DIY Diatom Filter for under $100.00

[Paul B]

Spyc, I have no idea what reddit is

 

[Axelrodi202]

Is there any visual color change to the diatom powder or the filter cartridge as the filter gets saturated? Or do you just have to go by flow rate changes?

 

[Paul B]

It gets dirty looking. Like grey. Also the flow rare keeps getting slower and it will stop all together if you keep it running. It's not something you should run to long.

 

[MickeyCT]

Paul - I'm finally getting around to this project and was thinking about some of the "stuff" I've got stashed around here. I have a BRS double canister set up that I used to use for carbon and GFO. I'm thinking about repurposing it for this project, maybe put a 5 micron filter in the first one then a 1 micron in the second and then skip the DE. What do you think? Hoses are half inch and I think that should be good.

 

[Axelrodi202]

Paul - I'm finally getting around to this project and was thinking about some of the "stuff" I've got stashed around here. I have a BRS double canister set up that I used to use for carbon and GFO. I'm thinking about repurposing it for this project, maybe put a 5 micron filter in the first one then a 1 micron in the second and then skip the DE. What do you think? Hoses are half inch and I think that should be good.

I ran a one micron sediment filter on my freshwater planted tank. In one week it went from stark white fresh to dark black saturated with dirty stuff. I've been running that same sediment filter for a week since installing the DE filter and it is still pretty white.

What you propose will work, but my guess is that the DE coating makes the filter last much longer, since the detritus gets caught in the large surface area of DE (which can then be washed out) rather than getting stuck in the filter material where it will remain.

 

[Paul B]

I have a BRS double canister set up that I used to use for carbon and GFO. I'm thinking about repurposing it for this

Mickey, I have no Idea what a BRS canister is but if the pump is strong enough, it should work fine. But I can't tell from here

 

[MickeyCT]

I ran a one micron sediment filter on my freshwater planted tank. In one week it went from stark white fresh to dark black saturated with dirty stuff. I've been running that same sediment filter for a week since installing the DE filter and it is still pretty white.

What you propose will work, but my guess is that the DE coating makes the filter last much longer, since the detritus gets caught in the large surface area of DE (which can then be washed out) rather than getting stuck in the filter material where it will remain.

Thanks for telling me of your experience. I guess I'll get a hold of some DE powder to try rather than going with just the filter.

Paul - here's a picture of the BRS reactor. It's just two canisters hooked together. One potential drawback I see is that it uses 1/2" fittings which might be too small, especially if I want to push or pull through two cartridges.

 

[Paul B]

I think that will work, but as you said the 1/2 inch hoses are a little small

 

[bblumberg]

You can buy canisters from many other manufacturers with 3/4" inlets and outlets. You can get 1" inlets and outlets with the "Big Blue" style of filter which is pricier.

 

[MickeyCT]

You can buy canisters from many other manufacturers with 3/4" inlets and outlets. You can get 1" inlets and outlets with the "Big Blue" style of filter which is pricier.

I appreciate your comments and I know this. I was just thinking about repurposing something I already have rather than buying more stuff. Over the years I've accumulated quite a lot of "stuff" that is just sitting around and thought this might be a good opportunity to put some of it back into use rather than collecting dust. But I don't think it's going to work after all. I'll be going to the 3/4" outlet.

 

[bblumberg]

I know exactly what you mean about repurposing vs buying something new. I have many boxes full of good quality aquarium equipment that I don't need but don't want to get rid of either.

 

[MickeyCT]

So, what's the easiest way to backwash this? I was thinking about just attaching another pump (I seem to have lots of small pumps laying around ) to the "outlet" hose and let the water just run through backwards with the new "outlet" on the opposite side of the canister from the pump going to a sink drain. I thought about quick disconnects to swap the inlet and outlet on the pump used for this but those get expensive. Anyone have a better idea?

 

[Imrahilwjz]

After reading your book I was thinking about doing something like this. O f course, you beat me to it.

 

[Paul B]

Mickey you just connect the outflow of the pump to a sink. I have a screw in "adapter" that I screw into my sick and run water through the filter backwards.

 

[Axelrodi202]

@Paul B a couple of questions

1. Can the same filter cartridge be re-used after backwashing?
2. Given the same filter cartridge and diatom amount, is there any advantage to using a higher powered pump and greater flow rate?

 

[Paul B]

Yes, you can use the same cartridge forever.

I don't think a higher powered pump would help much. The powder will clog pretty soon no matter what you do and thats what we want it to do. Only so much water can flow through the thing anyway.

 

[MickeyCT]

What size filter are you finding most advantageous? I used a 5 micron without DE powder to pull out dinos and it clogged pretty quickly. Filter is now pretty dirty even after rinsing so I'm out to buy pool grade DE powder. Not sure if I should use a 10 or 20 micron filter with the powder or stick with the 5.

 

[Paul B]

Mickey, if you used the 5 micron cartridge with no powder now you need to run a little "regular" bleach through the unit as it is clogged all the way through and powder won't do much. Just put a little bleach in the thing, maybe half or quarter cup, connect the input hoses and the output hoses together with a smaller tube that fits in your tubes and run it for 10 minutes, Then run it in fresh water or let tap water run through it in reverse to clear the bleach

Or just run it in another small container like a tupperwear thing with bleach for 10 or 15 minutes. (don't spill the bleach on your good clothes)

If you use it without powder it is harder to clean. I would use 5 microns with or without the powder.

Using the powder you never have to bleach it because all the dirt will be in the powder and you just backflush it in a sink "while shaking it" a little until all the powder comes out.

 

[MickeyCT]

I'll give that a try. I'm finding my tubing isn't as flexible as I'd like so makes it hard sometimes to manipulate them around so I'm also looking for more flexible tubing that stays flexible.