DIY Canister filters

Good day!

I am playing with the idea of building my own canister filters for my 2 tanks. The idea is to use 10 liter containers with a powerhead inside to circulate the water through various layers of sponge and maybe lava rock as bio media. Also thinking of using black or clear PVC pipes and fittings combined with flexible pipes for the in and outflow to the canister. Obviously everything will be water tight and hopefully with very little sound.

My tanks are 30l and 40l and I have to do regular water changes (Sometimes twice a week for the smaller tank). They both have internal filters and the smaller tank also has a corner filter with an airline but I feel both tanks can benefit from more water volume and better filtration.

With canister filters being above my current budget I thought I could get away with building my own for less... I also need a new project and dont want to buy second hand.

Ive watched a lot of videos on DIY filters but has anyone ever undertaken a project like this? Is it viable? Financially and maintainance wise? I dont want to spend a lot of money and end up with 2 buckets and filter media that's just going to stand around in cupboard...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

TIA

 

This sounds like a good idea. However I wouldn't try this as I feel there will be many factors to take into consideration.

How will you prime it?
How will you ensure water pushes fast enough to the outlet?
How would you seal it ensuring it's water tight?

Imo it would be Easier to do an overhead box which you can either use a rain bar or a pipe which flows through sponges and then through media and gravity helps it back into the tank

 

I have done this about 4 years ago and just found buying a second hand canister filter eases the pain of building, testing, building, testing, starting over and over again. One can pick up units from R500.