DIY cannister filter

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i was looking at the rubbermaid(i think) lockable containers. they have a 4 lock lid and should do more than the trick. i may be getting it tomorrow and may actually have it built. will keep u updated.
 
u can sleep soundly tonight trotty since i built it today!!! here are the picks during the process.
here is the lid with a fitting in it to attach to the hose...
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opposite side...
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bottom of container drilled and same fitting put in
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opposite side
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and with the media in it...
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well thats it. i havent hooked it up to the powehead yet casue i am waiting for everything to dry fully. i may try running it tonight. will post more pics if i get it going. as for cost... it was 25 for the powerhead(i bought a maxijet 600) and 9 bucks for the container(had to but a stupid 3 pack casue they didnt have just the container!) besides that i just used some of the extra fittings that came with my xp3. and then some hose from a local hardware strore. was $.89 per foot. i used sponge, ceramic bio stars and filter floss for the media.
 
What is that white stuff above the black foam?
3 packs are good for accidental mistakes :)
The container doesn't seem very big though...

Bigougit said:
I saw a DIY canister filter that used 2 jars, 1 for filtration and 1 for a heater and it ran off 1 pump so I'd Imagine that as long as either the intake or the outtake hose was attached to the pump and everything was sealed with silicon besides the lid (which needs to be air tight) then there wont be any problems

Yeah, I think you are talking about my project, right? However, it will take up more space because the heater is outside of the tank, so there is two chambers.
 
container isnt as large as i wanted but still large enough. much larger than the average HOB media compartment. i have the black foam then a level of the ceramic stars and then filter floss. its a fine floss that captures all the little particles that the foam misses. i put the plastic mesh above the intake and below the out put so the media doesnt get sucked up or blown around. i went to hook it up to the hoses and i was to eager and broke the seal of the silicone casue it wasnt hard enough yet. i will have to try it out tomorrow to give it proper time to adhere.
 
yeah.. clear caulking is weaker.. because it is more flexible. I say, wait 2 days. And, when putting on a pipe, hold the other end of it tightly.
 
the first fitting i used didnt fit snugly enough into the hole and that was the problem. i replacd it with another tighter one and it is holding well now. gonna run it tomorrow and see what happens. i only used this stuff casue i know it is aquarium safe and plus it looks better.
 
when I make mine, I think I will use the fittings that came with my powerheads to connect them to ugfs so that it will fit snugly and I won't have to worry about it fitting to the hose :D

Your filter looks good, hope it dries out okay and everything. Also, have you considered adding carbon?
 
well i tried it out today but the bottom fitting didnt seem to want to hold lol. the top one i put in was fine but the bottom one didnt seal. so i got a bit of water on the floor. it seemd to push the water down and back up well considering there was a leak. i will redo the bottom fitting aith a stronger silicone and try again. the fitting i used are the right size for the hose and they fit well. but i just need a better deal between the container and them. maybe an epoxy rather than silicone. silicone doesnt bond well to plastic, even though i scratched it all up to give the silicone something to grab to.
 
I'd recommend trying some Goop. It works great for affixing plastic airline fittings to PVC for DIY CO2 Reactors, should work just as well for what your doing. No problems with the tank inhabitants after it's cured properly either.
 
24 hour per mm of silcone is the best rule of thumb when it comes to curing........

Thats why you shouldnt fill a new tank for 2-3 weeks after manufacture. It was an agonising wait when i got my 240 gal. But gave me plenty of time to stain the stand! LOL
 
This is a great thread. These ideas are like what I came up with too! One question though, do you run the pump inside the filter or outside.
 
i ran mine in the aquarium. my powerhead i used didnt give me enought flow and i was to cheap to buy a better powerhead so i am not running the cannister. in the future when i have some spare cash i will do this again but on a larger scale.
 
The main problem with an effective cannister filter is preventing media bypass. You want all the water to flow through each stage of filtration rather than slip past the outside of it all. This is why DIY tends not to be used on larger setups.
 
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