5g water polisher

[insomniac2k2]

So, this is nothing special, but I decided to share it anyway

I got tired of squeezing myself into my short little sump area of my Marineland 200DD (SO SHORT!!) to change my filter sponge, so I finally decided to make all maintenance tasks elsewhere. The last of which was relocating my mechanical filtration outside in the garage. Lots of space to work with means that I get to make more ridiculous contraptions. So here is my latest:

Skimmer overflows into the 5g bucket which houses a smaller bucket packed with filter floss and carbon. 5g bucket overflows back into my sump inside my house on the other side of the wall.

I just found a small 1g bucket that would fit inside the 5g bucket and drilled drain holes:

I made a little stand that would allow the filter bucket to sit out of the base water that will drain back into the tank:

The 5g bucket has a uniseal that I just stuck a piece of 1 inch PVC through it. Then plumbed it into my drain return line:

Filled the bucket with walmart pillow stuffing (aka filter floss). Slapped some carbon in the middle, and covered the carbon up with more floss:

Threw it in a bucket and turned the skimmer on. Crystal clear water. 0 bending!

 

[Mandrake]

reminds me of an old fresh water filter I used to have, except much larger. good luck with it.

 

[NanoReefWanabe]

it is widely known that mechanical filtration is not required in a saltwater tank, as most particulate matter is generally consumed as food by most corals and filter feeders in the system…if you have excessive amounts of particulate in the water i would be looking for the source rather then a bandaid to cover it up…though the filter will work great at removing the particles it will very quickly begin to produce nitrates…which in the systems i have run is of far more concern then tidbits floating around the tank…

this should work great for what you intend to do with it…just be diligent about cleaning/ removing the floss…

personally i would not worry about the carbon unless you put it in a filter bag, as you will be dumping the floss far more often (daily) then you would need to change the carbon out (every couple months)…essentially wasting a lot of carbon...

 

[insomniac2k2]

I'm pretty sure that the filter sock crew would disagree with that statement

I should clarify a few things:

I run sponges now and then to clean up a messy tank, or during heavy maintenance. The filter floss bucket now has that job.

I do not run filter socks. Ever.

Nitrates are not an issue for me. Never have been. Never will be.

The extra carbon was to to help mitigate all the extra hardware and possible chemicals that i was introducing into the tank by adding my new skimmer, new glued PVC plumbing,and this bucket hardware into my system. My LaCl3 reactor is the keeper of my carbon at the moment.

When the water doesn't need to be scrubbed, its as simple as removing the bucket inside.

it is widely known that mechanical filtration is not required in a saltwater tank, as most particulate matter is generally consumed as food by most corals and filter feeders in the system"¦if you have excessive amounts of particulate in the water i would be looking for the source rather then a bandaid to cover it up"¦though the filter will work great at removing the particles it will very quickly begin to produce nitrates"¦which in the systems i have run is of far more concern then tidbits floating around the tank"¦

this should work great for what you intend to do with it"¦just be diligent about cleaning/ removing the floss"¦

personally i would not worry about the carbon unless you put it in a filter bag, as you will be dumping the floss far more often (daily) then you would need to change the carbon out (every couple months)"¦essentially wasting a lot of carbon...