Opinions on internal box filters

[Will Billy]

I had been muling over the idea of making a DIY box filter out of a cup container i have laying around. Before starting this project i had reviewed and watched many videos on box filters. I was wondering, if anyone had opinions, or advice on box filters in general. Do they seem to work well? Are they a hassle in some way? Any advantages or disadvantages? Im just curious as i have never used a store bought, name brand version to know how effective they are at filtration. 

[MJV Aquatics]

My friend Greg Sage of Select Aquatics of Erie, Co. has them in nearly every tank and he loves them as they work well and filled with floss he can easily see when they need to be serviced...but he's a breeder and they're not display tanks.

I wouldn't want a box filter in a display tank, but then I don't think I'd like a sponge filter in a display tank either. When I first setup my 110g stock tank outdoors I made a DIY box filter I called the Frankenfilter. It worked well, but I eventually retired it.

 

[H.K.Luterman]

I like box filters in that they're customizable in what you can put in there: lava rock, sponge, polyfill, etc. I also like them for the fact that they're simple and can't break or overflow. I don't like them for the fact that they're really unattractive. Though I guess if you're crafting one yourself you're in complete control of what it looks like. I'm curious to see what you create, regardless!

[Will Billy]

45 minutes ago, MJV Aquatics said:

I made a DIY box filter I called the Frankenfilter

Thats a pretty cool DIY design. Thank you for sharing your input. 

[Will Billy]

So i built my makeshift DIY box filter, for a proof of concept / determine if i like it. Not sure how well this will work, but my on the fly model uses and old marimo moss ball container i have had for a long time, a nano size aquarium co-op sponge filter (for pre made lift tube and easy attachment of a never clog air atone), and some filter floss pads cut to size to wrap and cover the sponge filter. I did have to remove the weighted base to get it to fit. I used some gravel in the inner tube of the sponge filter and some more gravel on top to weight it down. Later i will add gravel and use smaller amount of filter floss in the cup. For my proof of concept however, i wanted to more visibly see the filter floss change color as it removes debris.  Here are some pictures below, if i like it, i may purchase an actual filter box at a later time. 

[tolstoy21]

6 hours ago, Will Billy said:

I had been muling over the idea of making a DIY box filter out of a cup container i have laying around. Before starting this project i had reviewed and watched many videos on box filters. I was wondering, if anyone had opinions, or advice on box filters in general. Do they seem to work well? Are they a hassle in some way? Any advantages or disadvantages? Im just curious as i have never used a store bought, name brand version to know how effective they are at filtration. 

I like box filters, but not in ‘display tanks’ in the regular living space in my house (because they’re not attractive).

One of the things I like about them is being able to use polyfill in them as this helps pull the baby brine out of the water that the fish don’t get to eating if I’ve put too much in. I like them better than hang on the backs because they are used with an air stone.

In a lot of tanks I’ll run a box filter for mechanical filtration and a coop sponge filter for bio filtration. Using two filters also gives me the advantage of being able to move one into a new tank I’m setting up so I don’t have to cycle it.

What I don’t like about box filters, so far all the ones I’ve tried all cheaply made and easy to break. I’d love to find one with some decent, more durable plastic, and not thin brittle plastic. I’d pay 2x for one that isn’t easy for me to crack in one way or another.

So negatives? They look very ‘industrial’ and not attractive. Most of them are made of cheap brittle plastic. Positives? They do their job well and are simple to use, service and not expensive. 

Edited February 20, 2021 by tolstoy21

[Nana Finopolis]

Back in the day, that's all I used in my tanks. I was 14 and only had babysitting money to spend on my tanks. Geez, that was half a century ago! I remember being so excited when I graduated to an under gravel filter. From there I went to hang on back filters and finally canister filters. I've almost come full circle. Now I'm transitioning to mostly sponge filters. 

I may use a few box filters again, myself. I like the mechanical/water polishing properties they have.

[Will Billy]

So i took the plunge and bought a box filter to try out. I watched a few videos on how to optimize them, and came up with my own solution(s). The first picture of the box is sorta how it came. The lift tube only goes down to the bottom of the first set of sponges. The water is pulled in from grates on the lid, and corner holes at the bottom. I replaced all the gravel it came with, with Seachem De*nitrate. If i understand correctly De*nitrate is the same material as Seachem Matrix media (mostly pumice stone) just smaller pieces. My theory in the second photo is to sandwich the De*nitrate stone between the sponge material to keep the biomaterial as far away from the oxygenated water as possible in an attempt to create an anoxic, or anaerobic zone for denitrifying bacteria. The third photo shows all the sponge material jammed into the top piece where the air from the air pump creates suction and oxygenation for aerobic bacteria. And all the biomaterial in the bottom half which is technically more exposed to oxygenated water through the holes at the bottom, but in theory should have much slower water flow. 

Anybody have any thoughts, ideas, or opinions as to the best method of optimizing for anoxic and, or anaerobic bacteria to assist plants in nitrate removal from water column?

P.S. if you think the third picture might be best, i can remove the internal boxes and be able to cram even more pumice stone into the lower section, potentially adding a bit more bio material in the attempt for creating anoxic, or anaerobic bacteria.

Edited February 25, 2021 by Will Billy
Added the P.S. section

[Will Billy]

Here is the last configuration. I removed the inner baskets which allowed more room for pumice stone, and i used some ceramic rings at the very bottom. 

[Will Billy]

Follow up. i have ordered another box filter. I will be setting up an experiment to not only test the box filter capability, but the Seachem De*nitrate bio media in an attempt to see if i can boost nitrate removal through beneficial bacteria. My hopes is that as a final result, although i do not expect 100% nitrate removal, i hope that a concerted effort on 2 fronts #1 being plants, and #2 being denitrifying bacteria ( both anoxic, and anaerobic bacterias) this could potentially reduce water changes, and or water change volume. I will be setting up 4, 5 gallon buckets. All with the exact same tank water for equal water parameters. 1 bucket as a control with no filter, 1 with a medium sponge filter (similar in size to box filter being used), 1 with a box filter, and 1 with an optimized box filter using De*Nitrate material. The experiment will take quite a bit of time, as nitrifying bacteria only takes 2 weeks to cultivate, and denitrifying bacteria can take from 6 weeks to 4 months to develop depending on oxygen conditions. Im expecting early results in about 6 months, with continued monitoring up to a year. 

[Frank]

41 minutes ago, Will Billy said:

Follow up. i have ordered another box filter. I will be setting up an experiment to not only test the box filter capability, but the Seachem De*nitrate bio media in an attempt to see if i can boost nitrate removal through beneficial bacteria. My hopes is that as a final result, although i do not expect 100% nitrate removal, i hope that a concerted effort on 2 fronts #1 being plants, and #2 being denitrifying bacteria ( both anoxic, and anaerobic bacterias) this could potentially reduce water changes, and or water change volume. I will be setting up 4, 5 gallon buckets. All with the exact same tank water for equal water parameters. 1 bucket as a control with no filter, 1 with a medium sponge filter (similar in size to box filter being used), 1 with a box filter, and 1 with an optimized box filter using De*Nitrate material. The experiment will take quite a bit of time, as nitrifying bacteria only takes 2 weeks to cultivate, and denitrifying bacteria can take from 6 weeks to 4 months to develop depending on oxygen conditions. Im expecting early results in about 6 months, with continued monitoring up to a year. 

You didn't mention it, so I'm wondering.

Will you have approximately equal airflow in all four buckets?

I'll be patiently awaiting updates and results.

[Will Billy]

23 minutes ago, Frank said:

Will you have approximately equal airflow in all four buckets?

Yes, to clarify, since the box filters and sponge filter rely on an air pump to engage the filtration, the fourth bucket or control bucket will have a simple airstone (Ziss brand never clog airstone as i have extra of these and will be using one with the sponge filter). This is to ensure that all parameters in all 4 buckets are equal. I will primarily be testing nitrate levels as i proceed with the experiment, but will be testing other parameters as well to conclude if other parameters are affected by the filtration, thus skewing the experiment in favor of filtered water, to non filtered water. PH, GH, and KH i am presuming would affect the outcome of the experiment. Water temperature is also a key issue that will be maintained with heaters as water temperature can increase or decrease bacterial metabolism. All 4 buckets will have identical heaters and thermometers to maintain precise temperatures for metabolic consistency. 

[Will Billy]

I think i finally landed on the box filter optimization i am gonna go with. I took out the second set of sponges and went with more pumice. Pictured below it is 3/4 full of pumice. Also in my research on anoxic and anaerobic bacteria it seems they need carbon to metabolize nitrate. Other experiments ive researched showed a 40-60% improvement in metabolism when activated carbon was introduced. So i have seeded my biomedia with activated carbon pellets. Initially there will be some chemical filtration until the activated carbon becomes saturated. I am not planing on removing the activated carbon at that point as it is only there for purposes of assisting the anoxic, and anaerobic bacteria. To conserve as much valuable space as possible i filled the center of the bio rings with the carbon pellets. That picture is included too. 

[Will Billy]

Just an update on box filters and some preliminary data to share. It has been 3 weeks since i started the experiment and have already discovered a few things. *Warning* this is a long post, feel free to grab a snack and a beverage before reading on. 

first off i sorta reverted back to the original setup with sponge media in the middle of the double stack box filter due to water flow issues. Only having sponge and pollyfill on top most layer produced an unexpected result of water only sucking through the bottom holes and pushing water out the top vents. By reintroducing sponge media into the mid section it balanced the water flow again to suck from the top and bottom of the box filter and force water through the lift tube only. As a consequence this reduced the volume of Seachem De*Nitrate i could use in the box filter. I felt that water flow was important to achieve the recommended 20gph flow for adequate denitrification by anaerobic bacteria. 

I set up the experiment as mentioned above in 5 gallon buckets of high nitrate tank water all from my 55 gallon community tank. I expected preliminary results to take a while fore the anaerobic bacteria to colonize, however i must have some good dirty water because results started showing up within the first week. I also started a secondary experiment with said 55 gallon tank in which i used 2 more box filters with De*Nitrate and i optimized 2 Aqueon quiet flow 20 HOB filters by stuffing 2 mesh bags of De*Nitrate in each for 4 mesh bags total. 
 

Early results showed in both the 5 gallon buckets and the 55 gallon tank that Seachem De*Nitrate with out a doubt does in fact work. The 55 gallon tank showing far better results than the 5 gallon buckets. Keeping in mind the 5 gallon buckets have a stagnated volume of nitrates in them while the 55 gallon tank has an ever increasing supply of nitrates. I presume that the reason for the 55 gallon tank showing an ever increasing nitrate reduction is two fold. For #1 the volume size of De*Nitrate used, goes back to the efficiency of the box filter. I can stuff 4X the volume of De*Nitrate into 1 HOB compared to 1 box filter. For #2 the reason for the experiment in the first place was to assist plants in nitrate removal, and the 55 gallon tank is a planted tank. This is quite telling about Seachem’s product because since introducing it to the 55 gallon tank my nitrate levels have never been better. However the poor 5 gallon buckets are showing minimal results at best, even with a smaller volume of water than the tank itself. 
 

Although i am not done with the experiment by any means, initial results are showing that the box filter is a limited denitrifying filter do to volume size of container. 
 

on a side note, the obvious advantages and disadvantages of a box filter when compared to a sponge filter are, the sponge filter is far easier to clean, maintain, and hide the yucky stuff better, while providing surface area for cleaning crews to nibble on, and pound for pound are an aerobic bacteria bio filter powerhouse. The box filter on the other hand is not quite as robust as the sponge filter in terms of bio filtration, but with fully customizable compartments can add better mechanical filtration with pollyfill, and so far a minimal amount of anaerobic bio filtration. Lastly i will confirm that regardless the brand of box filter you choose the consensus that they are all made out of cheap brittle plastic is true. If you do venture to get one, do handle with care. Other reviews of similar products do state that they become even more brittle overtime. I imagine this to be also true as the plastic should like everything else degrade overtime, i have yet to experience this future aspect, that im sure i will, yet another plus for the much sturdier sponge filter. 

[Schwack]

1 hour ago, Will Billy said:

Lastly i will confirm that regardless the brand of box filter you choose the consensus that they are all made out of cheap brittle plastic is true. If you do venture to get one, do handle with care. Other reviews of similar products do state that they become even more brittle overtime. I imagine this to be also true as the plastic should like everything else degrade overtime, i have yet to experience this future aspect, that im sure i will, yet another plus for the much sturdier sponge filter. 

Boy, you aren't kidding about this. I bought a box filter online because I wanted to tinker with them. I was gifted one from the 70's, which still works, and was sort of intrigued by the idea. The modern version is... cheap. It really makes me appreciate the Coop's sponge filters, which obviously had some thought put into their design outside, "make it as cheaply as possible." Getting the stupid thing just to sit on the bottom was a chore, in spite of loading it with substrate and plant weights. I like their performance, especially when it comes to filtering the finest particles, but their build quality is so poor that I don't see myself buying another. Even mating an Aquarium Coop sponge filter base to a cheap box filter would make a difference to me.

Aquarium Coop box filter when?

[grayabyss]

Kinda related to this topic, since its about box filters: People have mentioned modern ones being really cheaply built, as well as a bit ugly. I’m thinking about buying a box filter, and idk if I can mention the brand name here? But they’re making it out of black food grade polypropylene, and I wanna know yalls takes on it.