# diy bio filter



## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

so i've been skeptical trying a diy sponge because it seems like it would almost cost as much as just buying a sponge, and quite frankly i never quite got how well it would work.

well today i realized i actually had some extra supplies laying around so i made a small sponge filter and it seemed ok, but i wasn't really impressed with it, and it didn't seem like it could mechanically filter the tank like the factory made sponge filters i have.

then i started thinking... what else could i use to make a filter for my fry tanks, i remembered i had some tall plastic containers that i never used and a lot of extra eheim bio media

so i took a drill to the container drilling a number of small holes, inserted the airstone and air line then filled the container with the bio media. i then drilled a hole the perfect size to tightly wedge a lift tube into and put the lid on then tested out the filter. good news is that it obviously worked because is started shooting the bio media up the lift tube, and that was the bad news, luckily i had a lot of fiberglass screen material left over so i cut a piece to lay over the top, cut a slit for the hose, then closed the lid around it and trimmed the extra of, now it works perfectly, and it's self weighted, unlink sponges. still no mechanical, but that's what water changes are for right?

what do you guys think?


----------



## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

the beauty of this is that i can just pull mature biomedia from my canisters and fill this thing up when i need fry tanks, and i have plenty of lift tube material and plastic containers left


----------



## redblufffishguy (Jul 16, 2009)

Nice idea.

Next time allow the lift tube to go to the bottom of the container and drill a bunch of small holes in the tube. That way you can eliminate the screen.

Love the idea of being able to seed future filters!


----------



## liquid134 (Feb 22, 2010)

yea i used a similar concept except i used a small plastic 20oz pepsi bottle. and for my media, i used rocks, carbon, and a polyfil type fabric for my 10gallon. works great!


----------



## dainiusiva (Jul 25, 2009)

Very nice idea


----------



## mark P (Jun 14, 2010)

Cool simple and effective 8)


----------

