Habitat - Indoor :: DIY Filtration "Layering"

[Jeremiah]

Hi, Everybody,

I'm in the process of setting up my winter stock tank. I have a large, sturdy bucket and a 1,000 gph pump that I'm hoping to convert to a nice DIY filter that I can use both indoors this winter, and outdoors next spring (my summer filter isn't performing as well as I thought).

Anyway, after taking a look at several takes on DIY filters, I feel that I'm ready--I have lots of prefilter material, and am planning to pick up some aquarium sponge for the mechanical filtration, and some lava rock for the biological component. I'm not too concerned about chemical filtration (maybe some filter floss).

My main question, however, is about HOW to arrange the filter media. I know about the order (dirty water to mechanical to biological to tank), but how should I separate the layers of media (if at all)? Should I use egg crate "shelves" within the bucket, or do I let the layers "touch" in a stratified pile, of sorts?

Thanks!

[steve]

I don't think you need to physically separate the layers but it will make maintenance and organization much more easier. Egg crate and media bags would only help.

[Jeremiah]

Thanks, Steve! At the moment, my "blueprints" have the coarse sponge (or, according to a video I saw, floor scrubbing pads work just as well) above a layer of rock, which is then above the filter floss. The water would flow in that order.
However, I saw a YouTube filter tutorial, in which the mechanical and biological filter components were kept in separate (although connected) containers. Would this approach be any better than my current setup?

[VeipaCray]

You always want the water to pass the media in this order: 1. Mechanical 2. Chemical 3. Biological.

If you have more than one type of mechanical media, have the water pass through the coarse first then through fine media.

Biological media is nothing more than inert very porous media providing surface area for nitrifying bacteria to colonize and populate. If we put it last in the chain then in theory the other media will remove as much crud as possible before water passes over the bio media. This SHOULD keep the bio media as clean as possible therefore keeping the pores from clogging and reducing surface area.

You will find that filter floss is great for polishing water because it's so fine but to use it as an every day filter media it clogs too fast.

Separate containers although not required are nice for filter maintenance and cleaning the media. You could use large media bags (I use a $1 large mesh laundry bag in one of my setups) to separate the media layers for ease of cleaning.

For a turtle setup I would suggest coarse sponge (floor scrubbing pads are essentially the same thing and work well), A bag of carbon, and bio media. Ceramic rings are the most efficient type of bio media. Aquatraders.com has cheap media as does ebay. Some use lava rock but it's not nearly as efficient as the ceramic media.

[Jeremiah]

Thanks for the great information, VeipaCray! Do you know a way to find and/or approximate the gallon "rating", from the flow rate? I just realized that my 1,085 gph pump doesn't have any visible gallon rating, and all that Google has given me is the flow rate.

[talal]

How many gallons is your pond/tank ? you probably need gph to be 4 - 5 times. With your pump i believe you should be good for 250 max 300 gallons. It's good to use some chemical media as well. You can buy carbon really cheap, look for bulk lose carbon online. Something like Marineland 40 oz is going to last you couple of months and it costs only $20.

[talal]

One more thing I'd like to add is that your filteration is also going to depend on the number of turtles you have. Check out VeipaCray's filteration thread here viewtopic.php?f=9&t=30145 , it is based on cannister filters you can google their GPH and calculate what size pump would keep your water clean.

[VeipaCray]

I'd say you want to turn over whatever volume of water you have about 3-5 times per hour. With a higher turnover rate more water is passing through the filter media and in theory cleaner water. It ultimately comes down to measuring your water for ammonia and nitrites. Can your filter keep up with the turtle's bioload and keep the tank cycled? Can the filter keep the water clear and odor free? That filter thread linked in the post above should give you a rough idea of what's required for filtration.

Filtration is a tough thing to calculate because different filter designs have different efficiency. There's flow rate combined with the volume of filter media combined with how much media combined with how much waste your turtle(s) produce. It's not an exact science. Let us know what you do / try and how it worked for you so others can learn.

[Jeremiah]

I apologize for having brought up this old discussion, but I have a slight concern. I've been using coarse aquarium sponges, but they haven't done as good a job as I thought they would--so I'm going to buy some floor-scrubbing pads at Home Depot, instead. However, since they are cleaning products, does anybody here know if the pads are made and/or saturated with soap or similar detergents? I would really hate to learn that the hard way...

[steve]

I've seen a lot of people using those pads. I'm very iffy on those, only because I don't trust certain cheap dollar store products. I'd look for generic/bulk filter media that fits your needs.

[Jeremiah]

Thanks, Steve! I wouldn't consider the pads as "cheap" (over twenty dollars per pack), but I haven't bought them yet, so I suppose I'll stick with my regular filter pads until I can find better ones.