My Diy Sand Filter. I'm sick of filter socks!!!

[Devaji108]

you know I always wondered why we dont do this in the hobby?
so you took your protein skimmer off line? bold with that many fish.
are you gonna do an ATS or just your sand filter?

keep us posted

[Isayso]

Originally Posted by bif24701

I wonder if you could do the same thing through a large reactor that pushes down through the sand rather than up through it? And you simply reverse the flow to fllush it.

Like to fluidized filter sand
Please explain better

[bif24701]

Originally Posted by Isayso

Like to fluidized filter sand

Please explain better

Ok so everyone has seen a reactor, and media tumbling inside right? That's because the water is forced up through the media from under. What if you reversed the flow, and forced water through the sand from above. Then when flow became restricted you would simply reverse the flow and throw away the dirty water until it's clear again.

[Isayso]

Originally Posted by bif24701

Ok so everyone has seen a reactor, and media tumbling inside right? That's because the water is forced up through the media from under. What if you reversed the flow, and forced water through the sand from above. Then when flow became restricted you would simply reverse the flow and throw away the dirty water until it's clear again.

Practically that's what I doing. ,so but you want to do it in in close reactor chamber???
Hey I might work..

[bif24701]

Originally Posted by Isayso

Practically that's what I doing. ,so but you want to do it in in close reactor chamber???

Hey I might work..

Exactly, just on a much smaller scale. I don't have the water volume that you have nor predators. So a simple but large reactor and pump might get the job done.

[Isayso]

definitely,
looking at his video the sand filter box its not huge compared to the 500g plus the ray tank
the only obstacle I see is that been in a chamber the water needs to be forced in
like a calcium reactor,( otherwise as soon is clogged wont work ) but instead of recirculating its only in -out,
and when needed to back wash close a couple of valves and is done ....

[cabinetman123]

Originally Posted by theatrus

Looks great! Wish I went ahead and plumbed everything through to the garage, and had a larger tank

There's no way anyone is going to convince me now that this doesn't work.

[cabinetman123]

My buddy that I built a 500 gallon tank for Built one tooHere's a video showing some of his https://youtu.be/GRptylmta44

[karimwassef]

with sand filters, don't you have to backwash regularly to flush out the trapped material?

[cabinetman123]

Originally Posted by karimwassef

with sand filters, don't you have to backwash regularly to flush out the trapped material?

About every 4-5 days.

[cabinetman123]

Time for an update. Since setting this thing up I couldn't be more pleased. My water is always crystal clear and filter socks are a thing of the past and so is my skimmer. I've got a pile of cheato growing in my system but my nitrates are still high. Huge huge bioload and heavy feeding don't help. So I've been reading a lot about carbon dosing lately and someone said something I read that said you either need a real good skimmer or a diatom filter to remove the bacteria that grow from the carbon dosing. That got me thinking. Is the sand filter catching fine enough material that it will catch the bacteria. I know it catches super fine material. I've got a 150 gallon tank plumbed into my system and it shares a sump with my 350 display. I wanted to add some crushed coral to the 150 so I got a5 gallon bucket from someone..they said it should be cleaned but hey I'm lazy lol so I basically dumped the whole bucket full into the 150 in a matter of minutes. It was bad. The water was like milk. But guess what. The main tank stayed crystal clear and in an hour or so the 150 cleared right up to. So the sand filter caught that fine stuff that we all know about lol. I'm hoping if it caught that it should catch the bacteria from the bloom I'm going to get dosing carbon. If it don't I guess I'll have clowdy water???

[bif24701]

The bacteria will be caught by your sand filter but I'm not sure if rinsing the sand will do enough to remove it. Sure it can remove larger particles but bacteria stick to stuff really well. It also can cause your sand filter to slow down or clog much faster. Have you looked into using Marinepure 8x8x4" blocks? Many have with great results. I put mine in two weeks ago, so far so good!


Aaron

[cabinetman123]

Originally Posted by bif24701

The bacteria will be caught by your sand filter but I'm not sure if rinsing the sand will do enough to remove it. Sure it can remove larger particles but bacteria stick to stuff really well. It also can cause your sand filter to slow down or clog much faster. Have you looked into using Marinepure 8x8x4" blocks? Many have with great results. I put mine in two weeks ago, so far so good!


Aaron

What good would those blocks do? You have to be able to remove the bacteria that's why you need a good skimmer, or what I'm thinking a good filter that a person can flush out regularly. I only have to back flush ever 4-5 days now and even then I could go longer but it's so easy I don't mind. I just love watching all the nasty brown water going down the drain knowing its outa my system. Time will tell anyway. Doser is all set up and running so I'll know after a short time I'm sure.

[bif24701]

Use the blocks without the carbon dosing. They reduce nitrate, but it must be the block.


Aaron

[cabinetman123]

Originally Posted by bif24701

Use the blocks without the carbon dosing. They reduce nitrate, but it must be the block.


Aaron

Don't think they'd work for me man. I'm way over stocked. I need something way more aggressive.

[bif24701]

Then skimming is truly your best bet. The proteins/waste in the water are not filtered by physical means. You either need a good skimmer, Algae scrubber, Cheato, remote deep sand bed, or large frequent water changes. I think two of those blocks could work for you. Might take 6 weeks but it will start working.


Aaron

[moatdaddy]

very nice sir. beyond my skills, wanna make one at my place, free visit to the beach!

is it me or is this a more efficient skimmer. traps crap, flushes crap. removes crap. Repeat

I also have the block but not sure it would handle this.

[cabinetman123]

Originally Posted by moatdaddy

very nice sir. beyond my skills, wanna make one at my place, free visit to the beach!

is it me or is this a more efficient skimmer. traps crap, flushes crap. removes crap. Repeat

I also have the block but not sure it would handle this.

I'm just tapping into its potential. If this thing collects the organisms the feed on the carbon and N&P as good as I think it's going to it'll be even better than I ever could've expected. After thinking about this for a while it could have even more benifets over using a skimmer and carbon dosing. The way carbon dosing works is really quite simple. We feed organisms carbon but they also consume nitrates and phosphate and we export them usually via a skimmer. Thinking about it a skimmer will remove young as well as mature without discretion. My hope and intuition tells me the sand filter will allow the smaller baby organisms to pass thru but collect the larger more mature ones. If it does it could end up being more effective than a skimmer. And without the stink! Lol

[cabinetman123]

Here's a question. My nitrates are at about 30 right now. No skimmer running at all. Lots of cheato in my sump. Crazy big bioload. Feed tons. I set my doser up last night to dose 80 ml of viniger thruout the day. what would happen on a regular system doing that? What signs will I get that the sand filter is not effective?

[Isayso]

A few months ago I installed an ats. As soon the ats was mature and kicked in my phosphates and nitrates went down
They are not all the way down,
But I'm very happy where they stand
The whole tank is happy

Here Is a video watch In HD I You. Can

[VIDEO] http://youtu.be/lyXwmZF0yXg[/VIDEO]

[cabinetman123]

Originally Posted by Isayso

A few months ago I installed an ats. As soon the ats was mature and kicked in my phosphates and nitrates went down
They are not all the way down,
But I'm very happy where they stand
The whole tank is happy

Here Is a video watch In HD I You. Can

[VIDEO] http://youtu.be/lyXwmZF0yXg[/VIDEO]

Looks great but I got 10 times the bioload. I used to swear by ats but they are a pain. I'm lazy lol. Now I just grow cheato. Way easier. I'm collecting this much about once a month

[cabinetman123]

Originally Posted by Isayso

A few months ago I installed an ats. As soon the ats was mature and kicked in my phosphates and nitrates went down
They are not all the way down,
But I'm very happy where they stand
The whole tank is happy

Here Is a video watch In HD I You. Can

[VIDEO] http://youtu.be/lyXwmZF0yXg[/VIDEO]

If you wanna see bioload watch this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUBxLyjLAJg

[cabinetman123]

Originally Posted by cabinetman123

Here's a question. My nitrates are at about 30 right now. No skimmer running at all. Lots of cheato in my sump. Crazy big bioload. Feed tons. I set my doser up last night to dose 80 ml of viniger thruout the day. what would happen on a regular system doing that? What signs will I get that the sand filter is not effective?

Anybody?

[cabinetman123]

Oh ya. System has 500 gsllons

[bif24701]

Originally Posted by cabinetman123

Here's a question. My nitrates are at about 30 right now. No skimmer running at all. Lots of cheato in my sump. Crazy big bioload. Feed tons. I set my doser up last night to dose 80 ml of viniger thruout the day. what would happen on a regular system doing that? What signs will I get that the sand filter is not effective?

Nothing, 80 ml won't do much just get you started. Increase every 4 days by 50 ml until your nitrates begin to decrease when they are less than 5ppm then decrease to half and maintain. Make adjustments based on you nitrate levels.