[Want suggestion for air pump model - 20-30 lpm]

Maybe the Medo LA-28B. I have the LA-45 but use it for airlift pumps on a pond

[Want suggestion for air pump model - 20-30 lpm]

I think Alita makes some in that flow range

[Oase Biomaster 850 on 10 gallon tank]

If it was a bunch of hillstream loaches no problem they would love it but anything else most likely be problematic. Guppy like fish would take the most damage

[first attempt at air driven HOB]

I've come to the conclusion that i don't think its possible to 3d print air and water tight parts particularly parts that are under hydrostatic pressure like an external airlift pump.  Im pretty sure if i installed it would eventually leak so for now i will abandon the one piece airlift pump and try to assembly an airlift pump from off the shelf parts and 1 3d printed part.

 

My return line is 3/4" pvc pipe. 

So i purchased a 1" tee,

2 x 1" to 3/4" reducer bushing,

1" spigot to 1/4" NPT bushing

Push to Connect Air Flow Control Valve, 6mm Tube OD x 1/4" Male Thread, Elbow 90 Degree Switch Valve

The last part is the key to the whole system.  It connects to standard 1/4" aquarium airline tubing and has a Chinese finger trap style mechanism that secures the tubing way better than a barbed connection.  The valve is great as it allows you to disconnect the air hose without worrying about leaking particularly important after i install inside my living room. This looks like the same fitting that GLA uses on some of there C02 reactors.   @Cory  If you were ever looking to update the AC gang valve push connect valves are pretty nice for fine tuning airflow.

 

 The next part i made was the airlift screen. I initially tried to make it with a 1mm drill bit and a bit of 3/4" pipe but after testing the bubbles looked too course so went back to the small slot pattern that ive found on most airlift collars.  Thankfully its super cheap to 3d print ~3 dollars.

 

Assembled the cross section looks some what like this although the actually parts are different.  Assembly below was created using the free 3d models you can get off mcmaster car website

Will update when i receive the airlift screen

[first attempt at air driven HOB]

Ok getting closer

new overflow box is working like a champ. Hooked it up to a 550gal per hour pump and couldn’t get it to run dry. So the overflow should stay nice an quiet.

the new airlift pump is working well but the outside has a few pin holes that I can see are leaking air and water. I’ll try coating the outside in epoxy that is ment to stick to abs. Will see if that works. 
 

I made a little extender to the hob part. The bubble right now are too close to the top of the edge and rattle the cover. It should also act as a bubble/ foam catcher. Should receive that by next week. 
 

Here’s a video of how it looks today

 

[How to upgrade/mod my hob filter?]

Bacteria in your filter is the same growing on the tank walls, substrate, decore etc.  If your worried about removing too much bacteria at one time, take your old filter pad/media and place it somewhere in the tank. Make your mods,  get it running.  Wait a week remove old filter pad/media.  Little ugly for a week but stress free   

[first attempt at air driven HOB]

Maybe something like this. I like using siphon to get water out of the tank and then use airlift collar near the floor to pump water back into the tank. Gives you an extra 3 feet of tube length which massively improves flow rate/pump head and makes it quieter.  I think with this i should be able to tumble it around to prime the siphon and then carefully lift it up but keep the grating below surface to not break the siphon and place it in the box. Once in the box it should start to flow

[first attempt at air driven HOB]

On 3/31/2024 at 9:03 AM, lefty o said:

great concept. here's some hopefully constructive criticism. looks great, works great as is, but it only takes water from the top of the tank. i myself dont care for that. now picture if you will the co-op sponge filter with the new pipe they put on them that will carry water up. make that stand pipe long enough to draw from the sponge filter all the way up, and dump into your HOB box where you have more filter floss or sponge or whatever. just my thoughts.

Understand about only taking in water from the top and yes could definitely modify to take in water mid water column.

here are the reasons

1) I run rimless tanks and hate seeing bio film oil slick on the surface. Airstone help but not as good as a skimmer.

2) I don’t know if it matters where you take in water.  You look at any tank with a sump or an Aio and they all only take in water from the surface.  I do think you need something down low to help with circulation so a wave maker/ powerhead hidden in the back down low keeps the particles in the water column until they eventually go out via the skimmer. 
 

3) access to used mechanical filter media. Intake sponges work great but I hate cleaning them, yes I know it’s the same as a sponge filter (ziplock bag trick) but I always make a mess. With the overflow I can just grab the sponge easily give it a quick rinse and back in. 
 

I think I will model up a version for lower intake as well. Maybe have a skimmer on one side and a pipe on the opposite both feeding into one hob box. I’ll make them interchangeable so can quickly change between a skimmer or pipe and see which I like best 

[first attempt at air driven HOB]

Todays update

1) lowered airlift pump as low as possible which really improves flow

2) overflow is now the limiting factor. The cross sectional area needs to be double the size ( 1 1/2 overflow and 3/4 return)

3) updated models and off for production 

here is quick video from today’s testing 

 

[first attempt at air driven HOB]

Ive been slacking on this project

Updates

1) spillway box was a bit of a disaster.  The 3d printing company screwed up.  Part came out deformed and leaked like a sieve.  Made a new one and that seems to work need to remake the top as that was sized for the original one

2) new airlift pumps not working that great. Noisy, too big and with noticeable intermittent flow. Need to think more about that. Looking for a more consistent quiet flow

3) playing around with the idea of adding a sorta protein skimmer in between the airlift and spillway with a T.  I noticed in some of the koi pond videos that are run on airlift pumps they have this as a feature to remove foam. here is a screen shot from that video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0yL485-wlk

 

 

Here is short of what it looks like today https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AHihkt0Lk2w 

This is with the "T" for sudo skimmer just missing the cup. Doesn't seem to reduce performance

 

 

 

[Fish getting stuck in algae]

So far so good, has been in there a day. Seems to be eating algae off the plant roots and some duckweed (bonus)

[Fish getting stuck in algae]

Would a goldfish help? Maybe a tamasaba or similar?

[Fish getting stuck in algae]

Does look like that. Thank you

Anybody have treatment advice? 

[Fish getting stuck in algae]

I have patio pond with white clouds and rice fish.  I’ve been noticing a new type of algae. Looks like a staghorn variety instead of normal hair algae.  It forms a net that sometimes traps these small fish. So far I haven’t found any dead ones but I have had to free a few of them.  Any ideas what it is and tricks to get rid of it?

[Environmentally friendly alternatives to polyester filter floss?]

I use 200 micron filter pad. Same material as filter socks. Dump the dirty ones in bleach solution wait a few days rinse with dechlorinator and ready to go. Sorta like purigin 

[Patio pond is getting Chlorine readings]

I had a similar issue with my patio pond.  I bought a hanna checker. That showed zero chlorine or really low 0.01.  I think there may be something else that causes false positives with normal test strips.     

[Easy Flow Clogged]

I've gone down the rabbit hole of airlift pump injectors. I really like them over airstones

Here's a brief on summary of my research so far

The two main groups are radial injector and axial injector.

Radial injectors are like the easy flow and and swiss tropical jet lifter. A bunch of holes that pump air in a radial pattern. Great flow in middle of tube

Axial injectors i think are like jetlifter mk2 (its says no holes on their website so that makes me think it has to be axial).  Axial injectors have no holes but are a pipe over another pipe. Great flow at pipe water interface and helps shear viscous friction

Both axial and radial have similar performance but the axial may be less prone to clogging.

Some people actual combine them in a dual injector setup to get the advantages of both

Im currently working on one called an annular venturi injector

Basically a axial injector that necks down to form a venturi.  Supposedly this is the best of both worlds from the research papers i found.  Should have some 3d printed parts this week to test. 

 

[What kind of snails are these?]

On 2/17/2024 at 10:37 AM, Guppysnail said:

Those are pond snails. 

Yup just googled. Thank you

[Dojo Loach Behaviors, What Should I Expect?]

I have two in a 100gal patio pond. They are the strangest fish. Like a poor mans mudskipper. They commando over immerse rocks and floating plants when they smell food. They’ll sleep with their  heads stuck in a hole and their whole body out of water.  They sleep in any position. They’ll climb into your hand and nimble on your fingers.

they have quickly become one of the best wet pets I keep.  

[What kind of snails are these?]

Wondering what kind of snails they are. They popped up after adding some pond plants. So far they have handled the Southern California winter no problem. they like to float upside down skimming the surface.

[first attempt at air driven HOB]

Some updates

added a spillway box.  Could have 1 or two overflow boxes hooked up to it (one overflow on each side)

Spillway box could hold heater and bio media

overflow holds sponge and other filter media

Also working on new airlift pump design based on annular venturi injector (found a research paper)

[Anyone tried expel f?]

@Odd Duck any experience with it?  I also see that the saltwater guys use fluconazole to treat certain kinds of hair algae

[Anyone tried expel f?]

On 2/7/2024 at 6:05 PM, Bigdog99 said:

No, what technically is it? Like what brand? Never heard of it… definitely interested. @Markp2483

It’s a fritz product, like expel p but for fungus instead of parasites. The main ingredient is fluconazole. Which is an anti fungal that they prescribe to people and animals 
 

I’ve never used it and it says it’s new on the fritz website. Just wondering if it’s worth trying and if anyone has any experience with it

[Anyone tried expel f?]

Anyone tried expel f for fungus/fin rot? Looks to be new

 

[first attempt at air driven HOB]

On 1/21/2024 at 5:42 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

@Markp2483 Nice work.  I wonder what you're using this for.... What tank is it on permanently if any? 🤔

Mainly it’s just a cool overflow, the hob part is me thinking what else I could use it for.  I’m planning to put it on a 30gallon planted tank. In the tank,  I have a sick praecox rainbow with a swim bladder issue waiting on her to pass before changing anything. She's a great fish and gave me a ton of fry. Not ready to euthanize as she still feeding ok.