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Really Simple Diy Canister Filter


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#1 gilz

gilz
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  • Joined: 05-October 10

Posted 26 October 2010 - 08:36 PM

it's taken some stuffing around and a lot of going back to the drawing board
but i have ended up with a really basic canister filter
that took no special tools
no fancy parts all are very readily available
and all on a uni students budget

i took aspects of the two DIY filters already in this section
but took the simplest parts of each

parts needed:
150mm PVC pipe (any length desired) x 1.8ish : im not sure of price as i found mine in a junk collection =D
150mm end cap
150mm PVC conversion (so that you can screw on a lid, not sure of name)
150mm PVC screw on lid
previous 3 items cost $17 from parkwood hardware (near aquotix)
shop around for these, one place i went to had the three for $50... big difference

4 x 19mm nuts $2 each (but could probably find cheaper)
6 x 19mm plastic washers (i used fix-a-tap washers) 2 pack = $2
1 x female elbow = $1.85
1 x female straight (i used female threaded coupling/joiner and male straight piece) = $?
1 x roll of gutter guard = $2 from bunnings
(chambers x 4) long zip ties
1 x 19mm threaded pipe = $2
aquarium silicon this can either be really cheap ($6) or really expensive. it depends on whether you trust hardware brand aquarium silicon

$45 so far plus the PVC pipe

im going to have to add the images over a couple of posts
so ill refer to them by there order im thinking

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#2 gilz

gilz
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  • Joined: 05-October 10

Posted 26 October 2010 - 09:18 PM

image one is of the 3 main PVC parts you'll need to buy
we can get back to that later

image two

this is how i made the chambers for the media
first off i cut 6 pieces of PVC pipe off of my long piece totaling about 75% of the length of my main piece
i then cut about 4-5 cm out of each piece of short PVC so that there was a gap
this next part was the only real annoying part
basically you have to put some silicon on the cut edge of the PVC
i then pushed them together and held them in place with stickytape (an extra hand would help A LOT)
i wiped away any excess silicon
next i cut a rectangular piece of gutter guard and siliconed it across the join (this ends up holding the PVC together really well)
don't be cheap with the silicon on that part or it will all fall apart

next i cut large rectangular pieces of gutter guard (16 x 16 cm)
and used to silicon to glue them to the PVC (once again plenty of silicon)
i then left the six of these in the sun for a day

after this i checked all the sealing and found that some parts weren't very strong
i decided to put some silicon on the inside of the basket where it meets the gutter guard as well to add support
and again left it for a day

as you can see in image 5
i made one smaller chamber and one larger chamber

the smaller i put on top to stop the media in the top basket from moving. hence the gutter guard being on top
the larger i have empty at the very bottom to support the next chamber (probably didn't need any gutter guard but i put some anyway)
the larger one is also the one pictured in image two
as you can see it has a square cut out of it
this is too allow it too slip all the way down without the outlet getting in the way (image three)

finally i used the zip ties to attatch to the gutter guard to make it easier to pull the chambers out

side note: really important to make sure that the chambers slide in and out nicely (not too tight or the zip ties will most likely break the silicon, but not too lose or the water can pass the media) also you will have to cut any over hanging silicon or it will create friction as it is sliding down and up

image 3 : the outlet
i cut a 19mm hole using a drill bit just above the end cap at the bottom
slid a piece of threaded pipe in
put 2 plastic washers on either side
on the inside i put 2 19mm plastic nuts (turned very tightly together)
on the outside i put the female elbow
turn until you can see both sides pushing into the washer (basically as hard as your hands can tighten it)
(use some reticulation tape to ensure it's water tight)
and thats the outlet done

image 4: the inlet
once again drilled a 19mm hole and pushed a piece of 19mm threaded pipe
ensure its a tight fit
placed one washer on each side (flat surface so only one is needed)
2 nuts on the inside and a female straight on the outside (use some reticulation tape to ensure the fittings are water tight)
and tighten
thats the inlet

use some clear 19mm pipe to connect a pump in the tank/pond to the inlet and another piece to run the outlet into the tank/pond etc)
connect the pipe to the inlet/outlet and then use retic clamps (little round things) to make it water tight.

test it all out before you actually glue the PVC together and make sure the only leaks are the PVC fittings ie. not the inlet or outlet
check that you can slide the media in and out easily

once you have determined that its all water tight use PVC glue to glue the end cap on and the conversion piece on


i still need to work out how i am going to stop it in order to clean in
however i have something lined up
a drawback is that the cleaning process will probably be a bit annoying
i need to work out a way to remove the inlet and outlet pipe in a way that won't cause massive water loss problems
i'm thinking having those turning things to cut water flow and then some sort of connector that can easily be disconnected
but ill look into that in the coming days

additions to the parts needed:
PVC glue
retic clamps
retic tape
pipe (clear = $5 p/m or black = $8 for 20m)
plus. what ever you use for the inlet and outlet (perhaps a couple of elbows)

last thing is you'll need a pump
i'm using a 1050 l/h and once it goes through the media it ends up as about 450 l/h

the good thing is if you need it
you can have 2 inlets and 2 outlets which would probably double the flow rate
or you could get a bigger pump

pet magic has 1200 l/h pumps for $29
or you could ask in the classifieds on here


anyway
i had a lot of fun doing this
i'd suggest giving it a crack
or you could wait for me to try it on my tank and see if i suddenly report a lot of dying fish hahaha

hope you enjoyed reading my novel
hope the instructions were clear enough
shout out if they you need something cleared up



one more thing
i found that when you make the PVC smaller to fit inside the main tube
it tends to oval out
making it a very tight fit
i found that if you hold it above a stove then round it off and put it in cold water it helps it a lot

o and when you are cutting the smaller pieces
check it fits
because if u glue it all up and it doesn't
you'll be pissed




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