the infamous 5 gallon diy canister filter. can it be done????
- Thread starter iamvictor2k
- Start date
I spent at least as much to by a new Sunsun on my first DIY canister, but I learned allot and from that aspect it was worth every penny even though it is now retired and awaiting recycle as a sump partition for the return pump LOL.
The important thing is you finished what you started and saw it through regardless of the obstacles, a great quality. So just just take in what you have learned while being safe.
I cant help but notice you have the canister without a catch basin and that pump cord lays pretty tightly folded against the the intake tube. Don't make the statistical mistake of tempting fate and Murphys law too much, make sure your using a GFI recepticle not just for your sake but for that child.
Having said that, well-done.:thumbsup:
The important thing is you finished what you started and saw it through regardless of the obstacles, a great quality. So just just take in what you have learned while being safe.
I cant help but notice you have the canister without a catch basin and that pump cord lays pretty tightly folded against the the intake tube. Don't make the statistical mistake of tempting fate and Murphys law too much, make sure your using a GFI recepticle not just for your sake but for that child.
Having said that, well-done.:thumbsup:
i wont have a fish tank with out a gfi. and thanks. it seems to be pretty comparable to other canister filters out there. im pretty proud of my self to use such a low budget on sumthing i had no idea what it was going to cost. i still have some more things i want to do to it so keep a look out for "victors diy 5 gallon bucket canister updates". just to list a few; i want to make a better way to put even pressure on the lid(plan is to make one in my welding shop in school), put sum kind of electrical shutoff on the outlet tube to shut off the power to the pump if no water is coming out, would also be fun to put a sump alarm in the canister that when the air gets to a certain level it shuts off for a few min(i know i can achieve this with a regular timer but how much cooler would it be if it was that much more complicated). i think thats about it for now thanks yall for all your opinions and suggestions
What a great thread even though there seems to be a bit of misinformation about the physics and math of the project.
I had to sign up to comment on the hydraulic forces involved in this filter and proper calculations.
The static pressure water exerts is .433psi per foot of water. It doesn't matter if the column of water is 1/8" tubing or a 2' x 6' tank the static pressure exerted is always .433psi per foot of water height!
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/pflu.html#fp
So lets say the lid of the bucket is 56 inches below the water level of the tank. The lid will have 2psi of pressure exerted on it from the static pressure of the water.
Thats all, just 2 psi.
I believe the diameter of the lid is 12". Which would make the area of the lid ~38 square inches.
38 square inches X 2 pounds per square inch = 76 pounds of force trying to push the lid off of the bucket.
So the restraining mechanism of the lid has to counter act this 76 pounds of force to over come the static pressure of the water column at 56" and keep the lid distortion free enough to prevent leaks.
If your garden hose is a poultry 20psi you have effectively pressure tested your lid restraint system against 760 pounds of force! Your engineering is sound!
On another subject I think that any DIYer will tell you that the purpose of a DIY project is not as much to save money but more for the accomplishment of engineering something and and the pride of having made it yourself. Most DIyers seek knowledge as much as any particular end product... the knowledge gained from constructing this filter far out weighs the usefulness of the filter itself... even though it appears to be a very useful and capable filter. I guess most might not be able to understand this quest for knowledge.
How did I happen on this post? Well I was searching for other peoples practical experience from making a 5 gallon bucket filter before starting my own.
I will share a couple lessons I have learned in constructing my own aquarium filters. My first DIY filter consisted of 3 water filter cartridge holders and an external pump. The holders held a coarse media filter, fine media filter and a charcoal filter. Boy did that filter almost instantly turn the water crystal clear. But this filter only ran about a week before the water flow reduced to a trickle. I replaced the media filters with coarser filters and it would run a couple of weeks before getting plugged. So I decided to replace the 1/8hp pump with a 1/2hp pump. The previously plugged filters started flowing sparkling clean water again due to the extra head pressure from the pump. The water was beautiful again... until the next morning when I found my fish floating at the top of the tank killed by the excessive heat the 1/2hp pump produced.
Have you had any heat issues?
I think I will try the Gamma screw on lid design and bring the supply and outlet plumbing through the side of the bucket. This seems like it will necessitate some sort of diffuser over the top layer of filter media in order to properly spread out the load over the entire media area. I like the purpose designed bulkhead plumbing someone posted.
I kind of like the look of these for media trays:
http://www.amazon.com/5-Gallon-EZ-Strainer-600-micron/dp/B003EDZOTM/ref=pd_sbs_misc_1
I am hoping I might be able to cut the rims off of them and stack them inside the bucket.
My filter will have an external pump in a push through configuration. This will impart greater pressures on the lid... but until I put a pressure gage on the output of the filter I won't know exactly what the forces will be.
Congratulations on a job well done! And keep on building!
I had to sign up to comment on the hydraulic forces involved in this filter and proper calculations.
The static pressure water exerts is .433psi per foot of water. It doesn't matter if the column of water is 1/8" tubing or a 2' x 6' tank the static pressure exerted is always .433psi per foot of water height!
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/pflu.html#fp
So lets say the lid of the bucket is 56 inches below the water level of the tank. The lid will have 2psi of pressure exerted on it from the static pressure of the water.
Thats all, just 2 psi.
I believe the diameter of the lid is 12". Which would make the area of the lid ~38 square inches.
38 square inches X 2 pounds per square inch = 76 pounds of force trying to push the lid off of the bucket.
So the restraining mechanism of the lid has to counter act this 76 pounds of force to over come the static pressure of the water column at 56" and keep the lid distortion free enough to prevent leaks.
If your garden hose is a poultry 20psi you have effectively pressure tested your lid restraint system against 760 pounds of force! Your engineering is sound!
On another subject I think that any DIYer will tell you that the purpose of a DIY project is not as much to save money but more for the accomplishment of engineering something and and the pride of having made it yourself. Most DIyers seek knowledge as much as any particular end product... the knowledge gained from constructing this filter far out weighs the usefulness of the filter itself... even though it appears to be a very useful and capable filter. I guess most might not be able to understand this quest for knowledge.
How did I happen on this post? Well I was searching for other peoples practical experience from making a 5 gallon bucket filter before starting my own.
I will share a couple lessons I have learned in constructing my own aquarium filters. My first DIY filter consisted of 3 water filter cartridge holders and an external pump. The holders held a coarse media filter, fine media filter and a charcoal filter. Boy did that filter almost instantly turn the water crystal clear. But this filter only ran about a week before the water flow reduced to a trickle. I replaced the media filters with coarser filters and it would run a couple of weeks before getting plugged. So I decided to replace the 1/8hp pump with a 1/2hp pump. The previously plugged filters started flowing sparkling clean water again due to the extra head pressure from the pump. The water was beautiful again... until the next morning when I found my fish floating at the top of the tank killed by the excessive heat the 1/2hp pump produced.
Have you had any heat issues?
I think I will try the Gamma screw on lid design and bring the supply and outlet plumbing through the side of the bucket. This seems like it will necessitate some sort of diffuser over the top layer of filter media in order to properly spread out the load over the entire media area. I like the purpose designed bulkhead plumbing someone posted.
I kind of like the look of these for media trays:
http://www.amazon.com/5-Gallon-EZ-Strainer-600-micron/dp/B003EDZOTM/ref=pd_sbs_misc_1
I am hoping I might be able to cut the rims off of them and stack them inside the bucket.
My filter will have an external pump in a push through configuration. This will impart greater pressures on the lid... but until I put a pressure gage on the output of the filter I won't know exactly what the forces will be.
Congratulations on a job well done! And keep on building!
Just a quick note...
Area of a circle is pi* ( radius squared )
6 squared = 36
* pi (3.14159) = 113.097 in/sq
2psi = 226.1945 lbs of force on lid.
