# looking for diy internal filter plans



## Linda (Mar 3, 2006)

i have a 5 1/2 and 10 gallon tanks that are empty but i use them for fry growout tanks. i have really hard well water (good for fish and plants but hard on filters...) and have gone through a few hob filters. so i want to make an internal filter. i have all the media, tube and air filter i just need to see exactly how to put it together, oh yeah and what type of container would be best to put the stuff in? any help would be appreciated.


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## aquariageek (May 27, 2006)

This is a pretty good site with a very basic introduction to building a internal sponge filter.
A 5 Minute DIY Sponge Filter, by Sam Davies


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## essabee (Oct 11, 2006)

I am a great fan of the Under Gravel Filter, why dont you try out one. I do set it up in a different way, like using only a part of the floor and a powerhead and spray bars, and using the finest sand possible. It has worked for me and all my six aquariums are doing well with it.

A UGF takes the minimum space inside the aquarium and has the largest and cheapest filter media. Larger filter area means a larger population of beneficial bacterias, which means larger free CO2 supply for the plants, and larger free nutrients for your plants.


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## Linda (Mar 3, 2006)

i don't want to go that way as i will be housing freshly spit mbuna fry and these fish love to dig! which i don't think would be good but thank you for the suggestion! i want to go with a box filter because i have really hard well water and it is killing my hob filters with all the minerals etc. so i thought i would try a box filter with an air pump to run it. i have sponge filters for the air pumps but find that they leave too much debris on the floor of the tank although they work well with the baby fish.


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## aquariageek (May 27, 2006)

Linda said:


> so i thought i would try a box filter with an air pump to run it. i have sponge filters for the air pumps but find that they leave too much debris on the floor of the tank although they work well with the baby fish.


Linda:

I am not sure what you mean here. You want an internal filter, and you said you have air pumps to run it, that is why I thought you meant sponge filters. Do you have mini submersible pumps that you want to use to make internal box filters? As far as I know, an internal filter ran by an air pump would have to be some type of bubble/air driven device.

Perhaps you mean a "bubble-up" filter... 








Such as the one above (sorry about the bad quality) but that is literally the only pic I can find online. I had one on a fry tank and I thought it worked well.

If you want the "bubble-up" style filter, I would recommend just buying them, I think I paid $1.99 for it at the local pet supply warehouse. You can then put your filter floss and carbon in the tray and hook the tube in the top and you are in business.


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## Linda (Mar 3, 2006)

yes that is what i am looking for. sorry about the confusion, the store near my place sells those for 12$ (i live in the middle of nowhere so i thought if i used what i have with some type of container it would work.


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## Linda (Mar 3, 2006)

i quess i may as well just use the sponges i have


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

These filters can be made from a plastic bulb planter (with no drainage holes) with an inverted funnel in it. The airstone or bubbles go in the funnel, drawing the water from around it

I tried to make a diagram using /, \ and other symbols, but it wouldn't put any spaces between them! 

The media area above the funnel can be filled with any biological media and then a layer of foam or floss on the top for mechanical filtration. Not the prettiest thing in the world, but functional and very cheap!!!! Very good for breeding/rearing tanks.


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## Linda (Mar 3, 2006)

thank you that sounds excellent, i believe i have some of those laying around somewhere...


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## gibmaker (Jan 3, 2007)

Ok I have never made an internal filter but I have made diy co2 diffusers that would work on the same principle as a filter. take a power head and attach it to the top of a gravel cleaning tube put some type of media in the tube, throw it in your tank and turn it on. I have had to take apart my diffusers a couple of times because they accumulated so much mulm that it was stopping the power head, I had to put less media in the bottom so it would still flow easily. When I took out the original media after about 4 days and cleaned it out I was amazed at all of the junk in it, truley amazed.


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## Linda (Mar 3, 2006)

that sounds good too! although i am thinking of nano planted tanks now and reading, i am finding that i may not need any filtration. but i always love all the diy information it is awesome to have in case of a breakdown. i now know how to make a filter in a snap!!!


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## rs79 (Dec 7, 2004)

I've made lots of filters of all kinds. Commercial breeders and importers (and cheap hobbyists) won't always go to the trouble and expense of an inside or sponge filter. Here's the two easiest and probably best filters you can make (fairly) easily.

The first is to just take a kitchen funnel and out it upside down in a margerine tub that fits and dump some aquarium gravel in there. Stick it in a tank, put an airline in the hole and presto, you have the worlds cheapest filter. And it works. Well.

The next one is a bit more complicated and you need to be able to cut glass. Take a stained glass course. Practice on scrap. Whatever. What you want to do is build a chamber at the long end
of the tank bu puttting a peice of glass in there and filling it with gravel. Details vary as to how it's plumbed but almost all designs work. You use two or three sizes of gravel and this thing can filter miraculously well for the price of some scrap glass and rocks.

If you use sponge filters in tanks use BIG ones. They're cheap enough it's not really worth trying to make then. They'll look like crap anyway.

The inside corner box filters work surpridingly well. It's a shame you don't see more of them. I still use a few.


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## Freerider (Nov 8, 2006)

I know you want a diy but this is so cheap

http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp19170/si1382548/cl0/pennplaxquickdrawcornerfilter

I used this in a 10 gallon with great results. I put a row of mature biochemstars on the bottom and floss on the top and you have a cheap internal filter that probally will look better than a diy. Just my 2 cents! I love diy but on small tanks it is harder to make the diy look as good as store bought.


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## morphriz (Oct 24, 2005)

Hi,
if you are planning to hold fry a hamburger mattenfilter is a great way to go. It operates fine airpowered. I couldn't find any good guides, especially not in english, but here is a set of pictures. Normally one doesnt build a filterhousing like this, just silicone stips of glass in a corner of the tank to hold the filtermat.
cheers
Mattias

ps: The link: http://www.zoopet.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=286&Itemid=206


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## Linda (Mar 3, 2006)

wow i haven't heard anyone else refer to a hamburg mattenfilter! i have looked into this type of filter but it actually turned out to be costly but i really liked the filter design it was really neat!


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## morphriz (Oct 24, 2005)

The operating principle lowflow->very big filter area is real good for fry. It doesnt pull them in when they are really small. The low flow also lets debris fall to the bottom, easy to clean, you can fill the space behind the filter with bioballs as well if you wish.
cheers Mattias


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