Air lift capabilities

[Willow 123]

Morning all
I run a Matten filter powered by a homemade airlift ( overflow pipe 21.5mm dia) and was impressed that airlift was still working well with the water level 6 inches below the out flow.
Didn't realse they were so efficient/ powerful.

 

[MaloK]

I did a test once with a small sponge filter and an air pump. It was moving 24 gallons per hours.

 

[Willow 123]

I've just tested my homemade airlift and its turning over 400 litres of water an hour, I'm very impressed

 

[Willow 123]

Wow indeed, And I check it 4 times because I didnt believe it either. And thats with approx 80 to 90 lph air

 

[MaloK]

I knew Mattens where a good effective design, but that is outstanding. Nice work.

When I use only air power filtration, I like to have an idea of the kind of flow produced. It gives some peace of mind regarding filtration capacity.

 

[Willow 123]

This is my first time with a Matten filter, but not the first time I've built an uplift from overflow piping (21.5mm).
Its got me wondering how much water I could flow with 32mm. watch this space
I know the koi keepers run 110mm uplifts and claim flow rates in the thousands of litres, very economically electricity wise.

 

[Willow 123]

So I've made and tested a 32mm uplift and with the same flow of air it turns over the same as the smaller pipe i.e.400 litres per hour.
Reading up on a koi keepers forum the 3 variables that affect flow are quantity of air, diameter of pipe and depth of water, for example the koi keepers have found the optimum depth of water/length of uplift is 1.7m! and they use 110mm dia pipe
So as depth is restricted by the tank and 32mm is the pipe dia, next test is to increase the air flow. Watch this space.

 

[MuddyWaters]

Are there situations where Matten filters are preferable to others? I've seen a bit about them here and there, but don't know much about them. It's a couple of sponges on one end of the tank or something like that, right? I guess i should look this up LOL. I'd just rather have you tell me, though

 

[Willow 123]

In my tank I have a piece of foam across the back of the tank, full depth, and 50mm thick with a 30mm void behind it in which sits the air uplift ( you could use a pump) and the tank heater.
In effect the whole area of , in my case, the back wall of the tank, becomes the filter media.
So no chance of anything getting trapped ( including small fry), very large filtration area ( which could be enhanced by bio media or carbon etc in the void). And the fish, shrimps, snails etc, eat off the surface
The only downside I can see is to clean the foam disturbs the tank quite a bit, but most Matten enthusiasts seem to leave theirs in place for ages with no ill effects. I can't comment on that as mine has only been running for a couple of months, but all my parameters are stable with minimal water changes.

 

[MaloK]

I've been thinking to modify one of my setups to a Matten filter.

But since I'm lazy I thought of using a large sponge filter with Biomedia compartment behind the matten coarse pad.

It would need a little tinkering at the surface to make sure the Pad is above the water level and shrimps cant get behind with an output that flows on the surface.

The only downside I can see is to clean the foam disturbs the tank quite a bit

Yes it evidently becomes a factor. But some user here that ran them for a long time suggested that only vacuuming the surface with a gravel siphon during water changes was enough to maintain them.

 

[Willow 123]

My Matten filter foam protrudes about 40mm above the surface and the 'return' from the airlift pokes through a snug hole cut in the foam. I also cut the foam about 5mm larger than the width of the tank to ensure a snug fit. I have a small bag of biomedia in a net bag in the void so its easy to retrieve if needed.
And making your own uplift is a doddle and ( because I'm a thifty so and so) inexpensive.
And it doesn't have to be the back of the tank, for my next (long) tank I am considering putting 2 Matten filters in, one at either end.

 

[MaloK]

Yes, the tank is 6 gallons very long so I would use only one end.

 

[Willow 123]

6, 16 or 60 gallons ?

 

[MaloK]

6

 

[Willow 123]

For reference mine is running on a 60 litre (13 uk galls, 16 us galls) cube.
As you're going to run a sponge filter behind you'll probably find a 25mm thick matten filter would be okay.