min880107 Posted March 23, 2022 Share Posted March 23, 2022 Hello I need some help, bad. I have 2 tanks that I wish to set up. The tank size is L 30 * W 20 *H 25 cm. I made 2 DIY box filter for these and the size is 20 * 10 * 10 cm. When i put these filters in the tank, it gurgles and barely pushes any water out. If i increase the flow rate it just throws out water. I've tried changing into different air stones and messing with the media for better flow but none of them worked. There are 3 tanks and they are all connected to one 20w air pump and the filter is working fine for the first tank. I have not seen / heard nor saw air flow filter acting like this. Does any one have any idea what is going on or if you experienced something similar? I am in desparete need of help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndEEss Posted March 23, 2022 Share Posted March 23, 2022 Post a picture or video. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuzzDaddy21 Posted March 23, 2022 Share Posted March 23, 2022 On 3/23/2022 at 7:19 AM, min880107 said: I made 2 DIY box filter I don`t have no idea what's wrong but I would like to see pictures on how you made them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Stewart Posted March 23, 2022 Share Posted March 23, 2022 Agree with the above comments. Need to see what you built, what design you used, how you packed it, how you set up your air line, etc. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
min880107 Posted March 23, 2022 Author Share Posted March 23, 2022 I wanted to upload a video but it only accepts gif jpeg jpe jpg and png. I would appreciate it if you can share how i can upload a video. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
min880107 Posted March 23, 2022 Author Share Posted March 23, 2022 Here is a quick photo and a gif. Still cant figure out how to upload the video.. 😞 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Stewart Posted March 23, 2022 Share Posted March 23, 2022 What did you use for the plenum plate? Do you have photos of the parts before you assembled them? Just a note on the biomedia, I think you've created some dead zones and water restriction by laying them flat. You'll get most of the water flow only over the outside, and as they are aligned pretty tightly together you have minimal gaps for water to flow between them. I'd probably turn them each on end so that water can flow vertically through and around them. This could also be where your overall flow restriction lies. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
min880107 Posted March 24, 2022 Author Share Posted March 24, 2022 On 3/24/2022 at 2:47 AM, Greg Stewart said: What did you use for the plenum plate? Do you have photos of the parts before you assembled them? Just a note on the biomedia, I think you've created some dead zones and water restriction by laying them flat. You'll get most of the water flow only over the outside, and as they are aligned pretty tightly together you have minimal gaps for water to flow between them. I'd probably turn them each on end so that water can flow vertically through and around them. This could also be where your overall flow restriction lies. Thank you for your input. From reading your comment, it gave me an idea to try to run the box filter with no media at all. When i ran it with no medi, it was still acting the same. From checking some diy videos, i used one of old sponge filter and intergrated in to the box and now it is working fine. Still not sure of the what the core issue is but i think there was a limit on intake opening on the tube. Thank you for helping. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuzzDaddy21 Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 I see bubbles in pic. Is this a sump? Or tank 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
min880107 Posted March 24, 2022 Author Share Posted March 24, 2022 (edited) On 3/24/2022 at 6:39 PM, BuzzDaddy21 said: I see bubbles in pic. Is this a sump? Or tank Its a tank with box filter inside. What seems like a bubble, could be a messy silicone job i did 🙂 Edited March 24, 2022 by min880107 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuzzDaddy21 Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 Are you putting fish or something else in the tank? How is this going to work? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
min880107 Posted March 24, 2022 Author Share Posted March 24, 2022 On 3/24/2022 at 9:12 PM, BuzzDaddy21 said: Are you putting fish or something else in the tank? How is this going to work? Yes, im going to put shrimps in the tank. Before putting them in, im trying to cycle the water with the new box filter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Stewart Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 @min880107 Is the airline for the filter tube running outside the tube? Where do you have the air outlet? I've only ever seen the airline run inside the tube--the concept being like the air supply for a sponge filter or an under gravel plenum. Also, the height of the air stone (if you use one) or the end of the tube should be situated at about the middle of the tube and the air pressure adjusted to optimise vertical lift. Both of the position of the air line and pressure can be adjusted to get the flow you would need. What plans did you use to build this? Ot, did you design it yourself? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anon Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 That looks really good! Not sure what your problem is, but you did a beautiful job. Seems like an airflow issue; you should be able to blow through the system using your breath. On 3/24/2022 at 5:54 AM, Greg Stewart said: Is the airline for the filter tube running outside the tube? Where do you have the air outlet? Box filters typically have an inlet and an outlet. You can see his inlet on top; the outlet is probably the perforated pipe at the bottom. These are closed systems with no use for an air stone. They just require a little more air. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrencher_Scott Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 (edited) On 3/24/2022 at 2:04 AM, min880107 said: Thank you for your input. From reading your comment, it gave me an idea to try to run the box filter with no media at all. When i ran it with no medi, it was still acting the same. From checking some diy videos, i used one of old sponge filter and intergrated in to the box and now it is working fine. Still not sure of the what the core issue is but i think there was a limit on intake opening on the tube. Thank you for helping. It looks to be flowing good for what it is. Using an air lift is not exactly lots of flow. You could put a small power head on it, that would flow way better. also, it will flow better once the top is under water too. It takes a lot to lift the water out of the pipe above the water line. Edited March 24, 2022 by Wrencher_Scott 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuzzDaddy21 Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 Is the white plate a plenum? Is the filter to the right? Will there be gravel or sand? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
min880107 Posted March 24, 2022 Author Share Posted March 24, 2022 (edited) On 3/24/2022 at 9:54 PM, Greg Stewart said: @min880107 Is the airline for the filter tube running outside the tube? Where do you have the air outlet? I've only ever seen the airline run inside the tube--the concept being like the air supply for a sponge filter or an under gravel plenum. Also, the height of the air stone (if you use one) or the end of the tube should be situated at about the middle of the tube and the air pressure adjusted to optimise vertical lift. Both of the position of the air line and pressure can be adjusted to get the flow you would need. What plans did you use to build this? Ot, did you design it yourself? The air line tube runs through the middle of the pipe. It is an off the shelf part. I tried as you shared, adjusting the height of the air stone while adjusting the air pressure but the results were all the same. I think i have tried to do everything that i can adjust except for the water intake, which is built in the bottom mesh. It was just designed my self estimating that this size should fit my tank well. On 3/24/2022 at 10:55 PM, Anon said: That looks really good! Not sure what your problem is, but you did a beautiful job. Seems like an airflow issue; you should be able to blow through the system using your breath. Thank you. I thought it was an airflow or pressure issue but i believe it was an issue with water intake hole being too small. Because it works now when we changed the tube with sponge filter frame. On 3/25/2022 at 12:18 AM, Wrencher_Scott said: It looks to be flowing good for what it is. Using an air lift is not exactly lots of flow. You could put a small power head on it, that would flow way better. also, it will flow better once the top is under water too. It takes a lot to lift the water out of the pipe above the water line. The picture with green pipe is a picture after it is fixed. Now i do have great flow. Its not 100percent but i think the off the shelf plenum which has water intake has a faulty design. Edited March 24, 2022 by min880107 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
min880107 Posted March 24, 2022 Author Share Posted March 24, 2022 On 3/25/2022 at 12:46 AM, BuzzDaddy21 said: Is the white plate a plenum? Is the filter to the right? Will there be gravel or sand? The three tanks are all separated. There is sand in the tank but it is black color so it does not show much. The idea of this filter is this 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrencher_Scott Posted March 25, 2022 Share Posted March 25, 2022 (edited) On 3/24/2022 at 3:51 PM, min880107 said: The three tanks are all separated. There is sand in the tank but it is black color so it does not show much. The idea of this filter is this Looks like you have built an under gravel type of filter. It should work well. I personally would fill it with course foam like maybe 30 ppi. Foam is a much better bio media than that ceramic stuff. The big plus too is it is huge for the tank size, very good filtering there. Nice! Oh and as for the air lift, just put the air stone as low as possible in the tube for best results. Edited March 25, 2022 by Wrencher_Scott 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick_G Posted March 25, 2022 Share Posted March 25, 2022 What a nice clean looking build! When I was a kid the fish stores has one of these in every tank, or so it seemed. Yours looks better though! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odd Duck Posted March 25, 2022 Share Posted March 25, 2022 This is the latest thing in shrimp tanks, running an undergravel filter inside a box so there is significant filtration for a very small tank they use to put just a trio of select Caridinas. @min880107, looks like you’ve done a really good job of building those boxes. I’ve mostly seen active buffering substrate used in these filters as a way of using less overall substrate but still getting the buffering effect plus using the substrate as biofiltration, too. Have you thought about using an active substrate? Short of that, I would also recommend 30 ppi filter sponge to maximize surface area for BB’s. I’ve just recently converted 2 x 10 gallon tanks to full UGF with 2” thick matten foam as substrate. Currently they’re serving duty as QT tanks, but I plant to convert others, too, and use them as shrimp tanks. Neos only for me, I’m too chicken to have hundreds of dollars of fancy shrimp in a single tank. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuzzDaddy21 Posted March 25, 2022 Share Posted March 25, 2022 On 3/24/2022 at 6:51 PM, min880107 said: The idea of this filter is this How fast does the air move the water through the plenum? Will this make anoxic conditions? I think this is a neat idea. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrencher_Scott Posted March 25, 2022 Share Posted March 25, 2022 On 3/25/2022 at 4:44 AM, BuzzDaddy21 said: How fast does the air move the water through the plenum? Will this make anoxic conditions? I think this is a neat idea. No way. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
min880107 Posted March 26, 2022 Author Share Posted March 26, 2022 Thank you everyone for sharing your thoughts feedback and inputs. Today i have confirmed the core issue. It was the water intake. From a cheap tooling, the water intake was all blocked from the factory. This is what i deserve for buying the cheapest stuff i guess. I put sponge filter frame on both of the box filter and now they work perfectly. Again, thanks to everyone who shared a comment. Thank you! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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