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  1. #1
    Senior Member Rank = Sansai Point's Avatar
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    Homemade sieve thoughts

    Hi all, after AJM pointed me in the direction of John1's excellent homemade sieve thread I'm thinking of making one myself. All of the sieves I see have the water flowing downwards over the mesh but is there a reason why the water flow can't be upwards?

    I've attached a quick sketch to show what I mean..

    Homemade Sieve Concept RevA.pdf


    Last edited by Point; 13-07-2021 at 12:43 PM.

  2. #2
    Senior Member Rank = Gosai KevT's Avatar
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    Hi

    I think that sieves work best when the water falls through it sieving the water, the weight of the water keeps the mesh clear and the set up you have drawn will probably be prone to blocking very quickly then overflowing. The best sieves are gravity fed also as the prop on the pump chops the debris up and making the small bits difficult to sieve out. Only my thoughts, it all part of the hobby to continuously tweak our ponds and filter systems.

    KevT

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  4. #3
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    Hi Kev,

    my thoughts were that if the water flowed upwards the debris would fall off the mesh and keep it clearer for longer. In my concept, if the debris got too dense to allow enough water through the mesh the pressure would push the water through the dirty overflow and so stop any chance of the tank overflowing. I'd keep the mesh as high as possible to provide a larger "dirty" volume in the bottom of the tank and hopefully extend the time between cleaning via the bottom drain.

    I'm just playing with ideas at the moment so all thoughts are very welcome.

  5. #4
    I would follow what the ones you buy do mate! The water spilling over the edge falling through the sieve leave behind the much on the sieve and in turn slowly pushes the muck to the bottom always leaving the top clear so it can’t get blocked. Check out diagrams and videos of the evolution aqua one. Or wrighty done a puka one that i want to try actually


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  7. #5
    Senior Member Rank = Gosai KevT's Avatar
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    Hi

    Agree with Carco123 - you are into pressure filter territory with your design and they tend to block up quickly with the massive waste levels from Koi. The manufactured ones use gravity and water flow pressure to push the muck down to the bottom of the sieve. The proof would be in the pudding - you could make one so that you could put water in from the base and see how it goes then move the inflow to the conventional position is that doesn't work

    Good DIYing

    KevT

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  9. #6
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    Part of my reasoning for the design was to enable me to add jap mats into the system without the need for an additional tank as space is limited. As the system will have a submersible pump feeding the sieve I was worried that it would create a lot of fines which might be missed.

    Had a bit of a brainwave (or more likely a brainfart) earlier and that is to configure it as a normal top inlet downflow sieve but have 2 mesh filters.. something like a 80mesh on top then a 200mesh underneath it. Still got to work out the details but can't see why it wouldn't work.. perhaps the more experienced (all of you) can think of any problems with the idea?

  10. #7
    Senior Member Rank = Adult Champion Twhitenosugar's Avatar
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    I built a DIY sieve following John's thread.

    I used 125 micron mesh. And tbh it's too fine. It blocks very quickly. So that very quickly, the water flows down the mesh (rather than through it)and into the waste tube at the bottom, that then overflows. So essentially I have a lot of water that bypasses the sieve as it blocks too quickly. And bear in mind the water being pumped over my sieve has already gone through a drum filter.

    The main thing to bear in mind, is the finer a mesh/filter, the quicker it blocks, the more cleaning and maintenance it requires. So it really boils down to how much cleaning you want to do?

    I personally don't won't to be cleaning it any more than fortnightly. Any more than that and to me, it negates the whole point of having a drum filter.

    Having built mine, I'd say don't go lower than 200 micron mesh for a sieve.

    You could have a few sieve meshes so that in normal operation it uses 200 microns, but if you wanted to remove more fines on a one off basis, you could swap the mesh over for a finer one for a few hours?

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  12. #8
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion Ajm's Avatar
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    I have the same problem as twns as in the mesh is to small and a massive pump which over flows/bypasses

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    Johnathan

  13. #9
    Senior Member Rank = Adult Champion Twhitenosugar's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ajm View Post
    I have the same problem as twns as in the mesh is to small and a massive pump which over flows/bypasses

    Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
    What size mesh do you have?

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  15. #10
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion Ajm's Avatar
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    What ever size John1 used . I bought his sieve for the grow on but it didn't work size wise with my shed so removed the mesh and bracing and build a more simple one with a clear wham box like yours . But once the grow on is done and finished I'll be rebuilding John's and using it on a skimmer line on main pond

    Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
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  17. #11
    Senior Member Rank = Sansai Point's Avatar
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    Hi mate, that's interesting about the 125micron mesh blocking... does it block with fines or larger?

  18. #12
    Senior Member Rank = Sansai Point's Avatar
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    Johns used 70 micron I think

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    Senior Member Rank = Adult Champion Twhitenosugar's Avatar
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    It's fines that are blocking it. As the water is pumped from a moving bed filter, I think it's actually biofilm that's knocked off the k1. It's light brown stuff and clogs the mesh quickly.

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  22. #14
    Senior Member Rank = Sansai Point's Avatar
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    Excuse my ignorance but is biofilm more "sticky" than fine particles or is there not much difference?

  23. #15
    Senior Member Rank = Adult Champion Twhitenosugar's Avatar
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    Yeah it is light brown gooey stuff really, but whatever it is, it's blocking my sieve lol

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  25. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Twhitenosugar View Post
    Yeah it is light brown gooey stuff really, but whatever it is, it's blocking my sieve lol
    lol.. thought it might be more gooey than fine particles. I suppose it's gonna be down to experimentation when it all gets built. Thanks for your help mate

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  27. #17
    Senior Member Rank = Adult Champion Twhitenosugar's Avatar
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    No problem. Always good to get info from others when attempting these projects. I found John's thread and the YouTube videos very helpful.

    Keep us posted how you get on with yours.

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  29. #18
    sorry chaps, must've missed previous thread, do you have the links?

  30. #19
    Senior Member Rank = Adult Champion Twhitenosugar's Avatar
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    Here it is...

    https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/top...ink_source=app

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  32. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Twhitenosugar View Post
    No problem. Always good to get info from others when attempting these projects. I found John's thread and the YouTube videos very helpful.

    Keep us posted how you get on with yours.
    Yes, I found Johns thread, and Wrighty's on Youtube, very helpful.. not sure what the best shape of the mesh is though.. one is convex and the other concave lol

    The pond etc is part of a total garden overhaul which involves a lot of levelling (and poxy rubble removal from when the cheap-ass builders built the house and dumped it under the turf.. grrr!) so the actual pond build is a way off yet. I just need to figure out space allowances for the kit, although I could start making the sieve. I'll certainly post something up when it's made.

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