Filtration rates, flow, and other questions

maybe playsand or fine poolfiltersand about 10-15cm deep

 

Thanks m8, same as marines

 

Wow, what a read. if this is not a stickie it must be because there is loads of usefull info here, thanks prof.

 

what a thread.a nice find and interesting read. i have several questions.I have a stock out of the box aquarium with a tetratec ex1200. i am interested to make this sump and syphon design but my tank is not drilled dont have an overflow. will me making this syphon prevent an flooding.and if i make the sump design and just add addisional length for the water in the returnpipe of pump and downtube from tank and because the syphon is kept once the power comes back on the loop continues.

my question is according to profs syphon picture..does the number one pipe need to be just above the curve in number 2 pipe.

any assistance would be appreciated.

regards

chris

 

Howzit Chris

I've been running a DIY sump as per the prof's design on pg 7 with the syphon design as per pg 10. It has been running for about 3 years now with no hassle. Works like a charm. Numerous power failures and the syphon pipe design has done its job perfectly. Just make sure to not overfill your sump so that there is enough space for the overflow water to drain into the sump when power goes out. This leaves your tank level a little lower (up to level of pipe number three join) until power kicks in all returns to normal in a few seconds to minutes depending on tank and sump size.

Technically the number one pipe, I call it "the chimney", only needs to be longer than the join of pipe no.3. It does create bit of a gurgling sound as the water gets suck past it so I left mine a bit longer as per the proportions in the illustration on pg 7. This gives you space to put some loose white sponge into it (without touching the water) as a sound baffle.

I recommend at least a 40mm pvc piping for the syphon. Remember to use PVC Weld on your joins and let it bond for 24hrs before submerging. Also, once oyu have the sump, no more need for the EX1200.

Good luck!

 

Nice thread?
One question (maybe answered somewhere else but I am new to TASA) - if oxygen is a limiting factor in the biological filtration process, is it not possible to insert airstones below the media and have it bubble through the substrate all the time instead of trying to maximising aeration on top or just to improve the process? Hope my question is clear.
Regards

 

Hi @cft, yes you can put an airstone under your biological media to increase oxygen levels.

This I take it you want to do in your sump.

Also thats why you can get or make a wet dry / trickle filter whereby the water will drip or flow over your biological media and the media is not submerged in the water and thus is exposed to a lot more oxygen.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks Pleco102
Yes, this is for my new sump (250l for 1000l tank) - I wanted to use the one chamber type setup as per Prof and thought it a good idea to add the airstones if oxygen is a limiting factor. Just wondering why that would not be standard practice? Prior to reading this thread I actually intended adding a chamber prior to the biofilter to house a fluidised bed filter using the K1-type material - not 100% sure of this yet - water would of cause be hyper oxygenated once it leaves a fluidised bed chamber.
My current sump (90l for 450l tank) has for chambers - stilling chamber with mechanical filtration (sponge), then water flows through bio balls, lava rock & ceramic ring section over onto a drip plate which has K1-clone biofilter media underneath. The last chamber is for heaters & return pump. Have been running this for the last three months and very happy with water quality.
Interesting subject!
Chris

 

Hi Chris, I found in my single-chamber-Prof's-design sump there was a fair amount of air bubbling in the entry chamber where the water falls through the pipe from the main tank. Remember the "chimney" (as per my earlier comment) actually sucks air into the pipe like a venturi so the water is very oxygenated when arriving in the sump. I added a little slanted lip of glass onto the top edge of the entry chamber bout 2-3m wide, where the water runs into the main filter chamber. Like a little ramp down. This makes the water "fall" like a small waterfall into the filter chamber, rather than just flowing over (hope that makes sense.)

Downside of this mod is that it is lank noisy. My tank was just a 60L with the sump a 40L. On your setup it will sound like Victoria falls! This was fine in my study but not so cool as a display setup in the living area.


Cheers

 

Hi Neville
I went ahead and completed my 250l sump (refer to pic - apology for quality) with the fluidized bed filter preceding the biofilter - been running for a week now. This puts a LOT of air through the water before reaching the biological filter (and I have a drip tray) and I thus omitted the airstones below this. I still need to fill the area above the Alfagrog media with some K1-type media as used in the fluidized bed filter to form a trickle filter above the water line. Media in the return pump chamber (in photo) is just there for keeping "alive" while I clean my other sump.....
Yes, the overflow does put quite a lot of air through the water but I suspect not nearly enough? My overflow in the tank is a 80mm pipe with slots cut into the top section to control the level in the tank as my tank is not drilled/does not have any form of overflow box. This works quite well in my opinion.
Regards.
Chris

 

Looking good...
Not familiar with the "fluidized bed filter" idea - is that the black stuff in the inlet chamber?
An interesting variation on the syphon pipe you have, not sure where you put the holes to control the water level though. I would expect the water to syphon up to the T joint that have very low, just above your gravel. That T is normally a lot higher, i.e. at the level you want the water to stop syphoning out. What happens when you switch your pump off i.e. simulate Eskom failure?
(PS - See pg 10 of this thread. Point 3 on the diagram is your T joint which is at the bottom of your tank.. me slightly concerned?)

For ease of maintenance, I went with the blue sponge material for bio filter and 3-4 four layers of the normal white sponge on top as mechanical filter. Worked well and was easy to rinse out. I also McGuyver-ed a basket together using old under-gravel filter trays, to hold some ceramic balls one level below the blue sponge. Made replacing/cleaning the ceramic rings once in a while a bit easier, just lift out the basket.

 

For visual of fluidized bed filter see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9ovPRxMWk8 - aparently super efficient filtration
For detail of my syphon see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DFk4bnIxEg - basically sucks overflow chamber almost dry in an event of power failure and restarts automatically when pump starts again.
Regards

 

Very nice @cft - not clear form the pictures but I assume your air brake is working so that you do not ever suck the entire tank dry .. rest is so well planned I am sure you have some magic that is not evident in the last pics.
Do you have some batting of some other way to polish the water before you return it back to the tank?

Later Ferdie

PS .. just watched the overflow video - ok get it and hence the reason for going with such a big pipe diameter. Wish we could get the PVC in black.

 

Ferdi, you can get 50mm PVC pipe and fittings in black, not cheap, seem to recall its something like R250/6m

 

hmm I will need to investigate it a bit more then, I suspect the fitting will also then be 5x the prices in black .. but certainly worth it white in planted tank just shouts at me to load. Nice if you need to white balance on a photo but that is about it.

Later Ferdie

 

Morning Guys
The only visible part inside the tank is the 80mm (or whatever is suitable) overflow and this is painted black. This can however be constructed from any black material and in any shape
@ f-fish - trick here is that overflow must be water tight to make sure you do not syphon your hole tank onto the floor......:amuse: My system has seen quite a few power outages without any hiccup. Batting in place at pump inlet to scrub the final water, yes.
Have a great day!

 

Is hdpe not a black alternative to pvc? Don't know what it's availability is in small bore.. Typically uses compression fittings, probably slightly more expensive than pvc glued fittings..

 

Yes it is, but it's not as rigid as pvc, and you cannot weld hdpe, so you'll need to use clamps on the fittings. I would not use the compression fittings, if they pull apart, it won't end well.

Ferdi, I had a look at the black pvc (50mm) fittings today, between R7.50 and R12ea

 

Cool thanks for checking .. was that at Chamberlain ?

Ah got it .. a system like yours I would think the only real bit of maintenance is cleaning / replacing the batting then say every few months.

Later Ferdie

 

No actually master pets b.burg.