# canister filter and plumbing



## Michael M (May 25, 2011)

hello, I am planning on building a diy canister filter much like xmuller's canister and setting up some custom plumbing to go with it but I am not sure what sizes of anything I actually need for it. The aquarium is a standard 75g aquarium, I was thinking of having 2 inlet pipes (one in each back corner) and a single outlet pipe in the center. The design of the plumbing includes 2 inlets on each of the corner pipes (1 inlet halfway down the pipe and the other at the bottom) the outlet pipe would have 2 outlets (1 facing each front corner, single pipe running vertically and splits at the top) the whole plumbing is designed to have the least amount of bends possible. I am not sure what size of pipe I will be using for the plumbing as it is primarily defined by the inlet/outlet of the pump.

The canister has been designed 2 resemble 2 of xmuller's canisters side by side where water comes in the top of 1 and leaves through 2 3/4" or or 2 1" pipes at the bottom after the mechanical filtration and enters the second at the bottom and is forced upward through the chemical and biological filtration before leaving through the top and returning to the tank.

I think that covers the entire design features of the system aside from the possible various inline equipment. can someone recommend an appropriate pump to purchase before selecting the specific pipe diameters? I was kinda thinking of using 6" or 8" sched 40 pvc pipe for the canisters, could someone recommend an appropriate amount of media for the chemical and biological filter stages(perhaps include matching dimensions for the baskets)?

I guess I forgot to mention, the top rail of the aquarium sits 51"(4'3") above the floor and I do plan on installing ball valves to control flow. Some things I do plan to add to the system include a co2 reactor, inline thermometer, inline ph controller, and an inline heater or 2 (currently 2x 200w heaters are in the aquarium but un-used, I might just take them out)


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## gwenschuck75 (May 25, 2011)

That is a very interesting project. Let us know how it goes and maybe you can even show us some photos once it is finished. I'm collecting some ideas on how I can also make my own aquarium, and having custom plumbing may be a very good idea.


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