New Filter

Started work on a new trickle filter yesterday, first time ever drilling a glass aquarium, a bit nerve wracking I must say but all went well,



My weapon of choice, 25mm diamond holesaw



I clamped a waste piece of timber onto the back of the tank with a 25mm hole already cut in it, this keeps the diamond holesaw in place



Takes a bit of time and a nice slow speed on your drill, but you will get through, make sure not to put too much pressure on the drill
A piece of masking tape on the inside to stop the glass falling into the tank will also help



The end result, looks great, I did one hole at either end of the tank, slightly diferent hights, the higher one will do as the overflow in case of emergencies
Have the filter working at the moment but still needs some fine tuning, going to leave the external filter in there for a week or two until the new one gets up n going



The newest additions, 2 of 4 I got during the week, thanks to the guys from Seahorse

Will post a few more pics when all up n running

Any comments or advise always welcome

Chris

Hi Chris,

looks a good job, keep us posted on your progress with the trickle filter, its something a lot of people will not try as it all sounds complicated but in reality its quite simple and very effective. Fair play on drilling the tank yourslef as you said a bit daunting the first time, good idea using the wood clamped to the glass, the biggest risk is getting breakout on the back side of the glass as the drill breaks through. Even with light pressure, its a significant risk, so the wood helps no end.

Cheers,

Bill.

Great job,I love anything to do with DIY,something very satisfying about doing stuff yourself.well done.

Thumbs up for DIY (even with all of its risks and disasters..........it is soooooo satisfying).

ian

BTW what are these little critters? Quiet good looking if you don't mind me saying?

Nice job and I'd say you're chuffed with yourself!

anglecichlid wrote:

BTW what are these little critters? Quiet good looking if you don't mind me saying?

They're Kuhli loaches. Have some myself, are prone of hiding in the filter while they're young.

This is the first tray in the filter, just some pot scrubbers to get out any big debris, I have about 30 5mm holes drilled into the bottom of each tray for the water to flow through the media and onto the next tray



Tray number 2 with bio balls, again with about 30 holes drilled in the bottom of the tray



Tray number 3 with more bio balls and some ceramic rings, I havent put any carbon in as this filter is running on a planted tank and from what I`ve read carbon is`nt the best thing for this( as always I`m open to any opinions on this)



Just a little tip, had a problem with some of the fish being sucked into the filter and also a bit of a gurgling sound so I cut up some bendy straws and stuck them in the pipe inlet, keeps the same flow but keeps the fish in the tank and still takes most of the debris from the tank



This is the sump part of the filter with the two pipes coming into the container from the tank (white pipes) and the return going back up to the tank from the pump inside the container (green pipe)





A couple more pics of the inside of the container, showing the pump and also the heater





And a few pics of the tank with the filter beneath, almost finished now, just have to finish making a new canopy and tidy up the the wiring for the lighting and figure out where to put the temp. controller
Have to say the filter seems to work a treat and I love the fact you can take the heater out from the tank, less clutter, a quick once over with a gravel cleaner every week or so and I suppose a quick rinse of the pot scrubbers in the first tray when you think it`s needed but all in all well worth the effert.

As always please leave any opinions or comments and if you have any other questions I`ll do my best with the answers

Chris

Very good DIY work there mate and thanks very much for the update and photo im sure will come in very handy to someone thinking off doing this

Thanks again and well done

Sean