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  1. #1

    A good guide on a DIY filter

    Hi guys,

    Can anyone direct me to a good guide on a homemade filter? I already have a PondExpert 6000 all-in-one (which I have recently been informed is naff for keeping koi - although it's doing fine for the time being with my fish only being 3-4") and I was planning on still using that so the water filters through the UV lamp, and then attaching a hose to the outlet and having it go to a 30 or 60ltr blue storage barrel which I have made into an additional filter system.

    Im thinking water in at the bottom, then filter through bio balls and filter sponge before reaching outlets at the top and coming back into the pond. that's basically just a barrel then with a hose inlet added at the bottom and an outlet at the top and filled with lava rock at the bottom about 1/3 up and then several filter foams before it reaches the outlet. Would this suffice? I dont need a waste outlet as im thinking of emptying it each week and giving it all a good clean.


    Last edited by bobby85; 11-06-2019 at 07:47 AM.

  2. #2
    Senior Member Rank = Rokusai Simon Fish's Avatar
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    Why limit the barrel size?
    120 or 220lt are around £20-35 of ebay.

  3. #3
    True, I could easily go 60 or 120 Ltr.

  4. #4
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai Dudley's Avatar
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    I think the design comes down to what you want to see, what you don't want to see, as well as all the other essential requirements like to how much water it needs to filter and how many fish etc.
    I started looking on YouTube, saw something that gave me ideas and took it from there.
    Please excuse me if you are already proficient in looking after water, but a good knowledge about water treatment and the nitrogen cycle is a must, if you do not know how the bacteria works on removing the bad stuff, and what media you need to grow that bacteria, and how to look after it, and do not kill it by as you say "emptying it each week and giving it all a good clean" which may be excessive, you can build the best DIY filter anyone has made and it will be useless.
    That said, I had no idea 18 months ago, a complete novice before I bought some fish. Like you I asked the questions, and did the research as to what I needed and just got stuck in.
    If you look at this thread of mine and go to post 63 there is a picture of my barrel set up.
    https://www.koiforum.uk/pond-constru...k-started.html
    On the fourth post on that thread I put up my drawing of the planned barrel design, but with advice from guys on here it evolved to what you see on the last posts.
    It worked works really well on my 1000L grow tank, with 100 x 4" koi.
    When i put the fish out into the main pond I moved that barrel filter out to the garden as well, so I have it assisting my main pond filtration.
    Good luck.
    Steve.

    Last edited by Dudley; 11-06-2019 at 07:07 PM.

  5. #5
    Banned Rank = Mature Champion Trace's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dudley View Post
    you can build the best DIY filter anyone has made and it will be useless.
    As a long time DIY filter designer and user I would completely disagree with you ... yes a lot of knowledge is required and study of other filter design faults ... but it's perfectly possible to build DIY filters that can outperform commercial equivalents ...

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    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai Dudley's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Trace View Post
    As a long time DIY filter designer and user I would completely disagree with you ... yes a lot of knowledge is required and study of other filter design faults ... but it's perfectly possible to build DIY filters that can outperform commercial equivalents ...
    You misunderstood what I meant, and i did not say or imply DIY is not as good as commercially made . I totally agree a DIY filter can perform as good or better than an expensive commercial one, that is why I have gone that route. I was worried about the OP being new to the forum maybe completely inexperienced, like i was, and then mentioning "emptying it each week and giving it all a good clean" worried me he may mean draining out completely and washing out with chlorinated water would kill the bacteria. Maybe I should have said you can build the best DIY filter anyone has made or buy the best commercial and it will be useless if you kill the bacteria. I was only really emphasising the importance of researching water treatment while at the same time looking at the fabrication of a bin with holes in various places.
    Last edited by Dudley; 11-06-2019 at 09:16 PM.

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    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion RS2OOO's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Simon Fish View Post
    Why limit the barrel size?
    120 or 220lt are around £20-35 of ebay.
    I'm watching these at the moment, just 'cos they're cheap. Haven't thought about what I'll use them for yet.

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Used-Grea...53.m1438.l2649

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    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai Dudley's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RS2OOO View Post
    I'm watching these at the moment, just 'cos they're cheap. Haven't thought about what I'll use them for yet.

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Used-Grea...53.m1438.l2649
    River raft?

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  12. #9
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai Dudley's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RS2OOO View Post
    I'm watching these at the moment, just 'cos they're cheap. Haven't thought about what I'll use them for yet.

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Used-Grea...53.m1438.l2649
    But they do make great filters. I used 3 of that particular moulded shape and it allows for adding circular perforated plastic disc or trays to separate different media.

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  14. #10
    Banned Rank = Mature Champion Trace's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dudley View Post
    You misunderstood what I meant, and i did not say or imply DIY is not as good as commercially made . I totally agree a DIY filter can perform as good or better than an expensive commercial one, that is why I have gone that route. I was worried about the OP being new to the forum maybe completely inexperienced, like i was, and then mentioning "emptying it each week and giving it all a good clean" worried me he may mean draining out completely and washing out with chlorinated water would kill the bacteria. Maybe I should have said you can build the best DIY filter anyone has made or buy the best commercial and it will be useless if you kill the bacteria. I was only really emphasising the importance of researching water treatment while at the same time looking at the fabrication of a bin with holes in various places.
    No I didn't misunderstand ... I could see exactly what you meant but you put it across badly by putting what I quoted where you did ... let me tell you on this forum you've got to be absolutely precise or some people will always pick things up wrongly and with some subjects such as water chemistry and fish health that can have serious implication.

    Yes emptying and cleaning a filter every week is not a good idea but after a few months of use backflushing static filters with tap water has a lot less effect on bacteria than you might think.

    One other tip for you is ... don't just judge a filter on how well it works biologically and mechanically ... that's the easiest thing to do (ANY old high surface area media that you run your pond water through/over will trap solids and grow bacteria) ... the real challenge is designing filters that over a long term stay clean, grow desired types of bacteria, avoid anaerobic sediment buildup and in the case of water pumped returns air draw down.

    Good to see your having a go at DIY if you get stuck with anything just give me a shout ...

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    Banned Rank = Mature Champion Trace's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RS2OOO View Post
    I'm watching these at the moment, just 'cos they're cheap. Haven't thought about what I'll use them for yet.

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Used-Grea...53.m1438.l2649
    I had a go with them about 6 years ago ... they are a great price for the volume but the shape of most of them makes it very difficult or impossible to use 4" flanged tank connectors and the small top opening makes it difficult to work inside on the base if your using waste drains. Volume is good, shape is crap .... good for a raft though ...

    I always advise people to use the 220L "tighthead" type plastic barrels ... and to phone their local dairy farm and ask them for their empty barrels (the one's that contained the milk system flushing products) ... going rate near here is £5 a barrel ...

    Always make sure you know for sure what was previously in a used barrel! ... and beware unmarked recycled plastics ...

  16. #12
    I see most DIY filters have the water flowing in from the top and the outlet at the bottom, but one video I saw had it the other way round which in my mind makes more sense - , water coming in from the bottom then flowing up through filters etc (with debris falling to the bottom) and then coming out of the outlet pipe at the top.

    Is there a right or wrong with which way round the inlet/ outlet should be?

  17. #13
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion RS2OOO's Avatar
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    In at the bottom makes more sense to me.

    I've also seen ones that go out the bottom but have a vertical overflow pipe in the centre of the barrell so it's actually taking water from the top. Depends on logistics of your set up I guess.

    Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

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  19. #14
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai Dudley's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bobby85 View Post
    I see most DIY filters have the water flowing in from the top and the outlet at the bottom, but one video I saw had it the other way round which in my mind makes more sense - , water coming in from the bottom then flowing up through filters etc (with debris falling to the bottom) and then coming out of the outlet pipe at the top.

    Is there a right or wrong with which way round the inlet/ outlet should be?
    I will have to be careful otherwise I shall be reprimanded for not being absolutely precise, but my thinking on this is as you say to plumb the water in to the bottom and allow it to pass up through the media and out at the top.
    Water will find a path of least resistance, if it enters at the top the heavy debris will of course collect at the top, clogging up the media nearest to the surface first, which will slow the path of the water being taken only by gravity to the bottom, and soon water is ponding on the top of the media not fully drawing down through it and it’s only route is to spill over the filter tank or pass through through the built in safety overflow pipe back to the pond/tank.
    By pumping in at the bottom there is pump pressure to push the water up to the top, so even as the media gets clogged, gaps will open to allow the water to continue to the top.
    I built a small shower filter. And as I had no pre filter, ie sieve or vortex to collect the solids, everything was being pumped from tank to the filter. I had sponges at the top box of the shower and they worked well at collecting the solids, really well in fact, I was constantly removing and flushing them clean, I had to as every 4-5 days I found water was backed up and overflowing back into the fish tank via my overflow pipe. But when the sponges were clean, showering water down onto through them onto the other media types worked really well.



    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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  23. #16
    While we are at it,
    I want to make a moving bed after my drum filter.
    Is this the right way to do it ?

    Moving bed.jpg

  24. #17
    Banned Rank = Mature Champion Trace's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by CobraKoi View Post
    While we are at it,
    I want to make a moving bed after my drum filter.
    Is this the right way to do it ?

    Moving bed.jpg
    There are many ways to do it right and a lot more details are needed about the entire filter system layout to get an optimum design ... the main mistake people make though as mentioned above is to judge a filter by it's bio performance alone (that's the easiest thing to get right) ... what you want to concentrate on is thinking about long term sediment buildup and designing that out ....

  25. #18
    Hi/ As anyone made a moving bed filter out of a ibc?

  26. #19
    Yea...John Kitching for one.
    You should be able to do a user search to find some threads from a couple of years ago. I’m sure there were a couple of others.


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