# Regarding DIY Filtration - Is this a Good idea ?



## nagukush (Mar 13, 2008)

Hi Friends !

Just wanted some guidance here-

My 4 feet tank acrylic tank came in with a Tank-Top Filter, which has 3 baskets to contain filter media and a pump takes water and sprays over these baskets with the help of a spray bar. I dont use this filter anymore (because I have a Eheim 2217 and a Eheim Internal Aquaball Filter running in the tank. I do have the filter on the tank because it also serves as a Tank hood to cover half of the tank.

I just had an idea and wanted to know if it will work out well. I thought that I'll take the output from the Eheim 2217 and using spray bars, I'll spray the output water in to these baskets, after which it will return to the main tank thru gravity (the end of the top compartment contains a big hole, thru which water flows back in to the tank)

I plan to use the common household sponges (the nylon net like things - I dont know what they're called in english) in these baskets, as I read that they serve as a good biological medium for the growth of bacteria. I cant get the coarse sponge pads anywhere here and I cant afford costlier media fro eheim etc...

I thought that this will help in oxygenating the water, serve as more biological filtration and will also help me reduce the strong water movement which seems to bother my frontosas.

Kindly advice if this is a good idea and if it will workout. Aslo will these nylon sponges work well ? I guessI wont have to clean them often as the water reaching them will already be clean from the 2217.

Please guide me here...
Thanks a lot for reading...
Regards and Care
Kush


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## nagukush (Mar 13, 2008)

Friends, also kindly advice if I should use some thing else as a filter media, instead of the nylon sponges ?

Also can I use a single large jet of water instead of the spray bars ? Will it be as effective or less ?

Also I'm afraid that the filter media here will get completey dry whenever I'm maintaining the Eheim 2217 - will this immediately kill my good bacteria ?

Please guide me...


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## bgzbgz (Jul 6, 2007)

Are you adding co2? Because this sounds kind of like a sump and you will probably lose alot of co2 from this. Also if you are adding co2 you dont need to worry about oxygenating the water too much because the plants turn the co2 into pure oxygen during the day and this is usually more than enough.

Also you do not really need to worry about biological filtration in a planted tank, first of all because plants and bacteria actually compete for ammonia in a tank. Second of all you will never run out of beneficial bacteria because it is everywhere in your tank in the gravel... on the plants... etc. The most useful part of a filter in a planted tank is the mechanical filtration, I like adding alot of filter floss to mine. It catches really small particles and also has alot of surface area for bacteria to colonize (not that this is necessary).


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## mulita (Jul 31, 2007)

Nagukush. I dont see any porblem in what you want to do, the use of sponges and nylon net will also work, you may want to add some activated charcoal but this is a choice. it sounds like a good idea to try on. Bateria wont die during the maintanance time as long as this is done within the same day.

Actually, reading about this top tank filter, just help me out for a nano aquarium project that I am working on and I waswonder if I may use a tank top filter but now reading about it I know it can be done, will help me out as this will be a 0.25 Gal tank and I want to keep everything really small to have it as a Desktop tank running in batteries if possible. So also thanks to you.


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## nagukush (Mar 13, 2008)

Hi Friends !

I've attached the pics now -

The Description is as follows -

1. Top of the Tank showing that the Tank is covered by 2 parts - The one to the front holds the lights and the narrower section at the back is the Filter Compartment that I'm talking about.

2. Filter Compartment Opened, showing the baskets inside (there are 3 sections totally.

3. These are the baskets that are inside

4. One of the Baskets removed - water will pass these baskets and flow under them - thru this section

5. Water flowing from the 3 baskets reaches the end which has these - A Big Hole, and a gap (I guess its for preventing overflow ? I'm not really sure)

6. This attaches to the big hole (described above) and will be submersed in the tank water. Water flows thru this into the tank.

I hope I've managed to describe the pics properly...

Now, I request you to kindly guide me if I should be using this facility as I've described in my original post in this thread. I plant to do the following-

1. I'll place a single layer of Pot Scrubbers in each of the 3 baskets.
2. Water from my Eheim 2217 will be sprayed in to these baskets.
3. Water flowing out of the baskets will reach the end and flow out into the tank.

Now, I request you to kindly guide me on the following doubts that I have (Kindly try to answer and help me point-wise so that I can understand better-

1. Should I use a single layer of pot scrubbers or 2 or more will be better ?

2. Do I place any fine filter media above the Pot Scrubbers or do I just let the water fall on to them directly ? I guess the water coming from the Eheim 2217 will be clean enough ?

3. I guess not all the portions of the pot scrubbers will get wet, as the spray bar will let small jets of water - is this ok if some parts are dry and some parts are only exposed to the water ? Will the bacteria still grow and help in filtration ?

4. Can I place a bag of Activated carbon in one of the baskets (above the pot scrubbers) - I mean will the carbon be still effective because water will just be flowing over it and wont be forced thru it.

5. I guess this will reduce the water flow current in my tank - Is this ok ? I mean is water circulation importnat ?

I request you to kindly guide me on this issue - I'm really confused if I should go for it...

Please help me and guide me...


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## nagukush (Mar 13, 2008)

6th Image Attached 

Also kindly note that this is Frontosa Tank and does not have any plants in it. My main aim is to reduce the water current flow in my tank, as it seems to bother my fronts and also I thought that I'd use the facility if its there...

Kindly guide me if I should go for it ?


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## nagukush (Mar 13, 2008)

Friends, kindly guide me here...


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## nagukush (Mar 13, 2008)

Friends, kindly guide me here...


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## nagukush (Mar 13, 2008)

Friends, kindly help me...


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## maddyfish (Dec 28, 2008)

I can't see anything wrong with your plan, but I feel the water would already be well filtered before it got to the original trays.


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## wet (Nov 24, 2008)

And bacteria (and I would argue that in a high uptake moderately stocked tank there is little nitrifying bacteria / not enough to care about vs. plant uptake to begin with) will live where ever it can. While porus pot scrubbers are great, I'm not so sure its better than whatever is in your canister or, say, natural driftwood. Its not as if more media means you will have more nitrifying bacteria: there is as much as can consume available NH3/4/NO2, and if you have an excess of media in any one section of your filtration I'd bet a nickel they would just keep colonizing at that one section.

What your plan will gain is increased oxygenation, which depending on your goals can be very good, and to maximize this you will want to distribute flow across the surface area of the wet/dry section as evenly as possible. Elsewise I think you gain nothing. A bigger chamber for a sump/more water volume though...

As a tangent, I have thought about a low uptage tank with very high surface turbulation with the goal of constantly equalizing CO2 (or however much we can grab) with the atmosphere. Now, under high light and vs say BBA this would be bad, but under lower light and lower uptake its conceivable such a design would guarantee CO2 is never a limiting factor (nor O2 for animals, of course).


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