bio filter

[charles alan crabtree]

hello all fellow aquapons! my question is concerning solids removal with a bio-filter,i currently am running a 300 gallon fish tank and my question is will a 5 gallon bio-filter be sufficient to catch solids before they reach my sump tank or should i go to a larger container any input would be greatly apprieciated

[Keith Rowan]

do you mean a swirl filter, or radial flow filter?  if you are just removing solids, it's a mechanical filter..

your growbeds are the "biofilter" where you provide surface area of the bacteria..

i think a 5 gallon bucket would be too small.. i don't think your solids would have enough time to settle

 

[George]

Do you already have gravel grow bed bio filters?  If yes, then possibly you have enough filtering already.  Gravel beds are all the filtering that many people use.  The solids break down in the gravel beds, usually with the help of composting red worms.

If you want a filter in addition to grow beds to pump from there to raft or towers, then you would place it after grow beds.  See if you can find the Rob Nash discussion of a "polisher" - post gravel bed filter.

How's your water chemistry, ammonia and nitrite levels?

[Jonathan Kadish NYC AA Chair]

Also the key piece of data missing is how much do you feed each day?

[Harold Sukhbir]

Hi Charles,

You want to filter waste for removal from the FT, so you need a filter or a bio-filter that also acts as a filter. It depends on your fish ratios. If you're stocking about 70 fish a 5 gallon container may be too small. You will have to turnover that 300 gallons every hour or 5 gallons every minute, the same volume as your filter per minute, which is a very fast flow rate. The flow has to be low/slow enough for the solids to fall out and settle. The more volume of the filter the greater capacity for capturing solids and less frequent cleaning required. A small filter will demand more work and management as well. A fifty gallon(blue barrel) container may be more suitable for this size of FT.

Sorry but i now see there were replies on the topic already so disregard what is not necessary

[charles alan crabtree]

thank you so much harold,i will in fact use a 55 gallon barrel

[Harold Sukhbir]

Hi Charles,

So, if i may ask, what is the design of your filter?

charles alan crabtree said:

thank you so much harold,i will in fact use a 55 gallon barrel

[charles alan crabtree]

radial flow harold

Harold Sukhbir said:

Hi Charles,

So, if i may ask, what is the design of your filter?

charles alan crabtree said:

thank you so much harold,i will in fact use a 55 gallon barrel

[Harold Sukhbir]

Hi Charles,

Good choice Charles! Great if you can post some pics when you're finished, could help myself and others here see/understand this design

[nimrod bash]

what is the reason you think of removing solids from the system ?

what grow beds you currently use ?

[Lee Scott]

There are a few RFF videos on YouTube.

Here is one I made of my system.
It has been doing very well at removing solids.
http://youtu.be/UZdfFw2OPOQ

[charles alan crabtree]

thanks lee that is an interesting setup   i'm glad it works well for you

Lee Scott said:

There are a few RFF videos on YouTube.

Here is one I made of my system.
It has been doing very well at removing solids.
http://youtu.be/UZdfFw2OPOQ

[Jim Fisk]

Hey Charles, remember it is the type of grow bed and not the size of your fish tank that determines whether or not you need a bio-filter. If you are running media beds you really should not need one as they ARE the bio-filter. If floating raft you will definitely need one as solids WILL cause root rot.

Here is a swirl and bio-filter in one that I made with a 15 gal inside a 30 gal pvc barrel. The bird netting is where the bacteria will grow that clarify the water after the solids are removed by the swirl filter. You just siphon out the solids whenever they build up. The outflow pipe is slotted on the chop saw in a spiral fashion.