JohnHuff
I know nothing.
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2012
- Messages
- 2,257
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- At my computer
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After me and my son started working on the mini-bakki shower I realized that most of the DIY filter types are easy enough to be made by young children once the design is worked out. So one day when we were going to trash our broken shredder I realized that the bottom comes off and can be recycled to be remade as a mini-Skippy filter.
We went to the hardware store and bought some supplies. The innards of the filter were easily made, just cutting PVC pipe to fit and added the elbows and tee. (All labor supplied by said son.) The outlet was a bulkhead fitting with a drainage pipe stuck to it. I didn't bother with a grate or a drain as the media can be pulled out easily and the skippy emptied by turning it upside down. (Oops! I just realized the elbows are facing the wrong way in the picture.)
Media was this furnace filter, about $5 including tax for 20" x 25". I've found that media does not come cheap. A large sponge costs about $5, and even a Costco multipack of Scotch sponges cost $13. This is about the cheapest I could find. I used 25" x 16" of it, giving the media a surface area of 400 sq. inches. I think it's the best media because the density is just about right and the filter does not contain any cleaning agents or surfactants that sponges might have a trace of.
We decided not cut it into small pieces (it was too hard to cut it all up for small hands) but to cut it into long strips and fold it into the filter. I've always thought of the Skippy filter as an algae veggie filter anyway and this design will give the maximum surface area exposure for the algae. It will also be easy to clean as the whole media include the PVC pipes can be lifted up and the box emptied.
Here are some of the tools used and the left overs. The build time was only 2 hours and was quite educational for said progeny including how and why these filters work, safety rules and rules such as measure twice, cut once, I've noticed that he's more proficient with the drill and watching him use the baby hacksaw was quite priceless. (We pretended to have only 3-4 fingers - because that's what happens to people who don't pay attention when they're sawing.) The total cost was only about $10 since the filter box itself was free and the other materials were quite cheap. We used the 3/4" fittings.
Here's the mini-Skippy filter at work, installed next morning. It's just a temporary fitting for now as I don't even have a pump for it, it just uses a small drainage pump I have. The volume of the filter is 1.78 gallons which gives filter capacity for a 50 gallon pond. Easy to make and a fun project for budding ponders.
We went to the hardware store and bought some supplies. The innards of the filter were easily made, just cutting PVC pipe to fit and added the elbows and tee. (All labor supplied by said son.) The outlet was a bulkhead fitting with a drainage pipe stuck to it. I didn't bother with a grate or a drain as the media can be pulled out easily and the skippy emptied by turning it upside down. (Oops! I just realized the elbows are facing the wrong way in the picture.)
Media was this furnace filter, about $5 including tax for 20" x 25". I've found that media does not come cheap. A large sponge costs about $5, and even a Costco multipack of Scotch sponges cost $13. This is about the cheapest I could find. I used 25" x 16" of it, giving the media a surface area of 400 sq. inches. I think it's the best media because the density is just about right and the filter does not contain any cleaning agents or surfactants that sponges might have a trace of.
We decided not cut it into small pieces (it was too hard to cut it all up for small hands) but to cut it into long strips and fold it into the filter. I've always thought of the Skippy filter as an algae veggie filter anyway and this design will give the maximum surface area exposure for the algae. It will also be easy to clean as the whole media include the PVC pipes can be lifted up and the box emptied.
Here are some of the tools used and the left overs. The build time was only 2 hours and was quite educational for said progeny including how and why these filters work, safety rules and rules such as measure twice, cut once, I've noticed that he's more proficient with the drill and watching him use the baby hacksaw was quite priceless. (We pretended to have only 3-4 fingers - because that's what happens to people who don't pay attention when they're sawing.) The total cost was only about $10 since the filter box itself was free and the other materials were quite cheap. We used the 3/4" fittings.
Here's the mini-Skippy filter at work, installed next morning. It's just a temporary fitting for now as I don't even have a pump for it, it just uses a small drainage pump I have. The volume of the filter is 1.78 gallons which gives filter capacity for a 50 gallon pond. Easy to make and a fun project for budding ponders.
