Lucid Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 Thought I would post the DIY air driven filter that i have assembled, I would like to thank Pegasus for the concept and ideas on material. This is just a quick succession of photo's showing the parts and assembly. Air Hose This is the sponge, Which is just a car cleaning sponge, thoroughly rinsed before use I then sliced it in half as I found two peices of sponge too dense for the air to get through and it just bubbled out the bottom. I placed these slightly apart on the air line by slicing an x in the middle and threading the air hose throught the sponge Next I wrapped the peice of air hose inbetween the sponges in filter wool This is the housing for the filter which is just 40mm downpipe, with a few holes drilled in it to increase the surface area for the bacteria. Another suggested method to increase surface area was to fill the bottom portion of the filter with folded up drinking straws. And this is the complete unit minus and air stone and suction cup. The air stone will diffuse the air and allow a larger quantity of smaller bubbles to pull water throught the media. And Finally the whole unit This is a great little filter and I have two runing at the moment on fry tanks and they are wicked, and there is little fear of losing fry to the filter. Hope this inspires others to try and make thier own DIY bits and peices. B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 I would like to thank Pegasus for the concept and ideas on material. Not exactly how I explained the concept... but hey... it looks good, and I hope it works. The only probs I can see are that you have eliminated the exterior of the sponge, and in doing so have reduced the capacity of the filter considerably. Mine just consist of a simple block of foam or sponge. The ones I make are pretty large (150mx100mmx100mm) In the 100 by 100 end I pierce a hole dead centre so that it goes all the way through to arond 30mm from the other end of the sponge. I then get a piece of 15mm butyl pipe (grey).. (Marley water pipe will do).. and put several saw cuts in the last 100mm or so. I put these cuts on both sides of the tube, then clean off any slag or bits that may be loose. This tube is then forced into the hole I made in the sponge. A small hole can be placed on the other end of the tube to accept the airline if desired, but just pushing the airline down the top with an airstone attached works just as well. The 15mm tube needs to be around the depth of your water. The job is done... connect the air... sink the sponge (may be a prob till it gets fully soaked) .. and away you go. Keep em comming... love these DIY things Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucid Posted February 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 Oh yeah, i forgot to mention that due to the availability of materials through my work, the concept was altered a bit and was as peg says not the original idea. However that said, it is small enough to be un-obtrusive even in a bare fry tank and it works fantasticly peg. B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 Wierd, that's backwards from how most do it. Most I've seen have the filter material on the outside of the pipe with the water being sucked through the sponge into the pipe then drawn upwards and out by the water. Does that actually flow much water? It looks like the air going through the filter material would just stop everything from working. Though...I guess it does kinda make it into a mini wet dry filter if the water is moving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 :) Most I've seen have the filter material on the outside of the pipe with the water being sucked through the sponge into the pipe then drawn upwards and out by the water. Exactly Ira he he. Hey Steve... You may have invented a super filter that nobody has thought of.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserole Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 i do the same as pegasus , large and very small 100high-50-50 mm for small numbers of killie fry glue sponge to glass to give it stabilaty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucid Posted February 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2005 I didn't realise tht your air driven had the sponge and filter wool on the outside as the air driven I have that was purchased has it all on the inside of the housing. But it is working fine and it is drawing a current in the tank and collecting a bit of crud in the media, so all is working fine. B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserole Posted February 21, 2005 Report Share Posted February 21, 2005 cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted February 21, 2005 Report Share Posted February 21, 2005 I didn't realise tht your air driven had the sponge and filter wool on the outside as the air driven No filter wool used at all on the sponge filters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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