jan 9, 2012
23
0
0
Croatia
Real Name
Tomislav
i drow it :)

figure 1: filed tank with water but pipes are filled with air
figure 2: suck the water from tank through the pipes till the water fill to the red line, now water is filed pipe from the tank to the red line. Now you stop suck
figure 3: what heppend, Water is raised itself to the next red line (fig 3) without sucking anymore

siphon.jpg

that is siphon .. that is what we talk about

marked in blue is the distance of water level that pump must shift.

if this isn't clear i can sugest checking the wikipedia for "communicating vessels"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communicating_vessels

:thm:

siphon.jpg
 
Last edited:
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store