55 gallon barrel filter DIY

[koidaddy]

Just wanted to share my filter build. This has worked better then my stock tank filter for getting my water clean.
These pics are the starting steps.
Cut top with a jig saw.
Drill holes with a hole saw slightly smaller then the fitting and open slightly with a grinding bit for my drill. I used no sealer on this other then epdm gaskets I made for the inside. Fittings are threaded into the barrel. No leaks!

 

[koidaddy]

More pics.

1st one is the filter set up
Next two are from March
4th and 5th ones are from yesterday.

Filter has been going for about a month.

 

[koidaddy]

I cant seem to find my pics of the inside of the barrels. Pretty basic with what has been done with these so far here. I have visability to the bottom(4foot) which I have never had to date. Well maybe when I first filled with water.

 

[koidaddy]

You can see how I am using my skippy style filter at the moment.

 

[koikeepr]

Nice job koidaddy! But your fitlration can use an important upgrade, which you can still do. If you are plumbing several barrels togethers, it is better to plumb them in parallel versus one into the other the way you have done.

There are many benefits to doing this:

1) one barrel can't overflow another
2) all the barrels fill up together at once
3) you can shut down one barrel to service it (by closing a ball valve) while keeping the others going (and not have to shut down the whole system)
4) if you ever have an emergency issue with one barrel, the ball valves will re-route water to the other filter. Bacteria can die in a matter of hours, and this would preserve those yummy buggers from not dying fully and staying alive in the secondary barrel.

Here's a schematic of how you would plumb it in that manner:

On the back end, you'd hook it all back together and have it come out your waterfall or however you choose to exit water. Really simple and gives you insurance in a lot of ways.

Also, the reason why you feel your stock tank does not serve you as well as the barrels, is because of the manner you are using it in filtration--which is as a mini bog type thing. If you plumbed your stock tank as you've plumbed your barrels and put in proper media like strapping, you will find it would be just as good as your barrel. I'll be talking photos of the plumbing of my stock tank today. I'll post 'em shortly.

 

[koidaddy]

Thanks for the tip koikeepr. My stock tub was set up just like the skippy filter. I took the media(white 2" scrubbie type material) and the egg crate dividers and cut to fit the first barrel. It has about 5 layers stacked for mechanical filtration. That feeds into the second barrel and upflows through bird netting/old cast nets/1/2"pvc nubs/3"net pots for boi filter. The stock tub is just holding the lillies right now untill they get thier own 1000 gallon pond which will also hold my fantail/fancy goldfish. I will then set the stock tub up again as a filter and add a water fall weir to feed into the top of the system and eventually lead to the big pond. I think my issue with the stock tub was flow by on the filter material. Its amazing how much the new setup is filtering out the crud.

Are your barrels mech and bio in each one? I like the idea of not having all my eggs in one basket with multiple units. That is why I currently run 3 pumps and will probably add 2 more for the next build.

Thanks again, any info is welcome. I have learned a great deal here already.

 

[koikeepr]

Mornin' Koidaddy.

In my scenario, you would not need multiple pumps and just one to support the system. That would save money, and you could keep another pump as a backup in case you have an issue with the one that is in use. Are you saying you plan to run 5 pumps in your new system? That is certainly a lot of pumps and a lot of power consumption, plus the cost of all the pumps. If I were you, I'd just get one solid external pump like a Sequence 750 with enough oomph to run th whole shebang. Why would you want 3 or 4 or 5 pumps running? I can see two max on a pond like your. My new build is 5000g's and it will only have 1 pump (7,200 gph) that will use a total of 204 watts.

If you are going to use then in tandem, I would make each of them bio/mech filters so you have a fully repetitive system.

Personally, I don't like bird netting as a filter media as it doesn't have enough surface area for bacteria to hang onto. It's basically just a bunch of teensy plastic threads strung together. You're better of with 1/2" poly strapping, which at least has some surface to hang onto. But, of course, everyone should use the media they are most happy with.

 

[koidaddy]

I am going to get some of the straping from ebay soon. I am amazed at the results so far, the netting was just what I had lying around.
On the pump you bring up some good points that have been considered. I will be making my pond larger, 7000+ gal., so I would need to get the 1000 sequence pump which turns about 9000 gallons. I have looked at the prices of those and they are not cheap. What do you think of that size?
The reason I have 3 right now is I started small with my pond(1000 gal.) and got crazy from there. Each upgrade was another $100-150 pump(pondmaster magdrives, 2-18, 1-24).

Also, are your barrels mech and bio in each one? Will you be using those along with your stock tub?
Thanks

 

[koikeepr]

PM DoDad for a good price on the Sequence 1000. He'll be able to get you a much better price than what you see advertised online. There's a minimum advertised price that dealers must adhere to, but they can offer you a better price privately.

I have a different filtration mechanism in place. I have invested in the Utra Sieve III, this sieve acts as my mechanical filtration because it fully removes crud from the water column entirely. In other words, the crap never hits the water like in a barrel where it sits at the bottom until you flush it out through the waste pipe. So, because of this, my stock tank will act solely as bio filtration.

Here is the sieve in action so you can see what I'm referring to:

[ame]

 

[drew05]

thx for this info. i will be doing a double barrel setup soon. i can't wait.

 

[nebriowa]

I am new to this forum and need a replacement sequence 750 filter asap. I don't have the minimum 10 posts so i cannot PM. I am hoping DoDad reads this. Thanks in advance

 

[hewhoisatpeace]

Just start a new thread in the DIY section.