ive been reading up on wet/dry filters and it seems to be the best filter to have in a tank. but is it really worth it on a goldfish tank?

what difference does it have with a canister filter? granted that a diy would probably cost around the same of not less than a canister, and i do have the resources at work to cut lexan/acrylic sheets.

i want to do some DIY since its summer. but how hard would it be to make something like this? the most challenging part would be cutting the sheets straight enough and sealing everything well enough so there wont be leaks. but how about setting it up, making sure i get the right flow so i wont flood my apartment?

im leaning towards a wet/dry since i really want to take up this challenge. but theres some ebay auction selling canister filter for cheap...i dunno what to pick

Wet/Dry filters are phenomenal on goldfish tanks. They process so much waste because of the huge biological filtration area. I had one on mine and the cycle was rock solid. Even got green water!! I found, however, that because they work on an overflow method, alot of the crud at the bottom of the tank (including poop) didn't get removed. I supplemented my wet/dry with an aquaclear for that reason. Google DIY wet/dry aquarium filters and there are detailed instructions on construction.

Yep what Angela said.

thats what i did, typed in wet/dry filter on google and came across this

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_overflow.php

pretty detailed instructions on how to make one. i have a laser cutter at work so i could stay after work and use it. i have a aqauclear 110 for my 55gal tank already and should take care most of the poop but only in one corner. i already placed a bid on a rena canister filter so if i ever win, i could put that on the other corner. then the wet/dry for more filtration. could never have too much.

actually, i was thinking, could put the return line of the canister filter to the wet/dry filter and have a pump pump the water back into the tank?

also, everyone said use acrylic. but could i use lexan instead? ive worked with acrylic before and they arent the strongest material. little bend or a drop and it cracks all over the place

I believe the one on the 90 is an acrylic. Its belonged to Angela and since she has passed it on to me. Its very strong, I can't imagine it cracking.

good luck i hope you make it i love doin diy things for my goldie tank

The idea would be to use a quality acrylic that has a high tensile strength as well as being impact resistant. There are definitely different grades so do a little research there and you should be able to find some.


Truthfully, you could build your own wet/dry system out of any inert material you like. However, something that I don't think most folks think about is the mechanism that will be allowing water to fall into the wet/dry filter in the first place. There are two realistic ways of doing this, one is a hang on the back skimmer box http://saltaquarium.about.com/library/grap...nkoverflow1.jpg and the other is to either fabricate or buy a tank with a hole cut into the back at the top to attach the intake hose to (called a bulkhead drain).

The reason for these two being your only recourse for a wet/dry is the fact that if your power were to go out, the skimmer or the bulkhead drain only allows a certain level of the water to siphon into the wet/dry box. This excess level of water that flows into the intake tube us usually calculated into the total water capacity that the wet/dry will allow. So, the power goes out, the wet/dry begins to fill to the brim but stops because the water level in the tank dropped low enough to stop the siphon into the wet/dry box. See what I'm saying?


Since the water being drawn into the filter is coming straight off the surface the skimmer and the bulkhead drain are in no way positioned for them to be effective at removing mulm and poo that always settles to the bottom. See the problem here?

The only solution to the above problem would be to utilize a single powerhead/spongefilter that is strategically placed to collect the poo that the skimmer or bulkhead drain cannot.


I hope I pointed out some useful info for you!

Paul

Oops! I see some of my points were already made.........

Thanks toothless. im sure theres a perfectly good reason why tanks are made of acrylic. guess i forgot there are different types of arcylic available, even in home depot, which thats where im planning on getting my materials from.

i know how the skim box works and aware that the siphoning need to stop once the water leven inside the tank drops low enough. and need to restart itself again once ther power comes back on. its true that the skimmer box would only able to pick up floating debris and will not be able to catch poop at the bottom. and a HOB filter isnt enough to cover the whole tank. i still feel that this wouldnt be a problem as comes water changing time, ill use gravel vac and pick up most of poop thats didnt make its way to the filter.

i will be making my own skimmer box and sump tank. ill document and take pictures of every stage that im at so everyone could see my progress, give advice, or get a good info on how to make one.

heres my plan so far for the surface skimmer/overflow box



top drawing is the skimmer, a 6x6x3 inch box with 1 x.25 inch slits .5inch apart.

middle is the over flow box. 10.5x6x4 inch box with 8in tall divider and 1.25in hole for plumbing

bottom is the HOB plate. 15 inch long. bends will be at 10.5in and 12.5in. 10.5in long would be the back for the over flow, 2 inch for where it would hang, 4.5 inch where the skimmer will be bolted on. slits are 1.5 inch long. i believe that would be enough adjustments for the skimmer to go up and down for the flow.

inputs?

started on the overflow box



came out pretty good. glueing acrylic isnt as easy as it seems.

Wow! It looks great thus far......

If I were you, I would run a bead of silicone along the joints inside of your skimmer and the other components. This will help safegaurd against leakage from any imperfections in the glueing process.

That looks exactly like my skimmer box. You may want to make a cover for it if you every consider having fry in the tank that you are using it for or small fish. Just something to think about, I'm thinking about getting a pleco but I'm scared he'd crawl in hence the box or even cut plastic canvas around it.

Great job! You may want to consider selling them on ebay once you get the hang of it. They go for a fortune in the LFS around here.

my pleco is so big its impossible to crawl in. and i never had fry before and i doubt i will have any so its not really an issue.

ill keep you guys posted. one question tho, where could i find those u tube? i tried those vinyl tube but when i bend them, theres a crimp point and will restrict flow. i could go with a smaller diameter but want the flow.

Big Al's has them in their stores I'm sure they'd have them online as well they have stores in both the US and Canada. More in Canada but I've been to one in Florida we well.

well i finally finished all the fab work. all im waiting now is the bioballs and pump.

one problem i have is when i test out the over flow box. the flow is REALLY slow. im thinking i dont have enough height difference between my skimmer and hang on back box. heres a picture of my set up. any input?



heres my sump tank.

well after a few days of messing with it, and with all my parts arrived, i finally got this to work. i was worried that theres not enough flow, but after putting it in the tank and let it equalize itself. it was flowing just the right amount. it has the potential of out flowing my pump rated at 370gph. so i have room to upgrade later on.

well enough talk, heres some pictures

Looks great! Fantastic job!

cool i could never build one of those looks to complicated

its seriously not as hard as it looks. once you understand how it works, its pretty easy to adjust and tweek to your liking.

the hardest part is to cut the acrylic as straight as possible. i have a laser cutter at work so i used that to my advantage, but if you have a table saw or know someone with one that will give you nice straight cut edge as well.

i did some research on ebay, trying to see how much i could sell one of these, dont think its worth my time as they go pretty cheap on ebay now adays and much better built than mine.

i just did it because i wanted to work on something. its a nice project.

BRAVO! You did a wonderful job!


This one is getting pinned at the top for sure! Effective immediately!


Again, BRAVO!

[quote]The reason for these two being your only recourse for a wet/dry is the fact that if your power were to go out, the skimmer or the bulkhead drain only allows a certain level of the water to siphon into the wet/dry box. This excess level of water that flows into the intake tube us usually calculated into the total water capacity that the wet/dry will allow. So, the power goes out, the wet/dry begins to fill to the brim but stops because the water level in the tank dropped low enough to stop the siphon into the wet/dry box. See what I'm saying?[quote]

I agree with the above concern about back siphoning when the power goes out. I eliminated this problem by buying a battery back-up unit. When the power goes out, the backup is instantaneous and therefore the filter continues to work without interruption. Therefore, you don't really have to worry too much about the level in the sump section.

hehe, never guessed this would get pinned =P

i guess i should give an total break down on how much i spent on this project

4 acylic sheets 24x18": $7 each (probably dont need that much depending on how creative you are about putting the puzzle together to get the max parts out if the sheet)
PVC cleaner: $4 for the smallest can
PVC cement: $4 for the smallest can
PVC fittings: less than $5 total
white flexable hose: 2ft, $4
vinyl hose: 2ft $4
10 gal tank: $20 used
370gph pump: $30
aquarium silicone: $5~6
2x4' egg crate: $10
3gal bioballs: $16
filter floss: $6

total is under $140.

i reckon this whole project could be completed with around $100 if i gave it more time to plan everything out, and took my time to hunt down used stuff/garage sales. but its totally worth my time and money making this filter. just think how happy your fish would be swimming in crystal clear water.

[quote name='daust' date='Jun 11 2007, 10:26 PM' post='669155']
[quote]The reason for these two being your only recourse for a wet/dry is the fact that if your power were to go out, the skimmer or the bulkhead drain only allows a certain level of the water to siphon into the wet/dry box. This excess level of water that flows into the intake tube us usually calculated into the total water capacity that the wet/dry will allow. So, the power goes out, the wet/dry begins to fill to the brim but stops because the water level in the tank dropped low enough to stop the siphon into the wet/dry box. See what I'm saying?[quote]

I agree with the above concern about back siphoning when the power goes out. I eliminated this problem by buying a battery back-up unit. When the power goes out, the backup is instantaneous and therefore the filter continues to work without interruption. Therefore, you don't really have to worry too much about the level in the sump section.
[/quote]

thats one way of eliminating the problem, but most people dont have a secondary power source at their apartment. i still think that its safer to have the overflow box constructed as it 100% guarantees that it would not create a flood in your apartment

There are other way to avoid using skimmer boxes. They get pretty technical in their set-up. Some involve check valves, some utilize float valves and then some involve integrating extra pipes or hoses but they are all designed to break the siphon before the filterbox overflows.

I'm going to be researching and testing whatever techniques I can find because a few months ago I acquired a complete set of twin wet/dry set-ups designed for 150-300 gallon tanks. I would like to use them but only if I can use a standard intake tube that meets the bottom. My stance is that if I am using such a powerful filter as a wet/dry, it is very well going to be the ONLY filter on that tank. The skimmer box intake just isn't conducive to the requirements for goldfish and the like.......

so today i noticed my water being extra cloudy. my water has been cloudy since day one, party because everything was new, so it takes some time for the filter to clarify the water and such.

i took a closer look and noticed that theres these brown specs floating in the water. my filter (the wet/dry, and ac110) isnt filtering them. i check my sump and notice a lot of settlement at the bottom. im not sure what they are, but im guessing they are those beneficial bacteria floating around. ill try and get pictures tonight.

could it be one of the "stages" of a wet/dry filter? or i need some finer filtering pads?

I was going to suggest something that would curb what your seeing (brown bits of goo). Yes it is precisely what you think it is.

Anyway, to stop what your seeing from getting back into the tank your going to need to cut a piece of plastic so that it fits into the wet/dry housing from front to back of the tank. Basically, its going to sit at the bottom so that it acts as a type of damm. ( I have to misspell damm because the posting filters wont allow the correct spelling)


http://www.aquatichouse.com/FILTRATION%20M...clearchoice.asp


See the black foam that is pressed against the sediment damm at the bottom of the reservoir? The black foam isn't essential for keeping the brown bits from getting to the pump and into the tank .....but the damm is. The damm will stop the heavy bits of brown goo from making its way directly to the pump. Since they are heavier than water, they should stay trapped behind the damm.



Does that suggestion help?


Paul

thanks paul

i was thinking, since you said those brown muck are bacteria, and will sink to the bottom since its heavy. and instead of sourcing the right foam, could i just make a baffle having water flow from the bottom up with the same affect? something like this

i guess the foam is just extra ensurance that the brown stuff doesnt float up to the top right?

edit, i guess you already talked about how it would work without the foam...reading comprehension > me:P

that is a nice filter

good job

i upgraded to a larger pump yesterday and the box worked fine. im sure it would handle more flow rate easily. but how on earth do you stop the overflow box from gurgling? i tried everything and it doesnt seem to shut up. i tried to muffle it with filter floss but doesnt work.