Re-configuring My Fish Tank Filer

[Bill Moore]

Redesigned the 5 gallon fish tank filter. The original system used a combination of NaturAire commercial furnace filter material and three types of rock: red lava, pea gravel and lime stone aggregate sandwiched between the filter medium.

After a week of operation, I decided to re-confirgure the system, removing all the stone material.  It their place I created two  sand filters made out of a pair of my wife's old panty hose legs filled with sand. So now the both the grow bed and fish tank filter both through the system this way:

(1) nylon filter over outlets to catch larger particulates
(2) four NaturAire furnace filters
(3) 1st sand filter
(4) 5th NaturAire filter

(5) 2nd sand filter

(6) final NaturAire filters at bottom of 5 gallon bucket

Decided to make changes to (1) remove the limestone to prevent it raising pH and (2) to make it easier to clean the entire system, which now consists of just two basic components: NaturAire filters and sand filters enclosed in fine mess nylon.

Will report next weekend how it arrangement works. Water flow seems unimpeded. 

As far as the first iteration is concerned, it caught an amazing amount of waste, but also contributed a lot of fine particulates from the the red lava rock, despite earlier washing. Also, when the grow bed drained,  flow overwhelmed the filter and allowed some of the water to run over the top without going through the filter system.  This has now stopped; all of the water from both the fish tank and the grow bed have to go through the filter.