# In tank Trickle filter?



## booba5 (May 3, 2008)

Hey guys, 
So i have a tank with an overflow and an extra pump, so i figured i should try some stuff. Sorry no pictures (my SD card broke), but i will have some soon. I had a pond pump laying around and dropped that into my overflow, then filled it ~half way up with lava rock. My overflow has shorter glass, then they siliconed the black plastic to it, making a ledge about 2-3 inches down in the overflow. So I took an old grille i had and set that on the ledge, then took some lock line (to act as a support) and keep the grille from falling down. Then I put Floss on Top of that grill...confusing i know, so my paint drawing of it:









Question i have is as the water level drops, i notice that the grill with floss acts like a trickle filter. The overflow is in the corner of the room, so i cant look to see what is actually going on, but when i pull the floss up, bubbles come up and the rest filles with water. Would thing basically be a mini trickle filter? SHould i let it do this? or should i raise the water level in the tank a little to make sure everything is submerged?


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## BillD (May 17, 2005)

It will work either way.


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## booba5 (May 3, 2008)

is there an advantage to either way? And should i feel proud about thinking this set up up? I dunno i felt like bob villa or something


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## Stickzula (Sep 14, 2007)

Great idea! Here are 2 issues that I see. With the entire thing submerged you don't get as much o2 to the bacteria which is one of the advantages of the trickle-wet/dry filter. The other disadvantage to this system is that you are not adding any water volume to the tank. The big advantage that I see with your setup is space savings. I think that it could work out really well if you made some modifications. I will sketch something up to help explain what I have in mind and post it later.


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## booba5 (May 3, 2008)

Looking forward too it, thanks. As far as the adding water issue, thats true also, but this is somewhat temporary, i will build another stand that can hold a sump underneath, but my stand i have now won't let me. This also isn't my only filtration, I have a magnum 350 with floss in the carbon tray, then pot scrubbies surrounding that. Neat part i like is that the water goes through this overflow\filter(ish) before it even goes into the 350. I leave it trickling most of the time, a lot of water evaporates at night so i fill it up a little mroe at night to compensate, but thats it.


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## booba5 (May 3, 2008)

Maybe Stickzula isn't the only one with ideas or things I should do to make it better or change it, anyone else?


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## Stickzula (Sep 14, 2007)

Ok, basically I wanted to keep the most of the lava rock exposed and to achieve this I needed a way to reduce the flow of the overflow so that the amount of water that comes in is not much more than that which is pumped out.

The design uses 1/2" square acrylic blocks that are adhered to the walls of the overflow enclosure. Then egg crate is used to make shelves that will support media and let the water flow through. Then there is a very primitave flow reduction device that is a 1/2" square block that has a notch cut into it and a "comb". The block is adhered to the side of the overflow with the notch facing up. Then the comb type piece which has cut outs to match the cutouts in the overflow is placed in the notch. The comb is moved back and forth so that slots in the comb align with the slots in the overflow. This is the full open position. The comb can be moved so that the slots in the overflow are partially covered, reducing the waterflow.

I had toyed with the idea of rigging a stand pipe so that the pump is eliminated and the desired water level could be achieved by adjusting the depth of the standpipe, but I don't think that there would be enough room in the overflow for the stand pipe and the media.



I know that this is more modification than most would want to do and it will probably never be used, but hey, it was fun designing it. Also as a side note, be careful with the amount of water you restrict, because if enough water can't get into the overflow it will run over the tank and get on the foor. It would likely not be too much due to the nature of the system, but it would be enough to ruin your day.


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## Stickzula (Sep 14, 2007)

Double post


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## booba5 (May 3, 2008)

That looks like a more professional version of what i have going already lol, only major difference that i see is the lava rock is not coming into contact with the pump, the floss still has it's ledge just not eggcrate underneath it. I want to try and avoid the siliconing, since i'd have to drain a good chunk of the tank and would have very little filtreration (170 gph) i'd like to avoid it if possible (I do have another 55 Gallon, but My Fahaka doesn't like company, well maybe he does, but the eaten fish won't. I have been thinking about changing some stuff for eggcrate, maybe if I put eggcrate under the floss, then on top of the pump? so the seperation still happens, but i dont have to silicon the stuff?

Also should i replumb the intake on the magnum 350? it's at the bottom of all of this, so it's filter already filtered water. I have a return drileld in the very middle bottom of the tank, but thats by sand, and my magnum is allergic to sand. maybe just have it suck in the intake that it came with (over the top type thing)?


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## booba5 (May 3, 2008)

double post


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## Stickzula (Sep 14, 2007)

Yeah, the changes are minor and the benefit is probably not worth the effort. You should only have to drain the tank to just below the overflow though?? Then siphon the existing water out of the overflow. It doesn't seem like it would be much water loss. I dunno. I was thinking that your overflow was probably acrylic and you could use solvent to join the pieces. Still takes time to cure though.

As for the magnum, I would route it over the tank with the intake close to the overflow so that the magnum can do some mechanical filtration before the water gets to the floss in the overflow. This would be especially beneifcial if you are using UGJ's. Another tip that I would reccommend is using a prefilter sponge over your magnum intake. this colects most of the solid waste before it can get to the canister. Mine clogs reducing the flow about once a week, but I do water changes weekly so it isn't a big deal to sqeeze out the sponge during the wc. Another benefit is that is gives the bacteria another place to hang out! Just dont rinse it in regular tap water and the bacteria will be fine. Oh, I almost forgot, don't use the fine celled foam, use the coarse stuff like is used for pond filters.


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## booba5 (May 3, 2008)

word will do, the 170 gph that i mention above is a powerhead with that kind of sponge on it as well, doing some more surface agitation. Also, the reason why i'd loose so much water is cuz the overflow is in the corner of the room, so I'd have to move the entire tank out...yea i know, great thinking on my end. When i Move in a few month i'll be building a new stand for a sump, so then I'll just point and laugh at my magnum.


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## Stickzula (Sep 14, 2007)

> When i Move in a few month i'll be building a new stand for a sump, so then I'll just point and laugh at my magnum.


Yeah, just leave it as it and then do it right when you move.

Sounds like you have a good handle on it anyway so you really don't need any advice from me. When you do your new stand and sump I would like to see pics of your build. I am planning a new stand and sump for my setup as well.


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## booba5 (May 3, 2008)

I'm really close to just doing cedar blocks and throw a black sheet over them, i did it on my 55 gallon and it looks pretty good considering the amount of work i put into it. Only thing I'm wondering about is how to put my tank on blocks, it's drilled int he corner, ideas?


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