Making own canister filter
- Thread starter slick
- Start date
jedimaster
Member
I did a canister filter myself.
I used a 4 inch wide PCV tube, with a solid endcap on one side and a end cap with two holes in the other side(for two tube) one tube goes all the way to the bottom and on goes only to the very top. stuff it wih whatever you need, poly, flos, carbon, rowas, and ten hoook it up and bango. If you can run it in tank even better, you can eliminate the top endcap and just have flow out of the top.
Tube inlet
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====== Endcap
This example, pumps water into the bottom and everything flows out the top all clean and filterd. You can filter massive amounts of water with this setup.
I used a 4 inch wide PCV tube, with a solid endcap on one side and a end cap with two holes in the other side(for two tube) one tube goes all the way to the bottom and on goes only to the very top. stuff it wih whatever you need, poly, flos, carbon, rowas, and ten hoook it up and bango. If you can run it in tank even better, you can eliminate the top endcap and just have flow out of the top.
Tube inlet
*******
*
| * |
| * |
| * |
| * |
| * |
| * |
| * |
====== Endcap
This example, pumps water into the bottom and everything flows out the top all clean and filterd. You can filter massive amounts of water with this setup.
jedimaster
Member
Ack the ascii art didn't work so well.
dirtybilge
Member
I think a 5Gal Canister filter would be great I would put two holes in top and plum one of the to the bottom and stuff the hole thing with poly foam. I would use an iwaki 55 pump to power the sucker.
ED
ED
m.rogers
Active Member
I work with drywall and i have had 5 gal. buckets of mud fall over that are not opened and the mud will leak out of if it you would have to get some bucket that the top will screw on. The 4 inch. pvc would work better i think but do not giveup on the bucket and let us know how it all goes. good luck
shadow678
Member
I don't know if the materials would be any cheaper, but you could try using one of those 8-gal round icechest/coolers with the screw-on lid, it even has a spout at the bottom edge that you could likely remove to be used as either your input or output line. Just put a bulkhead fitting where the spout was for your input, drill a hole in the lid and put another bulkhead fitting for your output, and there ya go. It would even have handles on the sides to lift with. The large size/diam. would allow very high flowrate with minimal pressure, so a very large pump could be used, such as a MagDrive 24 or Iwaki MD-100RLT. Just a thought. 
melbournefl
Member
Any DIY projects involving buckets etc. Parts can usually be found at www.usplastic.com be sure to have them send one of their catalogs when you go to the site. It has really interesting products that just *scream* "use me for something in your tank setup" LOL
Later,
Paul
be sure to have them send one of their catalogs when you go to the site. It has really interesting products that just *scream* "use me for something in your tank setup" LOLLater,
Paul
jedimaster
Member
Slick, ,If you just want bigger, you could go to HD and get abigger PVC Pipe, the sell them for water mains, about 12" diameter, You can even get endcaps. Is this just a temp means of filtration? If so then the easiest is the way I did it and run it in tank, with only one endcap, pump the water into the bottom it then flows up through the media and pours into the tank.
surfnturf
Member
I've tried using 5 gal plastic buckets as a sand filter for a koi pond. Doesn't work so hot. The pump pressure is enough to balloon the top of the bucket and even though the bucket had an o-ring in the lid I couldn't get it to seal under pressure(I think I gave my brother a good laugh with that one). I think it's a great idea but finding the right materials cheap isn't an easy thing to do. On small freshwater tanks I've used 4" pvc for the canister, that worked well. If you figure out a way to do it on a larger scale, I'd be interested.
shadow678
Member
Snad filters would require much more pressure than foam, floss, or carbon filters, so I guess it would depend on what filter type it would be used for. Also, did you push the water into the bucket, or pull it out? Pulling it out would create a vacuum in the bucket, helping to seal it, as compared to pushing it water in and creating a positive pressure inside, blowing the seal outward and being less efficient on top of that. Glad that someone has tried that, though. What size pump were you using? Might have to rethink that lid, if it bowed out that much from being pressurized.... Hmm...
surfnturf
Member
You're right about the sand causing more backpressure, you could probably get away with it if you used floss. I think I was using a RIO 2500 on the bucket and I was pushing the water in. I also tried building a pond vacuum using a 5 gallon bucket. I put a Beckett 535 pump inside the bucket to pull water into it. That was hilarious, it ran for about 30 seconds, then collapsed the bucket like a soda can. I like to keep the neighbors entertained.
surfnturf
Member
I had a thought on this subject, probably a brain fart but what's new. There are cheap "whole house" filters made by omni filter that you can get various types of cartridges for, sediment (good for particulates), odor and taste (carbon, not sure of the phosphate potential though) and more I'm sure. Anyway, they are about $25 tops (cartridges are cheap too) and would be pretty easy to put several in parallel with a good pump. They can take city water pressure (can be well over 100 psi) and might do the trick. Should be easy to find them, and they last forever.
melbournefl
Member
Regarding filter housings. Aquatic Eco-systems sells "empty" cartridge filters and about any kind of cartridge you'd want at reasonable prices. Dear sharks, I only mention this because the items are not carried by our sponsers (or at least I couldn't find them)
Later,
Paul
Later,
Paul