Diy Canister Filter

[kribensis12]

Is it possible to make a DIY Canister Filter? If so, does anyone know how?

 

[OldMan47]

There are several posts here about people who are making their own DIY canister type filter Krib. It is something I have never tried myself.

 

[Bebobb]

Yes, it is very possible. I have never made one myself, but I believe that I understand the concept quite well. Basically, you need two pumps. One to pump water out of the tank and into the filter, and another one to pump the water out of the filter and back into the tank. The two pumps need to have the same flow rater, or you could run into some difficulties. There are many items that people use for their DIY canister filters. One of the best objects I have seen someone use is an item called the "Otter Box" An Otter box is used to put things in on the beach so they don't get wet. That means that it is leak proof, and water tight. Just what we need in a filter. You will have to drill two holes ontop of the otter box, and attach hoses. Here is the link to the video that I am talking about.

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VDBAXQzT7U

I'm not sure on the price of the otter box, or the two pumps. But I would assume that it might get a bit pricey, depending on the size of your tank.

 

[mr130gallon]

i was thinking of making one a while ago

wouldnt it work if you just put a pump in the canister, like the ones you buy.

like if you put a powerhead in and had its outflow attached to a hose to put the water into the tank and then the powerhead should suck water out of the tank because the water thats being forced out will have to be replaced by something, which would be water...

does that make any sense?

ill make a diagram later to explain my confusing idea.

 

[Bebobb]

i was thinking of making one a while ago

wouldnt it work if you just put a pump in the canister, like the ones you buy.

like if you put a powerhead in and had its outflow attached to a hose to put the water into the tank and then the powerhead should suck water out of the tank because the water thats being forced out will have to be replaced by something, which would be water...

does that make any sense?

ill make a diagram later to explain my confusing idea.

Please do make the diagram. I think I have seen them made with one pump, But I can't exactly wrap my mind around how they are made.

 

[gazeddy]

you start a siphon down into the canister and pump the water back into the tank but it would need to be sealed or youd drain your tank onto the floor

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Yeah it is possible. I have seen them made out of buckets as well (as long as they have a tight fitting lid, water tight). You just need the 1 pump to push the water back up to the tank.

Once you get a syphon going on the input pipe it will fill the canister.
The pump then pushes the water from the canister back to the display tank and the syphon on the input pipe keeps pulling water down.

The only 2 things you need to worry about is:
Not having a pump that is too powerful as this will empty the canister quicker then the syphon can fill it.

Making sure your pump can push the water up high enough to return to the tank. head lose means that if a pump pushes out for example 100LPH when its flat it might only push out 50LPH if it has to push it up half a meter and 20LPH if it has to push it up 1 meter. Check the pumps specs to see the head lose details.

 

[Bebobb]

I don't see it being that powerful if you are using a siphon. But I do see it working.

 

[OldMan47]

You can move a lot of water with a nice large diameter siphon Betta Boy. A sump is basically a canister with an open top. It works by siphoning lots of water through large diameter tubing into the sump where it flows through the filter stages and is pumped back to the main tank. With an open top, you need to set it up so that the siphon runs out of water that it can move before the sump overflows. Controlling that level is done with what is called a standpipe. The standpipe prevents the main tank level dropping below the top of the standpipe so you can't overflow the sump.

 

[Bebobb]

Oh. I was thinking of a siphon that is only 1/4" thick, sorry.

 

[mr130gallon]

well, the way i was thinking of it was explained better by other people lol. i think i might try this soon.

 

[llamalord305]

It would be risky with the two pump idea. Unless you get it perfect, there is always a chance that one will push more water than another.

 

[mr130gallon]

thats why the siphon/pump ideas better, plus that return pump needs to be quite a bit more powerfull than the filling-up-one (cant think of the proper term lol)