Markp2483 Posted December 22, 2023 Share Posted December 22, 2023 The idea started with me making a 3d printed overflow when i realized the overflow is a perfect basket for foam and filter floss. I think its better to pull the water through filter media rather than pushing it and siphon should do that without the chance of overflowing. There is a union on the underside of just incase you need to disconnect overflow and get the siphon going again (tumble it around in a bucket or tank till the air comes out). The valve and cam lock is for clean out. I've upgraded my python to camlock as some of the python fittings were leaking. Large chamber is to reduce the speed of the flow and allow for a more efficient airlift pump. It also works as a nice place for bio media Con's I see 1) probably will need substantial airflow to get 200gal per hr which is the same as the current pump i have on the tank 2) Overflow is a surface skimmer so you need a ATO system. (already in place for me) 3) kinda large and plumbing parts are expensive right now I haven't decided if i'm going to make it but the overflow box is in production on craftcloud . Ill test it out on the bench and see if everything works. What do you guys think? 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 This looks awesome. I would love to see video once it’s together running on a tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markp2483 Posted January 20 Author Share Posted January 20 well works pretty good. nothing is glued so all the joints leak but I think it passes as an air powered hob. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markp2483 Posted January 20 Author Share Posted January 20 Flipped the pipe around so it’s the right way 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markp2483 Posted January 20 Author Share Posted January 20 3 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrGibson Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 This is very cool! Do you have any stl/3mf or cad files you’d be willing to share so I could play around with this? No worries if not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markp2483 Posted January 22 Author Share Posted January 22 On 1/21/2024 at 12:34 PM, MrGibson said: This is very cool! Do you have any stl/3mf or cad files you’d be willing to share so I could play around with this? No worries if not Sure here is an step file for the overflow. Bulkhead is a aquarium coop 3/4". The airlift is a 3/4" jetlift i found on Esty, works good but the sockets aren't deep enough for proper gluing overflow part 1 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nByI4Ox8o0iC_F8phvjDwYCvVfAD2kmN/view?usp=drive_link overflow part 2 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fGbng40MXsahySwW1u8EDqINrJkOUs-i/view?usp=drive_link This is set up for a rimless tank around 10mm thick so if your glass is thicker or a rimmed tank than you'll need to modify it. Also may need to vary intake height depending on where you keep your water level I printed it out of ASA which i believe is a more UV stable ABS like plastic. I really like how simple it is to start the siphon. Just submerge the in tank piece rotate 360 till the bubbles come out and place into holder box. I havent seen any overflow boxes this easy to start without pumps/airline tubes/disconnecting hoses etc 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrGibson Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 On 1/21/2024 at 7:18 PM, Markp2483 said: Sure here is an step file for the overflow. Bulkhead is a aquarium coop 3/4". The airlift is a 3/4" jetlift i found on Esty, works good but the sockets aren't deep enough for proper gluing overflow part 1 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nByI4Ox8o0iC_F8phvjDwYCvVfAD2kmN/view?usp=drive_link overflow part 2 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fGbng40MXsahySwW1u8EDqINrJkOUs-i/view?usp=drive_link This is set up for a rimless tank around 10mm thick so if your glass is thicker or a rimmed tank than you'll need to modify it. Also may need to vary intake height depending on where you keep your water level I printed it out of ASA which i believe is a more UV stable ABS like plastic. I really like how simple it is to start the siphon. Just submerge the in tank piece rotate 360 till the bubbles come out and place into holder box. I havent seen any overflow boxes this easy to start without pumps/airline tubes/disconnecting hoses etc Rad I’ll report back if I get around to messing with this! I’ve not printed with ASA yet but I’ve had some printed PETG parts in my nano reef for nearly 4 years now with zero problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 @Markp2483 Nice work. I wonder what you're using this for.... What tank is it on permanently if any? 🤔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markp2483 Posted January 22 Author Share Posted January 22 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markp2483 Posted February 13 Author Share Posted February 13 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) 2 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markp2483 Posted March 24 Author Share Posted March 24 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 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markp2483 Posted March 31 Author Share Posted March 31 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markp2483 Posted March 31 Author Share Posted March 31 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markp2483 Posted March 31 Author Share Posted March 31 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 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markp2483 Posted April 13 Author Share Posted April 13 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 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markp2483 Posted April 27 Author Share Posted April 27 (edited) 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 Edited April 27 by Markp2483 last photo wasnt showing up 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anchor_fist Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 This seems like pretty cool idea, in fact it's giving me some ideas to try Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markp2483 Posted July 21 Author Share Posted July 21 Installed. Also made an air driven hang in back which might be better and is a lot simpler 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markp2483 Posted July 25 Author Share Posted July 25 (edited) Observation, since setup water has never smelled better. Didn’t change water before changes. Virtually no smell ( confirmed by wife with super sniffer). There must be something different between water moved by impeller and by bubbles. Edited July 25 by Markp2483 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markp2483 Posted July 26 Author Share Posted July 26 Here is the HIB (hang in back) that i show in previous video. 11" Long x 2 1/4" wide x 2.5" tall. Works great with acoop sponge filter with easy flow. Really polishes the water 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMC Posted July 27 Share Posted July 27 Looks great! Thanks for sharing your ideas. I have been enjoying combining the hobbies of 3D printing and tropical fish myself, but you’re way ahead of me! How does your hang in back filter hang onto the aquarium? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markp2483 Posted July 27 Author Share Posted July 27 On 7/26/2024 at 7:53 PM, JMC said: Looks great! Thanks for sharing your ideas. I have been enjoying combining the hobbies of 3D printing and tropical fish myself, but you’re way ahead of me! How does your hang in back filter hang onto the aquarium? It has hooks built onto the back. I think if people wanted to make a production version would need to adjustability. That would also allow for different hooks so you could do rimmed or rimless tanks. Something like how the pothocarry versa adjusts would work well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMC Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 The hooks are great. I think they’re a great idea for producing your own filters. Thanks again for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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