DIY filter

[OceanMist]

I am thinking about setting up a new freshwater tank around 90 gallons for oscars & large bottom-feeders, the problem i have found is the canister filters are about £160-£200 (£-$ = ?), and would only be rated for about that size tank, with such large fish i think the canister would need to be overrated, this seems a rip-off to me, so here is my Q,
would fitting a pond pump (around 1500 gal/hr) to a large plastic container (water-proof, with pipes fitted, with media) work as a canister filter, because this would filter around 10-15 times per hour, ??? TIA

[potterlu]

Hi,

What you're essentially suggesting is to build a sump; if you run "sump filter" through Google, you'll find tons of pages telling you the ins and outs of building one.

Luke

[Skyrmir]

There's a ton of ways you can build your own filter. A sump is probably going to be the most effective though. Plus there are other benefits of using a sump, more water volume, easier water changes, hiding the plumbing etc.

Also you can build your own sump pretty cheaply out of an old tank with just some plexiglass, pvc pipe and the pump you already have. Your probably going to want a valve in there to control the flow to your display tank though, 1500gph could be enough to get your 90 gallon swirling pretty fast.

[jsoong]

Agree with all of the above. A wet/dry filter with a good size sump sure beats a canister. Look at the 1st sticky in this forum, there are several links to DIY wet/dry (also called trickle) filters.

This is another link for sumps: http://www.melevsreef.com/what_sump.html

Also, your 1500 gph pump is prob overkill. A wet/dry is really efficient in removing nitrogenous waste and a 2-4 x water change over/hr is more than adaquate. <Unless you are doing a reef tank, there I think the recommended rate is 10x.>

[RandyStacyE]

Check out www.randystacye.com

DIY Filter Sock and DIY Canister Filter