# internal filter



## zcfish (Jan 31, 2009)

I am thinking about getting a 30 to 55 gallon tank. Does anyone have a design for an internal filter (maybe taking up a corner) powered by a power head? I don't like either the canister hoses nor the h.o.b taking up a lot of space. This could be quite simple when you think about it. But just wonder if someone has tried it.


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

Yep. It's not my picture so here is a link. Very simple but effective, dependable, and low maintenance.

http://swisstropicals.com/Poret%20Filter%20Foam.html

I would simplify the design by simply putting the powerhead behind the foam instead of piping it.

Or wrap the powerhead in the foam so it stands up on the foam. The infamous burrito filter! Then you don't need to attach the foam to the corner of the tank.


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

:dancing: :dancing:


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## zcfish (Jan 31, 2009)

thanks for the link, give me a lot of ideas. seems to be easy to maintain. just pull out the sponge and rinse. i'll find some dark acrylic and build a box with drilled holes in one end and put it in the top corner. also put a bag of bio media behind it. kind of like a submerged h.o.b filter.

wonder how much bio and what kind of gph will be sufficient for a fully stocked 30g or 55g.


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

> canister hoses nor the h.o.b taking up a lot of space


 :-? 








butt ugly..but does work.


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

KaiserSousay said:


> butt ugly..but does work.


 I'm more in favor of the burrito thing than this thing with the tube and lunchmeat box. You just wrap the powerhead in foam or pond filter mat with the out tube sticking through. Fewer parts to work loose, just as ugly but easier to hide, and more filter surface area. I used to use these in my 2000 gallon pond, and would include some bioballs in with the powerhead to make a less bumpy burrito and some biofiltration. To clean, you just pull it out, hit it with the hose, or do it up and down in a bucket of clean water, then return it to work.


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## padlock 08 (Jul 31, 2008)

the link shows a filter described by Ad Konings in his *Back To Nature Guide: Malawi Cichlids (revised)* in the book he says to get a piece of foam the same dimensions as a side wall of the aquarium and that will take up app. 1-2% of the aquarium, then put the foam in the freezer until it is frozen solid then drill a hole with the same diameter as the power-head outlet approximately 3/4 of the way up the sponge and put the outlet of the power head through it, this pulls the water through the sponge and back out into the aquarium. The sponge must be 5-7cm off the aquarium wall to allow the water pass through to the power head, Konings also says that the filter only has to be cleaned every 6-12 months due to its large surface area


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## zcfish (Jan 31, 2009)

although i don't see the link i got the ideas. thanks for all the replies.

i was looking for a filter that can be hidden behind a rock. therefore there's no piping or h.o.b filter eyesores. i want to keep it simple just a simple black background and some nice rocks. looking up in some of the supply website the fluval plus 4 seems to fit the bill and it's less than $50. it's probably very hard to hide it though being 14 inches tall.

if i get one of those aquaterra backgrounds i'll definitely try the sponge filter behind the background.


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## padlock 08 (Jul 31, 2008)

i re-read that book by Konings and he also says that if you have 400 litre tank a piece of sponge 45x10x10 cm witha pipe with periodic holes on it is drilled up the middle of the sponge and then a powerhead is attached then tat should be fine, this is small enough to hide behind a rock and only needs maintenance 1-2 times a year. i have 2 fluval 4plus and they need cleaning every 2 weeks or so


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## Stickzula (Sep 14, 2007)

will that give you enough mechanical filtration or is the main purpose to provide bio filtration? I ask, because if it works so good why aren't more people using it?


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## LG0815 (Aug 1, 2007)

do a diy back grounfd like this 



 rally cool idea


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## zcfish (Jan 31, 2009)

that's what i was talking about when i metioned the aquaterra background. you can hide everything behind it. the 55g is not very deep front to back. so a deep background like that will take up big space. but i may build a black box in the corner like a overflow for a drilled tank except all the filter is inside the tank. it won't look too bad.


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

Stickzula said:


> will that give you enough mechanical filtration or is the main purpose to provide bio filtration? I ask, because if it works so good why aren't more people using it?


It really does both. If you undersize it, it just has to be cleaned more often than annually. I think people look for high tech to solve problems and this does not look like high tech. No bells, lights, and whistles. Using these I bred many kinds of cichlids and other fish. I went with the high tech filters a few years ago just to "keep up" I guess. I found they didn't work as dependably and that I got fewer fry especially from challenging species. And I miss the easy maintenance too.


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## zcfish (Jan 31, 2009)

read in some place these internal filters are immensely popular in the UK.


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

zcfish said:


> read in some place these internal filters are immensely popular in the UK.


 They are also popular in Germany where the city of Hamburg is given the credit for the idea. I think they've been used in some places since the '60's. You really have to try one to see what the fuss is about, and how do you market something like that? It is more DIY than the vast majority of people want. Plug it in and walk away. That is what people gravitate to.


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## Aquanist (Dec 29, 2007)

Here in Finland they're also very popular as they provide brilliant bio filtering (relatively slow throughflow due to the large area) and as they're virtually maintenance-free.

My favourite version is to silicone small strips (top to bottom and <1inch high) to the tank corner vertically. Then just adjust filtermat between these strips and put the pump close to bottom (leaving maybe an inch for the beneficial bacterial gunk to build up at the bottom). Then just put a pipe/hose from the powerhead through the filtermat near the surface. This allows the powerhead to sun perfectly even during waterchanges and gives surfave agitation when filled up.

And the blue filter is easy to camouflage with some java moss and anubias! Just cut the mat slightly and insert with anubias seedlings! And you can hide your heaters etc behind the filter as well!


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## Stickzula (Sep 14, 2007)

Sounds like a no brainer. I'll have to try it!



> And the blue filter is easy to camouflage with some java moss and anubias! Just cut the mat slightly and insert with anubias seedlings! And you can hide your heaters etc behind the filter as well!


How do you rinse the filter with the plants on/in it? Or do you just uproot as much as you can, toss the old foam, replace with new foam and try to re-colonize the new foam with the uprooted plants?


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## Stickzula (Sep 14, 2007)

Ok, I have done some research and I think I'm going to go for it. Here are some interesting links that I found by googling "hamburg mat filter". http://www.janrigter.nl/mattenfilter/
http://www.crustaforum.com/board/showthread.php?t=202

The first one is more the science behind it with some helpful calcs and applications. The second is instructions to make a corner filtermatten. I looked for "cable ducts"(from the 2nd link) and found that the term most widely used in the US market is "cable or wire raceway" other similar products are "cord covers". I didn't find what they used in the article by shopping online so I might have to go to a real store. Anyway just thought I'd share my findings.

For my particular situation I think that the corner version will work best. I did the calc from the first link and found that for a 1215 sq cm surface area, 11"x18", I need a 200+/-gph pump to achieve the 5-10cm/min flow. It is all a bit confusing especially with the metric/imperial conversion, but if you have a fair grasp on general math you can figure it out. Anyway, I was thinking of just putting my UGJ pump behind the foam. The issue that I am grappeling with is that it is a 700gph pump, 3.5x larger than what the formula says I need. I know that usually more flow is better, but the article in the first link says that too much flow will hinder bacterial growth. I am just wondering what your thoughts are on it. I am seriously considering ditching the UGJ's in my hap tank and going with a koralia pointed at the HMF anyway, but I may continue to use them in my mbuna tank.


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## zcfish (Jan 31, 2009)

that looks nice and simple. takes a lot of space though? how do you hide it?


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