The bio filter gave me some trouble mostly on what to use as media. As anyone who has looked knows media is very expensive form $8 to $20 per gallon. When you need 35 to 40 gallons of it the cost is outrageous. I think I came up with a solution that should work and was cheep. What I ended up with is scrap black irrigation pipe of various sizes from .5" to 2.5" cut into about .5" rings on a band saw. This pipe floats and is cheap. It offers a lot of free space and surface area. I have about 35 gallons of this material in the Bio filter drum. It took about 3 hours to cut it all up and wash it off. When you make this with a bandsaw you will end up with alot of little black plastic shavings. It will take a long time to remove all of them. However they do float and can be netted out of the tank with a pool net.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Biofilter media
The bio filter gave me some trouble mostly on what to use as media. As anyone who has looked knows media is very expensive form $8 to $20 per gallon. When you need 35 to 40 gallons of it the cost is outrageous. I think I came up with a solution that should work and was cheep. What I ended up with is scrap black irrigation pipe of various sizes from .5" to 2.5" cut into about .5" rings on a band saw. This pipe floats and is cheap. It offers a lot of free space and surface area. I have about 35 gallons of this material in the Bio filter drum. It took about 3 hours to cut it all up and wash it off. When you make this with a bandsaw you will end up with alot of little black plastic shavings. It will take a long time to remove all of them. However they do float and can be netted out of the tank with a pool net.
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There are many things you could use as filter media. The ones made commercially are expensive but work well, but there are many others that dont cost as much and should work also.
ReplyDeleteRocks and gravel work and are cheep but are heavy.
There are many small plastic items that would work.
Hair curlers, Shotgun wads, any number of small kids toys, nylon pot scrubbers, the plastic bath scrubbers known as Luffas, cut up pipe, bottles, milk jugs. Easter grass would work, as well as old fishing line.
You could probably also use Swamp cooler pads, green fake grass door mats cut up. Plastic shipping containers such as milk crates and bread trays cut up.
What you use will also depend on how big a system you are making. Some of these materials will compress or clog if packed in too tight or stacked too high.
Do you have any data on how well the plastic works compared to a more common media? ie Have you done any tests comparing it's abilities to process ammonia and nitrites?
ReplyDeleteI'll take vague notions or gut feelings :)
I've been thinking of using soft drink bottle caps,but I'm concerned that the porous nature of more conventional media might make it work a lot better than something like bottle caps or black poly pipe.
Bullwinkle II