Making a canister filter?

[Devon6209]

None that I know of. Walmart and lowes have basically ran all specialty stores out of business

 

[Mlani]

That sucks. I hear you though, the town I live in has lost a lot of our smaller shops too. I searched wholesalers on google but I don't know what's close to you so here's the link. Maybe you can find someone close (driving distance) or maybe they could ship it to you.
http://www.google.ca/search?q=plumbing+wholesale&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari

 

[Devon6209]

Found a few that might have them. Going to look over the weekend.

 

[Mlani]

Cool let me know if you find one. I'm making up a diagram tonight and will possibly start putting the pipes together for this.

 

[Devon6209]

Alright post the pic of your diagram pleasr

 

[Mlani]

Will do, I'm having some issues with it though. I don't know if I should run two or three of these canisters? One for pre carbon (that will hold something to filter the big stuff) then the carbon and then the bio and then run the pump? Plus I have to put shut off valves in between each one and I'm not sure if I should just drop the pipe into the tank or try to run it along the back wall of the tank. There's so many configurations that could work, but I also want to keep it simple and sleek so it's not an eyesore in the tank. So far I've drawn up two and ripped up two. Lol!

 

[Devon6209]

I was thinking, instead of their specially designed filters, just fill it full of biological media, an cutting a large sponge and sitting it on to of the bio media at the top so the sponge would filter the large stuff and there would be alot of bio media

 

[Mlani]

I've been tossing that idea around too. The only thing preventing me from using the same things that you would in the fluvals and what not is my husband. He's looking at the cost of the media and filters from the lfs versus what he has already here at home. Plus I'm not entirely sure how the canisters would function properly without the filters directing the water?

 

[Devon6209]

here is a quick(rough) drawing of my idea, assuming i am right about the water flow of the filter

sorry, can bearly read the yellow, it says bio media, can be ceramic rings, bio balls, or chemical media also.

 

[Mlani]

That diagram looks great! The only challenge I see is within the canister itself. I can't figure out how to channel the water down to the bottom of the canister. There's no pipe in the middle of there and no way to put one in either :-( that's another reason that I'm constricted to using the filters that are made for these.

 

[Devon6209]

Oh so it's just a empty shell? I thought there was a center hole thingy lol

 

[Devon6209]

Here is an idea, take one the the premade filters and strip it. Then like make it to where water can only flow in the bottom of it.

 

[Mlani]

That might work! I'll take a closer look at the filters tomorrow. It's getting late here and honestly I'm getting frustrated trying to figure this out. I thought it would be so simple, It may very well be, maybe I'm making it more complicated than it needs to be? I'm going to sleep on it and hopefully have a clearer mind in the morning.lol!

 

[Devon6209]

Me too.

 

[Mlani]

Hey who knows maybe the filter fairy will come in the middle of the night and leave a post answering and clearing up any and all questions we've had!

 

[cburns70]

I'll post some pics of my setup this weekend. Its pretty much exactly what ya'll are thinking of.

I running four of those same canisters. Three of them don't have filters. Instead I have PVC pipe running down the center and attached to the bottom of the canisters.

The pipe also has holes near the bottom for the water to go through. This allows me to fill the canister with bio/carbon or whatever. The water has to travel all the way to the bottom to continue through. This way its as much media as possible.

 

[cburns70]

Here's a drawing of what i did:

 

[Devon6209]

So do you think stripping the filter and drilling it as such will work?

 

[Mlani]

Cburns70, so grateful for your experience on this one! I'm going to try one of each and see which one will work best. Sitting right now watching to make sure the seals I redid are holding. So far we're passing the water test! Next step is piecing the pipe and considering I have two drawings to choose from, which I will probably have to tweak anyway once it comes to the actual application. Lol! I've got 3/4 inch pipe two ball valves a bunch of 90s and 45s pink tape a residential pump plus the canisters. So far the only thing I need to go get is the sponges for the end of the pipes in the water. Theres always something? Isn't there? Lol!

 

[Mlani]

The residential pump is first pic
Second pic, bag full of goodies
Here I go..oh wait I need flanges too. Crap
*wrinkles nose*