DIY Powerfilter

[swiss1939]

I came across the concept of a power filter after reading about the DSR method on here. Couldn't find much about it other than the very basic and minimal thread of the dsr reefing nl forum, so i figured I'd post my version of a power filter that i put together here for others.

Glenn f suggests a 1000l/h minimum pump for up to 200l tanks. I had a spare new 700l/h pump sitting around that i never used for a salt mixing station idea i had, and decided to use that to build a power filter to combat my first cloudy water experience, a Phyto bloom from dosing too much Phyto and my skimmer not removing it.

Materials used:

Syncra silent 0.5 pump
1/2" threaded x3/4" pvc adapter
3/4" schedule 40 pvc pipe from home Depot
3/4" pvc end cap
Sheet of double layer generic aquarium filter media.
Leftover mesh from red sea diy mesh tank cover
Some rubber bands to hold it all together

Process:
Removed the flow knob from the center of the return pump and installed the 1/2" threaded pvc adapter to the intake of the return pump. Cut 8" piece of 3/4" pvc tube to act as the filter barrel. Drilled a ton of holes in the barrel for "rifling", making sure to clean up all edges and remove stray hangnails. Assembled barrel with end cap onto the adapter mounted to the pump. Cut some aquarium filter media to length for the barrel, 8", then wrapped it tightly around the barrel 3 times. Covered with red sea mesh cut to size and held on with a couple rubber bands.

Installed it my display tank and within 24 hrs my Phyto bloom was 90% cleared up. By 48 hrs my dt water was crystal clear!

In the future, i plan on shortening the barrel to about 4-5" as it takes up a bit of space in dt and i feel the barrel is too long for the strength of the pump. Shorter barrel means less intake space or stronger flow through less filter media, which will make the filter more effective. Also plan on using 50 micron filter media in the future as it will help polish the water better and faster.

 

[Kjeldh]

Can the Powerfilter run in the sumps output section and not in the DT? Will the results be the same as running it in the DT?

 

[User1]

Can the Powerfilter run in the sumps output section and not in the DT? Will the results be the same as running it in the DT?

More or less yes. If you look at the DSR portal, FAQ, etc I believe he runs both. Some are inside his tank others in the sump. It would work more or less the same way. Pull in water, filter, output water.

 

[User1]

I came across the concept of a power filter after reading about the DSR method on here. Couldn't find much about it other than the very basic and minimal thread of the dsr reefing nl forum, so i figured I'd post my version of a power filter that i put together here for others.

Glenn f suggests a 1000l/h minimum pump for up to 200l tanks. I had a spare new 700l/h pump sitting around that i never used for a salt mixing station idea i had, and decided to use that to build a power filter to combat my first cloudy water experience, a Phyto bloom from dosing too much Phyto and my skimmer not removing it.

Materials used:

Syncra silent 0.5 pump
1/2" threaded x3/4" pvc adapter
3/4" schedule 40 pvc pipe from home Depot
3/4" pvc end cap
Sheet of double layer generic aquarium filter media.
Leftover mesh from red sea diy mesh tank cover
Some rubber bands to hold it all together

Process:
Removed the flow knob from the center of the return pump and installed the 1/2" threaded pvc adapter to the intake of the return pump. Cut 8" piece of 3/4" pvc tube to act as the filter barrel. Drilled a ton of holes in the barrel for "rifling", making sure to clean up all edges and remove stray hangnails. Assembled barrel with end cap onto the adapter mounted to the pump. Cut some aquarium filter media to length for the barrel, 8", then wrapped it tightly around the barrel 3 times. Covered with red sea mesh cut to size and held on with a couple rubber bands.

Installed it my display tank and within 24 hrs my Phyto bloom was 90% cleared up. By 48 hrs my dt water was crystal clear!

In the future, i plan on shortening the barrel to about 4-5" as it takes up a bit of space in dt and i feel the barrel is too long for the strength of the pump. Shorter barrel means less intake space or stronger flow through less filter media, which will make the filter more effective. Also plan on using 50 micron filter media in the future as it will help polish the water better and faster.

Looks pretty solid - good job!

 

[swiss1939]

More or less yes. If you look at the DSR portal, FAQ, etc I believe he runs both. Some are inside his tank others in the sump. It would work more or less the same way. Pull in water, filter, output water.

I've thought about also doing it with my return pump in the sump, but I'm hesitant to do this in the sump as my return pump is sized for the minimum needed for the reefer 170 and I think if I introduce a barrel/filter it might affect the ability of the pump to overflow balance and lead to the overflow always being at the emergency overflow. I'm running a syncra silent 2.0 in the sump which is 568gph (2150lph) and the reefer 170 needs 530gph (2100 lph). I could try it out but I have enough trouble as it is with the reefer 170 keeping the overflow from either rising too high or dropping too low.

 

[swiss1939]

Can the Powerfilter run in the sumps output section and not in the DT? Will the results be the same as running it in the DT?

as @saf1 said, @glennf uses two, in sump and in DT. I did it in the DT because my phyto bloom seemed to be isolated to the DT as nothing was getting removed from my skimmer. Guessing the phyto was suspended in the DT and staying there as the lighting is in there.

I have enough pvc and an extra adapter to also try it in the sump on return pump, but as mentioned above, I'm afraid this might introduce flow issues with already finicky reefer 170 overflow.

 

[glennf]

Nicely shared..

Just a usefull addition to this topic.

#DSRpowerfilter
Over the years, various types of mechanical filtering have been tested:
filterwool in the sump
filterwool in a separate compartments filterwool wrapped on flow pumps
sponge/filterwool combinations from coarse to fine compartments
filterbags with or without filterwool.
automated fleece filters. Everything has been removed and the basic powerfilter still works best.
A strong pump with a perforated spool and 3 layers of cotton wool, you do not need more.
Mounting the PF in the display is more efficient, but placing is in the sump will do just fine for most cases.
This is an essential part to get the most out of the DSR system. Deviations on this part will also produce deviating results.

 

[swiss1939]

An update to this diy power filter... I noticed once i added my hammer that this return pump was blasting this side of the tank with constant boring and strong flow because my tank is a smaller reefer 170 with only 20" deep back to front. So i ordered and just installed a random flow generator with threaded adapter to fit the return pump output. As soon as I did that, both my hammer and the clownfish seemed much happier with the flow!

So since the power filter is constant on at one strength, i suggest adding a random flow generator to help break up the monotony of the power filter output, especially in smaller nano tanks!

 

[glennf]

An update to this diy power filter... I noticed once i added my hammer that this return pump was blasting this side of the tank with constant boring and strong flow because my tank is a smaller reefer 170 with only 20" deep back to front. So i ordered and just installed a random flow generator with threaded adapter to fit the return pump output. As soon as I did that, both my hammer and the clownfish seemed much happier with the flow!

So since the power filter is constant on at one strength, i suggest adding a random flow generator to help break up the monotony of the power filter output, especially in smaller nano tanks!

Very Nice
Where do you get those?

Are they also available for higher capacity pumps i.e. 2000-3000l/h

 

[swiss1939]

Very Nice
Where do you get those?

Are they also available for higher capacity pumps i.e. 2000-3000l/h

Yes they do have them available for higher capacity pumps. They also suggest using two lower capacity random flow generators with a Y splitter to break up a higher capacity pump into even more chaotic flow while still matching the output of your pump.

I have two on a Y splitter on my overflow return output from sump because they are rated for 450gph each and my sump return pump is rated for 714 gph. I only used one on my power filter as its much less flow and I didn't want to add that much more objects to my tank and take up more space. My power filter pump is rated for 750lph and the random flow generator sized for that pump's output thread diameter is suggested best used for 400-500lph flow. But given the added restriction of the filter media, I assume my power filter pump is actually pulling closer to 400-500lph instead of the ideal max 750lph, so this single random flow generator is perfectly sized for my power filter!

My return with two on splitter:

Metric Random Flow Generator Nozzles | Vivid Creative Aquatics

vividcreativeaquatics.com

 

[swiss1939]

for my power filter, I needed the 1/2" RFG:

1/2in Random Flow Generator – RFG050 (Single) | Vivid Creative Aquatics

vividcreativeaquatics.com

and the 1/2" NPT loc-line adapter:

Loc-Line – NPT Connector – 1/2in Modular Hose Adapter | Vivid Creative Aquatics

vividcreativeaquatics.com

 

[swiss1939]

 

[swiss1939]

I've done some tests on various filtering media for the power filter to try to find something that polishes the water and doesn't create micro-bubbles in less than 3 days. I tested 3 different types of media in various combinations with each other to see what works best. First one I tried was a dual density commercially available filter pad with a fine mesh pad on one side and a thicker looser poly fill on the other side. Tried both ways out and this media would start spewing micro bubbles early on in day 3 and needed to be changed no later than 4th day. This media was not cost effective.



Second media I tried was another commercially available 50 micron filter pad which was essentially just the fine matte layer of the previous product without the poly fill layer. It was cheaper and more qty, so I was able to cut it up into strips and use it in varying amount of wraps around the power filter tube. I cut this whole pack into 12" strips and first tried one strip wrapped around the tube which made about 3 layers. This barely lasted one day before constant micro bubbles. Day 2 it was absolutely necessary to replace due to the amount of micro-bubbles. So then I tried two strips of it wrapped around the tube. As expected, 2 days before needing to be replaced. To get 3 days would require 3 strips, which then made this media also not cost effective because it would use too much before wiping out the cost savings.



So then I went to Michael's and bought a couple bags of poly fill stuffing and tried a handful of this raw polyfill with one of the previous material's strips around the top.. to act as a DIY version of the original commercial media I used. This lasted about 2 days before constant micro bubbles and was not cost effective anymore. Then I tried the raw poly fill by itself with about 2 handfuls that I could wrap around the tube enough to make sure there were no gaps and used some spare screen top screen material as a top layer to hold it all to the tube with rubber bands. This seems to be the best option as it only just barely starts to spew micro-bubbles about the end of the 3rd full day, and needs replacing by the morning of the 4th day. This bag of poly fill is also the most economical as it costs around $6 (michaels constantly has sales which will bring this price down a buck or two every time) and I am hoping I can get 1-2 months usage out of a single bag.

Michael's Poly Fill

I am left wondering if the poly fill doesn't create micro bubbles as quickly because it is not as fine filtering media? possibly the equivalent to 100micron pad? Or if it just doesn't create micro bubbles as easily because it doesn't allow the bacteria buildup to cavitate the water as easily because its more roughly textured. Finally, I have noticed that the power filter acts as a pod hotel for amphipods and copepods.. so it is a really nice automatic pod feeder when I swap the filter every 3 days, I just hold the removed filter on the tube in front of a power head to blow off all the pods that have taken up residence on it over the past 3 days. This ends up causing a feeding frenzy with the fish as the water is full of pods being blown off the filter pad!

 

[dank reefer]

An update to this diy power filter... I noticed once i added my hammer that this return pump was blasting this side of the tank with constant boring and strong flow because my tank is a smaller reefer 170 with only 20" deep back to front. So i ordered and just installed a random flow generator with threaded adapter to fit the return pump output. As soon as I did that, both my hammer and the clownfish seemed much happier with the flow!

So since the power filter is constant on at one strength, i suggest adding a random flow generator to help break up the monotony of the power filter output, especially in smaller nano tanks!

I modded a .5 as well, but I see that you were able to thread the pipe to the pump housing and wanted to know how you were able to do that?

 

[biecacka]

Also interested in how that was done? Did you just take the front faceplate off and screw the fitting in?

corey

 

[4davegill]

thats a pretty cool method. I suppose anything that forces the water through the filter could be deemed a power filter? I am thinking about DSR method, and know nearly nothing about power filters.