hi everybody Joey here again and welcome back so in today's video we'll be
finishing up the extra large canister filter we started in a previous video
now if you're not familiar with that build I suggest checking out the
original video first
but the summit up we used a 6 gallon bucket as the canister for the lid we
used a removable and waterproof twist top lid called a gamma seal
we also used a pair of uni seals as our way of getting plumbing into the
canister on the inside we use some lighting diffuser propped up by some PVC
pipe
this would make sure that no media was sucked out or block the bottom you Neil
all of this was explained in greater detail in the original video again I
suggest watching that first as is this entire portion costs about twenty-five
dollars so far
now let's move on to finishing up this built
given the fact there are so many materials and ways to create an input
and output
what I really want to focus on is some of the basics
what you need to consider and some advice to ensure your canister filter
works
first and foremost large canisters like this function best when the pump is
sucking water from the cannister and returning it to the tank and not by
pumping water into it
in fact most canisters are set up this way if we pump water into the canister
this creates a lot of pressure which is something we want to avoid as it puts
too much stress on all of the seals to do this we want to attach a pump to the
bottom of the cannister so that water is being sucked out and pump back up to the
aquarium
both the input and output use a couple of the same component a ball valve and a
union the ball valve will allow us to cut the water flow after we shut the
pump off while the union will allow us to disconnect everything from the
cannister so we can actually clean it when the time comes
the ball valve will also allow us to control the flow if we need to
now these are optional but will certainly make it much easier to
maintain the canister
since we're using uni seals you simply slide your PVC right into them they will
form their own seal and be watertight at the base of the bucket you'll have your
ball valve and then your unit
this means that when you shut the pump off you can close the ball valve and
remove the pump by twisting off the union since the ball valve is closed
the water will remain in the bucket for the top of the bucket which will be your
input
you want to add them in the opposite order this means that when you close the
ball valve you are cutting water off from flowing from the tank
the union will allow you to still disconnect the entire canister though
so at this point we have the most important parts done
from here we can attach the pump however we like and create inputs and outputs
however we want for the sake of this video though i'm going to quickly put
together something to show you what in action for a pump I went with aji cod
dct pump
i would recommend the 4000 for this size canister or anything that flows a
thousand gallons per hour
I like them because they're cheap and they come with a controller to
manipulate the flow plus i found them to be a pretty good pump but I've only been
using them for about a year so don't hold me to that a 4000 cost about an
average of seventy dollars which is really good
this is an internal or external pump so i was able to attach the mold rubber
hose
I had to the PVC pipe and then to the pump
I would have used some clamps on the hoses has been a permanent situation
however this is only a demonstration
I then attach the more PVC pipe that led to the tank followed by connecting a few
90 degree elbows to get it to hook up on top of the tank
everything was cemented besides what actually went in the tank
this kept it moving ball so I could control the direction of the flow i must
add that had I've been putting this on one of my tanks I would have replaced
that length of PVC pipe with some barbed adapters and flexible hose
i also would have did it for both the input and output yet kept everything
else the same a hose would allow a lot more movement of the canister filters
like a place it wherever I want
again though this is just a demo
for the input I used more PVC pipe a couple elbows and an end cap which by
the way are all three quarter inch
I formed a you with two of the elbows which would go over the rim of the tank
and then drilled holes in the pipe to allow water flow
I focused on keeping them near the bottom of the pipe you want as many
holes you can get yet not be too big as to suck fish it
this was also meant it together besides the end cap the end cap just slides on
and off to allow cleaning of the pipe if i ever need to
now for the media i used a couple bags of lava rock that i got from a BBQ
section of a hardware store
both costing under fifteen dollars total now actually made a video in the past
outlining why this is a great biological media and i highly suggest you watch
that because I talk about other do-it-yourself media's as well I then
topped this lab Arak off with some cheap polyester filling to act as my
mechanical media now to ensure the lid would seal correctly and not leak I
lubricate the seal with Vaseline first then twisted it on the bucket and
attacks the pump to get this prime
you only have to suck on the output for a second until water starts to flow into
the canister
then you can turn the pump on this works like any other canister filter water is
sucked in from the input it then enters the bucket and is mechanically filtered
first to remove any debris from the water and this is done by the filter
floss that we added on top followed by flowing over the lab Iraq where it will
be biologically filtered and then return to the tank so just to cover some basics
you should clean the filter as needed and follow your typical canister filter
maintenance flow rate should max out around a thousand gallons per hour and
this will be good for tanks up to 250 gallons
now similar sized filters like the eheim 2262 have the same capacity for media
same flow rates yet are rated for tanks up to 400 gallons
i should also mention that the flu bell FX six is also rated for four hundred
gallon tanks
yet holds less than four times as much media
I guess what I'm getting at here is that these ratings for these filters and even
this bucket filtering four hundred gallon tanks is a bit of a stretch in my
opinion I think 200 250 gallons is a far more reasonable size
let me finish with this though I don't want to come across like I'm picking on
these filters
however not everyone has five hundred dollars to put towards a single canister
filter so this project is for those that need something a little more affordable
yet still get the benefits of the sheer size of an extra-large canister for a
total of a hundred twenty-five dollars for a complete canister filter of this
size
you really can't go wrong anyways hope that you guys enjoyed today's video i
also want to thank you for watching and if you join me next Sunday I'll have a
new do-it-yourself project