betta barracks filter system?

[Bettarazzi]

The outflow hole is near the top of the box. Wherever that hole is will determine the water level in the box regardless of whether you have a power outage or not. When the system is running the water level is only a couple of mm above the hole.

[Justin88]

so you have 2 holes at the top of your tank?

[Bettarazzi]

Yes currently I don't have the baffle but I have 2 holes on opposite sides because the fish block the holes off. This isn't an issue if I had the baffle because the fish can't lean against the hole.

[Ghengis]

Yeah, Mike, I reckon there would be little chance of the poop making it up that height, let alone actually going where you need it to (thru the holes)...

A possible fix, though, would be to reduce the gap between the rearmost barrier and the foremost. If you could get it down to maybe 2mm, this would

create a venturi effect, speeding up the water flow sufficiently to suck the poop up to where you want it to go. This is the tappet-head in me speaking

out, sorry. Narrower gap = higher air (or in this case water) speed and greater vacuum.

In my planning to rebuild my barracks, I will use Divy's idea of water piped into the tank at the top, but I will have a series of vertical slots at the bottom,

for back-flow. Now that I have seen that link you posted, Mike, and read how that tank works, I am more confident of this idea. Cheers for that :lol:

[Bettarazzi]

I could easily put the baffle 2mm away but in a previous version of this design I had a piece of airline attached to a T connector on the inside of the hole. So effectively this was narrower than the proposed baffle. While some poop did get sucked up, the suction was very, very weak. I think the shape of the beanie box is the problem. It would work better I think if it was long rather than tall. I think I'm going to abandon this idea and just put up with having to remove poop manually whenever it's necessary. It isn't necessary all the time now that the system has cycled. The poop breaks down quite quickly usually.

[Justin88]

so it drains out of the tank down the gutter then the first container is that just filter wool? then what else have you got in your sump?

[Bettarazzi]

In the first filter box I've got filter wool for mechanical filtration, followed by Seachem Matrix for biological. I'm intending on putting some Seachem Purigen for chemical filtration as well. The second filter box is only there to hold the first filter box up.

I've also got heaters, a UV steriliser (one of the power filter kinds, not the flow through kind) and two pumps. The reason I have two pumps is because I bought the first pump and found it wasn't strong enough. Then I bought a much bigger pump and that wasn't strong enough either. So now I'm using both pumps.

[Justin88]

that stuff for biologicalwhat is that like bio balls? don't you have a joiner between to containers?

[Bettarazzi]

No Matrix is a granular, gravel like substance. Very porous and breaks up easily if you not careful handling it. A bit like pumice stone. Yes, I've got a joiner between the containers. The only reason for that is because I wanted a larger volume of water for the whole system. I reckon the second container isn't really necessary if you have good filter media.

[Justin88]

so is that what you use instead of bio balls or are they 2 completely different things?

[brettc777]

lol you should just get Mike to bulid it for you, might be quicker for him hehe

There are plenty of designs on the web including the ones already given in this topic on the first page. You should find all the answers you want from there, all drip systems are pretty much the same mechanically.

[Bettarazzi]

You can use all sorts of things for filter media. They're not all the same strictly speaking but they basically fall into 3 functional groups and some of them can perform more than one function. Some of them come in different types to do different jobs. The manufacturers usually will explain what their products do and what kind of filtration system they are intended for.

Mechanical = filter wool, sponges, filter pads

Biological = bio-balls, ceramic rings, sponges, Seachem Matrix

Chemical = carbon, zeolite, Seachem Purigen

Mechanical filtration is for removing solids. You want easy access to this so that you can rinse it out regularly.

Biological filtration converts ammonia to nitrite, nitrite to nitrate, and if it's really good media it will also convert nitrate to nitrogen gas

Chemical filtration absorbs all sorts of things like chlorine, chloramine, phosphates, toxins, etc

[Bettarazzi]

Oh btw that's not a complete list of every kind of filter media. There's heaps that aren't listed. Those are just some examples.

[Justin88]

ok thanks very much for all of that it is very helpful. did you use the power filter with the uv sterilizer in it because its a cheaper solution?

[Bettarazzi]

Yeah, it's much cheaper than the other kind.

[brettc777]

You can use all sorts of things for filter media. They're not all the same strictly speaking

I was speaking in terms of how they generally work... water flow etc

Water in sump -> water goes through filter -> pumped into tanks or containers -> outflow through tanks or containers into guttering or some other water collection device ->back into sump. Cycle repeated :goodo:

[Bettarazzi]

I knew what you meant. I was referring to you, Brett. I said that because I was about to clump different types of filter media into categories and didn't want anyone to think that they were completely interchangeable without considering the design.

[Justin88]

Ok thanks very much you have been very helpful.