My Bio FIlter Build

[jrladd]

I am building a bio filter in the style of many filters I have seen here.
I would like to thank all of you who have posted info about your filters, because without you I would not be building mine!

I figured I would post some pics of the process.

Thanks again!

Jon

 

[jrladd]

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[jrladd]

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[koiguy1969]

we are happy to be of service

 

[DrDave]

Don't glue your fittings for the input and swirler pipes. That way it is easy to make changes if you want.

 

[koiguy1969]

oh ,,,if you swap your upper elbow with a tee it will break the syphon should your pump ever quit for any reason ... saving your pond from a backflow of dirty bottom of the filter water and debris.

 

[jrladd]

Yeah, I haven't glued anything yet, and was only gonna glue things that needed to be watertight.

I am not planning on having my inlet be completely airtight. I am not sure the best way to set it up yet. I would like to get some oxygenation in the filter as well. I am thinking about running my rubber hose coming from my pump into the pvc inlet, but not far enough to be under the water level in the filter. Am I correct to think that as the water hits the surface, it will create bubbles, and pull the bubbles down to the bottom and out the swirler? It doesn't seem like this should work, but this video made me think otherwise.

[ame]

 

[DrDave]

Mine went from pea soup with less than 1" visibility, to clear in 48 hours when I built my Doc Bio Filter. I have not used air but it certainly wouldn't hurt to do so.

 

[koikeepr]

Air is good. I you can get lots of air in there, then you turn your barrel into a bit of a moving bed instead of being purely static. It's good for the bacteria!

 

[koiguy1969]

air is definately good...i aerate my ponds and filters. a couple air stones in a pond can eliminate dead spots in the circulation and are far less expensive to run than water pumps. and improves available oxygen for fish and bacteria . this is even more so in the filter where you want a healthy thriving bacterial colony.

 

[koikeepr]

Out of curiosity, why did you choose to plumb that center pipe from the very top like that with a 90 degree ell? Why didn't you just pop the hole on the lower portion of the barrel and have the water enter directly from down there (thus avoiding the 90 degree ell, too), and then outflow to that bigger hole at the top?

 

[DrDave]

One less opportunity for a leak.

 

[koikeepr]

I disagree. He's already got the hole there--it's just all the way up on top and not all the way on the bottom where the water is actually entering.

If it were me, I would now use that upper hole as an overflow/emergency exit, and still plumb the barrel from the lower part for my efficiency. No harm done to the barrel.

 

[DrCase]

He would need a check valve to keep all the muck from coming back into the pond every time the pump was turned off with a low inlet
I wouldn't take the chance

 

[koiguy1969]

exactly and if you use a tee instead of an elboe the syphon is broken there.. no backflushing filter mud back to the pond..and the check valve adds resistance. koikeepr has a pit for her filtration so it doesnt affect her system.