DIY Pot Scrubber Trickle Filter.

[bitterman]

This is a little on how I built my DIY Trickle filter that sits in my 36x12 sump tank.

Materials
100 pot Scrubbers  (6 for $1 at dollarama)
2 Home Depot buckets (~$5 each)
1 Lid for Home Depot Buckets (~$3 each)
1 Bulkhead (I purchase a Pool jet bulkhead from Rona for $7.99)

Steps:
1. Take one of the buckets and Drill a lot of 3/8" holes in the bottom to allow water to flow though the bucket. I drilled holes so the bottom was  all holes, but would still hold the plastic pot scrubbers.


2. Cut the bottom 2" off the other bucket

3. Now drill as required a bunch of 1/6"-3/16" Holes in bottom of the 2" tall pail to act as a trickle plate. This is dependent on how much water your pump can handle, so a little trial and error is required. You want to ensure about 1/2" of water is in the trickle plate at all times when the pump is running.

4. Clean all waste from the parts from drilling

5. Fill the bucket with the plastic pot scrubbers leaving enough room at the top for the trickle plate.

6. Put the trickle plate in the bucket ensuring it is a level as possible.

7. Install the bulkhead in the center of the bucket lid

8. Optional, I put some floss in the trickle plate to stop any big particles from clogging the pot scrubbers

9. Put the lid on the bucket


Now you have you trickle filter constructed, I just set it in the 30 Gallon sump for my 172 gallon tank. The ridges on the plastic pail result in the pail sitting on top of the sump and not falling in. If this does not work for you. you will need to make something to hold the pail up off the bottom of the sump.

Next I hooked the 1.5" ID pipe up to the filter from my internal overflow box in my tank and my mag 12 returns water from the sump to the main tank via a spay bar after going through the trickle filter.

This setup is on my 172 Gallon tank. I cycled it with this setup before adding the xp3 to ensure the pot scrubbers would work.

Not a bad biological filter for about $40

Pictures are attached in posts on page 2

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[artw]

excellent article, I applaud you for that.

[StylinT]

Great Idea !

I have been thinking of putting in a sump on my 225

could you get some pics of everything ya did ?

[bitterman]

I'm going to take some pics in the next week of so (Work is nuts right now, hope things slow down soon) and It looks like this might be posted in the DIY section of the site.

Bruce

[Mettle]

Verry innovative and inexpensive. A plus on both ends.

Can't wait to see the pics to get an idea of what it looks like.

[laffy]

i was thinking buying 15 gallons of bioballs for my sump but i'm going to try this instead. thanks for the idea! are you running that on a FW or SW?

[bitterman]

i was thinking buying 15 gallons of bioballs for my sump but i'm going to try this instead. thanks for the idea! are you running that on a FW or SW?

My tank is fresh water (Aftican cichlids from lake Tangyanika)

Hope this helps,
   Bruce

[bitterman]

I added a pic of what the filter looks like finished. I did not have time to take the filter appart and take pics of everything step by step (My 1year old son was sleeping when I got home last night and the noice would have woke him up).

Bruce

[gvv]

This is nice disign and it didn't come to my mind to use HD bucket!    But I used 10G tank, so large ice-cream bucket was fine for my 55G and I should say for me such a sump worked and working well for at least 3 years.
But in my case I had to remove the bucket lid, as when doing the maintenance it is not easy to get it of and on without touching the pipes.
The second, for the case when the filter itself is clogged I drilled a hole a little bit lower the tank height, so water will have a passage into the tank and not on floor. Also it can be used as a sign that filter should be cleaned.
I had it on africans and now on spending the winter in the basement goldfishes and it always worked fine, just need to clean more often for goldfishes
Good job!

Regards

[bitterman]

But in my case I had to remove the bucket lid, as when doing the maintenance it is not easy to get it of and on without touching the pipes.

I originally did not purchase the lid, But due to splashing and the trickle tray not sitting properly, I had to add it. When I put the lid on (Not too tight or its a pain to remove for maintentance, only did that once) The trickle tray it pushed up against the lid compressing the pot scrubbers slighyly.  Also since the bottom of the bucket is smaller then the top, water just flows over the side of the trickle tray if the floss gets clogged. I had this occur once. On a system with less flow this should not be a problem so the lid may not be required (I have about 1000 Gallons per hour going through this Trickle filter). I also used the lid to decrease evaporation as I was having a real bad problem (I was loosing about 3 gallons per day).

When I do maintenance, I just lossen the lid and slide the bucket to the center of the sump. This allows me to keep my pump running. Then I slide it back and loosely put the lid on again (The lid more or less just sits on top, it it not snapped on hard)

The second, for the case when the filter itself is clogged I drilled a hole a little bit lower the tank height, so water will have a passage into the tank and not on floor. Also it can be used as a sign that filter should be cleaned.

Thanks!! I'm going to do this mod to be 100% sure I don't get water on the floor. Nice tip!!!

Bruce

gvv I applauded you for your comments and improvments!

[darkdep]

Guys:  I'm thinking of using HD buckets for some sort of filter for my new setup...may be a dumb Q but can you buy the tight fitting lids at HD?  I have never seen the lids next to the buckets...and are the lids just "sit on the top" or do they lock on somehow?

[bitterman]

The lids sorta lock/snap on and are a real pain to get off. If you have ever made home made wine. It is very similar to the buckets you get at a wine store for starting wine in. The lids can be very hard to get off, especially the first few times.

On a side note, The buckets at a wine store might be a good alternative to the home depot buckets, but they will most likely cost more. I think they are bigger too, so that could be a plus.

Hope this helps,
      Bruce

[darkdep]

I actually do brew wine; and the bucket I have doesn't have a snap on lid.  Maybe I have the wrong lid

I'll ask at HD. 

[bitterman]

I actually do brew wine; and the bucket I have doesn't have a snap on lid.  Maybe I have the wrong lid

I'll ask at HD. 

You may not, Some of the cheaper pails don't really snap on in fact some people just cover the pail with plastic and a rubber band for the first week or so.

I attached a picture of a pail lid similar to mine. You can see that it has a rubber seal and can snap on the buckets.

[darkdep]

Actually, I went and checked my wine bucket last night...it appears I DO have a snap on lid but you have to snap it on so hard I always thought it just "sat" on the top...

So, Can you get the snap-on lids at home depot?

[bitterman]

Yep, Thats what I purchased. The lid and the buckets are both from home depot in Barhaven. The lids were near the painting section piled under a shelf and the pails were in a different location.

A little note about the lid. It has a portion on the bottom lip the zippers off to allow removal of the lid. If you don't remove this protion, it is next to imposible to remove the lid after it is installed, and it will be very hard to put on.

Bruce.

[darkdep]

I think they sell a tool to get these lids off don't they?

I'm thinking of trying a variation of your design, to build a DIY canister filter using these buckets...

[bitterman]

Here are some pics for the article and everyone to see.

Bruce

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[bitterman]

Here are some pics part2 for the article and everyone to see.


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[bitterman]

Here are some pics part3(Final) for the article and everyone to see.


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