DIY tank filter

[Terri]

Remember these guys...?
http://www.backyardpuddle.com/images/WAKIN/two/images/k1-twoerfilter+12_JPG.jpg
I'd been asking Ian to design/build a filter for our 100 gallon aquarium for a long while... long long before it was converted to a goldfish tank. Guess what!? He finally did one :grin:

http://www.backyardpuddle.com/images/WAKIN/two/images/k1-towerfilter_01_JPG.jpg http://www.backyardpuddle.com/images/WAKIN/two/images/k1-twoerfilter+11_JPG.jpg
The towers are 4" pvc, just over 6' tall. Each "T" connecting the three has a stainless steel screen to keep the media in it's own tower.

Tower 1 is mechanical (static kaldnes K1), tower 2 and 3 are biological (fluidized kaldnes K1). A 400gph submersible pump in the aquarium pumps water to Tower 1, water down flows into Tower 2 then upflows into Tower 3, water returns to the aquarium via gravity through 2" pipe.
Tower 1
http://www.backyardpuddle.com/images/WAKIN/two/images/k1-towerfilter_06_JPG.jpg
Tower 2 + 3
http://www.backyardpuddle.com/images/WAKIN/two/images/k1-towerfilter_07_JPG.jpg http://www.backyardpuddle.com/images/WAKIN/two/images/k1-towerfilter_08_JPG.jpg
2" return
http://www.backyardpuddle.com/images/WAKIN/two/images/k1-towerfilter_02_JPG.jpg
Maintenance should be pretty simple,...
http://www.backyardpuddle.com/images/WAKIN/two/images/k1-towerfilter_03_JPG.jpg
Each tower has it's own 1.5" valve, these connections also act as the supports for the tower filter. The pump line has a 3/4" valve for shut off during cleaning of Tower 1 so the water won't syphon back into the tank.

Now this is a 'proto-type' so to speak... still kinks to work out and a few we've already found. Tower 2 had too much media,.. the downflow caused the k-1 to be sucked to the bottom which restricts flow even with the air into Tower 3, so Ian took majority of the media out.

Where the aquarium sits at the moment is not it's permanent home, we have plans to incorporate the tank into a kitchen island... at which point the final design of this tower filter will be hidden in cabinetry and plumbed into the house waste line - maybe even an outfill..? It will also get a custom canopy cover for hiding the lighting (which plans to be changed as well).

So, what'dya think?

[raganwald]

And I immediately wonder: would there be a benefit to a similar setup for a small koi pond? You have three tubes for 100 gallons. If the tubes were double the height, you could support 200 gallons with three tubes. 2,000 gallons would require thirty tubes. That's an awful lot of valves and what-not, so it seems impractical.

But would it be more efficient to run the water through long tubes of active media rather than swooshing around in a big ring (like Nexus) or tub (like most DIY moving beds)?

[Ian]

I wondered what would happen if I ran enough K-1 on 120 gal tank that would run a 2000 gal pond :beer:
Well 20liters k-1 at 400+ gals an hour. Need to play with flow rate and bubbles and the amount of k-1 per tube. I try to work from the max down :grin: How do you know what the max is if you do not over due it?