Think I'm giving up on my fuge... what filter should I get?

[Pain Devine]

I've had it... My plumbing just isn't working right. I can't get the syphon to move enough water even with my pump on it's slowest speed. I don't trust it and I don't think I ever will. I just want to keep the water in the tank where it's safe.

So... if I do away with the fuge, what kind of mechanical filter should I get? It's a 16 gallon saltwater tank. I plan on having it FOWLR and maybe a plant or 2. My pump will do up to 180 GPH or so.

 

[Dewey]

Where are you putting your fuge? I have mine on top of canopy. I have never had room to put one underneith the tank. Try not to give up on it they are well worth the effort. I know there someone on this site that can help.

I love to watch the life forms in my fuge and mine is only a month old.

Where are you syphoning the water from ? Sump or main tank?

 

[Pain Devine]

syphoning from the main tank to the fuge and then pumping it back up. But, again, I don't wanna deal with it any more. I just want fish. What filter works for saltwater? Can I mkae one with all this extra PVC I have laying around?

 

[RandyStacyE]

Pain Devine,

When I set up my 1st salt water aquarium (all glass 55 gal) I didn't want to mess with a syphon, drilling the glass, or a sump. I went with an elaborate DIY mechanical monstrosity of a filtration system. I used a common plastic home water filter canister. I used a common, coarse filter element (sediment filter). When the element expired, I cut away the filter material and was left with a plastic core. I went to a fabric store and purchased a bulk bag of sheet polyfil. I wrapped it arround the core and wrapped kite string to bind it. Presto!!! a DIY canister filter !!! You can find these water filter canisters cheap on Ebay. Plumb it with PVC, use a sponge prefilter.

I plumbed mine: out of the tank, down the back, to a pump, to the canister filter, through my UV sterilizer, and back into the tank.

I hated it with a passion , you have no idea how much of a pain in the butt it was to unscrew the canister to change the element. I ended up remounting this system to a piece of plywood that could be pulled out from behind the tank to make it a little easier. Sometimes I let it go without changing the filter so long that I hardly didn't have any flow. Stinky

I ditched the elaborate mechanical filtration, went with a syphon overflow, cheaper than dirt filter sock (simple to change, you can even make them!!!), and an acrylic sump off of Ebay (shop a lot great prices). I love it so much. This is such a relief, simple to maintain, no restriction of pump flow, and the plumbing was easier. A little tricky at first but simplistic.

What you have to do is use a good size sump. Too big isn't necessarily bad. It sounds like you need to restrict the flow a little on the outer box of your syphon overflow. This may sound strange, but it works and silences it a lot. You may have to fiddle with the height of your surface skimmer. If necessary, shim up the whole syphon overflow and move the surface skimmer portion down. This makes a big difference. If you don't know what I'm talking about, just ask. I think you can get it to work reliably.

 

[HoopsGuru]

I would post pictures of your setup. It should not be giving you this much trouble. If you aren't drilled, you need to have a simple overflow siphon box.