Addressing the two problems that Joey pointed out: Putting the bio balls in a cheap plastic tote (box) and suspending it high in the sump allows for a full volume of water in the sump to be utilized. Salt creep will likely be worse if you do this on a salt water tank and for either fresh or salt, it will be potentially more noisy. As for channeling, one way to minimize that is to allow for a 3-4" space below your bio-ball holding area. Place a plastic inflatable bag (similar to the ones used on a massage chair - make sure it's made from sturdy plastic). Then get a timer which allows for on-off cycles of about 30 minutes. Hook an air pump up to the plastic bag and set it to inflate every 30 minutes. The air pump should not exceed the inflation psi max of the bag. The result is the bioballs are unevenly raised and lowered ever half hour. With that movement channeling is greatly decreased. In the end, as Joey pointed out, this form of filtration is very effective in converting ammonia (deadly to aquatic/marine life) into less harmful nitrite and finally nitrate. The key is that the bio-balls are SURROUNDED by air, which enables the aerobic bacteria to do their job extremely well.
Joey, love this filter! But I love your 5 gallon bucket sump filter a little better! I think it's easier, and it makes the cleaning of the bio balls easier. Just pull the bucket out, give it a couple gentle shakes, run some aquarium water through it, and done. Plus, ITS A FIVE GALLON BUCKET. It has automatic cool factor. One thing Joey, you mention in this new video that you prefer bio balls as to plastic pot scrubbies cause the bio balls don't compress. In your 5 gallon bucket sump video, you say that pot scrubbies have a higher surface area and can sustain more bio load. In your book, you seem to be neutral between the two. You are great and giving the facts in all your videos and not just opinions. But, what do you prefer?
Well done joe just got the app and have been wanting you to do a podcast so this is great good luck and don't get too stressed out bud. The second book could have more pics and fish care tho I know it would be huge. 👍👍👍
I find your videos really informative and interesting. It would be helpful if you could stick to one unit of measurement for water since I found it difficult to follow when you say things like 10 litres per 100 gallons.
Could this set up be used for aquaponics? Also, could making smaller vertical chambers from the same plastic material at the bottom aid in removing the media for cleaning?
I know this is off subject but I have a question about your DIY tank stand for large tanks. Can you put the vertical 2x4s that go from the floor to the top of the stand on the outside instead of the inside? By doing this giving extra room inside.
im a fan of the good old wet dry trickle and only make one small modification to this desighn.....i use 2 layers of fibers sheeting one of fine grade then a bit more open one and i place them with a tight fit directlet under the drip plate resting on top of the bio balls or cubes.this way i get even coverage of dibre collection without disrupting the drip plate.
Hey Joey, I built one of these and am experiencing a lot of noise on the drip plate. I put filter wool down hoping it would absorb some of the sound - but no luck. Any advice?
Joey, I've got quite a few different styles of filters running on various tanks. One thing that stood out to me when first setting them all up was how much quicker an emerged style trickle filter completed the initial cycle compared to say a sponge filter or any other submerged style filter. Is that just due to the higher level of oxygen emerged media sees?
Rich's Fishes I think too many variables are at play to say it cycles faster. Tank size, water temp, bio-load, flow rates etc... all would have played a part. I would think that it is safe to safe that not all systems were identical. I wouldn't count it out though. I have at times noticed the same thing.
The limiting factor for aerobic bacteria is either ammonia or oxygen. Given that a submerged filter has less oxygen available compared to wet/dry filter, the later should cycle faster. Although that's kind of a mute point because what you really want is a filter which will convert all ammonia to nitrite asap.
Hi my name is Adam and I'm Polish . I have a question about the white grille which you use in your projects. I do not know whether at home buy something , but I would like to know what it is normally used . Thanks for your reply.
Thanks for part 2 Joey, you truly are ***** This idea is great, I actually want to look into this set up. I was thinking of having a corner trickle tower leading to a fluidized sump below my tank, in your opinion, would this be viable? or would just one option be suitable for a 55gal discus set up? Thanks again for all the great info. You're doing a hell of a good job. I'll wait for part 3 before I decide lol :)
I have bulit a aquarium that i was going to make as a nano reef, it is 10" wide,10" long, 12" high and i have done water tested it and everything is good but the problem im having is i have got the silicon all over the glass walls from finger prints and where i have dropped some and smeared it...ive tried to use a razor like you said in your how to build a aquarium video but after scraping than it still leaves a bit of a residue..is there any ideas you have on removing the silicon? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.thanks
Wouldn't a Bakki shower filter solve the issues that a traditional wet/dry suffers from - mainly channeling since the media is spread out over a larger surface area?
Thx Fabio, I could not yet find anything like that. What is the use of DIY Videos, if we don't know what is being used, and where to get the stuff to DIY it at home ?
No. The pump in the sump pushes water up to the tank where it overflows (surface skimmer, corner drain box, etc) and then gravity flows back into the sump.
The idea is to remove detritus and excess bacteria buildup. In my opinion, if there is channeling then just taking out a third of the bio balls and putting them in a plastic bag and shaking them is sufficient to prevent the channeling (for the time being). Cleaning the floss prefilter should decrease the amount of bio-ball cleaning necessary. I would not clean all the bio-balls at once because that is your aquarium's biological filter!
How important is it to clean the media? I had a thriving tank and hadn't changed or cleaned the media at all in over 7 years. (I'd even forgot to change the sponge also, but that didn't seem to matter).
Plastic media does not degrade so if there is no buildup of ammonia or nitrite in your aquarium, then you don't need to clean the media (note, there WILL be a build up of NITRATE, which can be removed with water changes or other nitrate removing processes). Doing a 30% cleaning won't hurt and would help with channeling. But if you are good at testing to see if you have any ammonia, and your tests show that very little to no ammonia is present, then your filter is working perfectly so technically you don't need to clean it.
I understand perfectly what you are saying and I am on a budget trying to set up my 125 gallon saltwater aquarium. now if doing an emerged sump will I still need a protein skimmer or not?
I don't recommend using this type of filter for a saltwater REEF tank. A reef tank uses live rock as it's biological filtration (along with low fish stocking and low feeding and carbon dosing/bio pellets). This type of filter is fine for a saltwater-fish-only aquarium. And your fish really don't need a protein skimmer.
A plastic box (storage box) can be used as a sump and would be a lot cheaper as it does not need waterproofing. It may need bracing if you get a big one (bracing can be done with wood).
This filter is better than an external filter as external filters will have less oxygen (and thus less bacteria to eat the ammonia) and external filters actually DECREASE the oxygen in the water that passes through the filter.
i'm doing a big turtle tank but i want to do a sump filter, i just don't know form this 3 sumps filters which is the best one for my turtel tank. can you give me an idea?
Did you end up using any of these filters? I plan on building a large tank for my turtle as well but cant decide on a filter system. Was wondering if there's a method youve had more luck with than another.
Bio balls will get a bacteria film if simply submerged in water, but what SUPERCHARGES the bio balls is the AVAILABLE OXYGEN. So submerging them defeats the purpose of this type of filter.
That would defeat the purpose of a wet-dry filter. The idea is to suspend the bio-balls in AIR so that the only limiting factor is the amount of ammonia (not the amount of oxygen!)
Anyone ever tried something like this on a turtle tank? Ill be building a 150 gallon for my turtle in the coming months but can't decide what kind of filter system I should use.
Cuby313 162 yes and no. it can work for salt water but can contain nitrates in excess. sponges trap detritus which breaks down into ammonia, nitrates and nitrites then into phosphates. all of that works in fresh water builds for plants but for saltwater not so much. look at some of the saltwater sumps out their and modify this one with out the sponge and you'll have a commercial style saltwater sump but less hassle.
*Because it allows for additional water volume; hence stabler water parameters. *Allows for removal of almost all equipment from the display aquarium. *Allows for better gas exchange Honestly, sump is the best form of filtration. Would never use a canister filter again in my life.
I agree with the other comments but just want to emphasize that cleaning the SURFACE of the water in our tank (constantly) using a corner overflow (or similar) is very important to gas exchange and oxygenation of the aquarium water. Googling "surface skimming" should answer that question thoroughly.
From the fish and any other living organism in the aquarium. Note, something living (or dead!) is needed to "cycle" the tank when you first set up your aquarium. Please research it a bit so you don't end up with a tank full of dead fish.
2018 and still passing along invaluable knowledge. Thank you.
Hmm so invaluable and valuable mean the same thing.
Like flammable and inflammable.
@@pershop4950 like the knowledge !!!
Wow, this guy has the biggest set of "Bio-Balls" I've ever seen before in the Fish hobby.
Keep up the great videos
Addressing the two problems that Joey pointed out:
Putting the bio balls in a cheap plastic tote (box) and suspending it high in the sump allows for a full volume of water in the sump to be utilized. Salt creep will likely be worse if you do this on a salt water tank and for either fresh or salt, it will be potentially more noisy.
As for channeling, one way to minimize that is to allow for a 3-4" space below your bio-ball holding area. Place a plastic inflatable bag (similar to the ones used on a massage chair - make sure it's made from sturdy plastic). Then get a timer which allows for on-off cycles of about 30 minutes. Hook an air pump up to the plastic bag and set it to inflate every 30 minutes. The air pump should not exceed the inflation psi max of the bag. The result is the bioballs are unevenly raised and lowered ever half hour. With that movement channeling is greatly decreased.
In the end, as Joey pointed out, this form of filtration is very effective in converting ammonia (deadly to aquatic/marine life) into less harmful nitrite and finally nitrate. The key is that the bio-balls are SURROUNDED by air, which enables the aerobic bacteria to do their job extremely well.
Joey, love this filter! But I love your 5 gallon bucket sump filter a little better! I think it's easier, and it makes the cleaning of the bio balls easier. Just pull the bucket out, give it a couple gentle shakes, run some aquarium water through it, and done. Plus, ITS A FIVE GALLON BUCKET. It has automatic cool factor. One thing Joey, you mention in this new video that you prefer bio balls as to plastic pot scrubbies cause the bio balls don't compress. In your 5 gallon bucket sump video, you say that pot scrubbies have a higher surface area and can sustain more bio load. In your book, you seem to be neutral between the two. You are great and giving the facts in all your videos and not just opinions. But, what do you prefer?
Well done joe just got the app and have been wanting you to do a podcast so this is great good luck and don't get too stressed out bud. The second book could have more pics and fish care tho I know it would be huge. 👍👍👍
Good break down of the trickle filter, wandered if was the best sump idea. Look forward to next week, Fired Up!!!
I find your videos really informative and interesting. It would be helpful if you could stick to one unit of measurement for water since I found it difficult to follow when you say things like 10 litres per 100 gallons.
emerged > immersed or submerged (not emerged)
Thanks for making the video and describing, pretty cool!
Emerged is correct in this situation... the bio isn't in the way of the water level (it sticks out)
Great build Joey!
Could this set up be used for aquaponics? Also, could making smaller vertical chambers from the same plastic material at the bottom aid in removing the media for cleaning?
I know this is off subject but I have a question about your DIY tank stand for large tanks. Can you put the vertical 2x4s that go from the floor to the top of the stand on the outside instead of the inside? By doing this giving extra room inside.
Joey, can you show us an overview of the new aquarium you just built?
Thanks
im a fan of the good old wet dry trickle and only make one small modification to this desighn.....i use 2 layers of fibers sheeting one of fine grade then a bit more open one and i place them with a tight fit directlet under the drip plate resting on top of the bio balls or cubes.this way i get even coverage of dibre collection without disrupting the drip plate.
Hey Joey, I built one of these and am experiencing a lot of noise on the drip plate. I put filter wool down hoping it would absorb some of the sound - but no luck. Any advice?
Joey,
I've got quite a few different styles of filters running on various tanks. One thing that stood out to me when first setting them all up was how much quicker an emerged style trickle filter completed the initial cycle compared to say a sponge filter or any other submerged style filter. Is that just due to the higher level of oxygen emerged media sees?
Rich's Fishes I'd love to talk filtration with you sometime, as I want to improve my filtration in my discus tank.
Rich's Fishes I think too many variables are at play to say it cycles faster. Tank size, water temp, bio-load, flow rates etc... all would have played a part. I would think that it is safe to safe that not all systems were identical. I wouldn't count it out though. I have at times noticed the same thing.
The limiting factor for aerobic bacteria is either ammonia or oxygen. Given that a submerged filter has less oxygen available compared to wet/dry filter, the later should cycle faster. Although that's kind of a mute point because what you really want is a filter which will convert all ammonia to nitrite asap.
Hi my name is Adam and I'm Polish . I have a question about the white grille which you use in your projects. I do not know whether at home buy something , but I would like to know what it is normally used . Thanks for your reply.
Its used as lighting diffuser but is also known as egg crate.
Can you do a DIY mason jar aquarium video they look so cool
Adam Warren I already have.
Thanks for part 2 Joey, you truly are ***** This idea is great, I actually want to look into this set up. I was thinking of having a corner trickle tower leading to a fluidized sump below my tank, in your opinion, would this be viable? or would just one option be suitable for a 55gal discus set up? Thanks again for all the great info. You're doing a hell of a good job. I'll wait for part 3 before I decide lol :)
Hey Joey, what are the measures of that aquarium? and what width does the glass have?
I have bulit a aquarium that i was going to make as a nano reef, it is 10" wide,10" long, 12" high and i have done water tested it and everything is good but the problem im having is i have got the silicon all over the glass walls from finger prints and where i have dropped some and smeared it...ive tried to use a razor like you said in your how to build a aquarium video but after scraping than it still leaves a bit of a residue..is there any ideas you have on removing the silicon? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.thanks
Wouldn't a Bakki shower filter solve the issues that a traditional wet/dry suffers from - mainly channeling since the media is spread out over a larger surface area?
Another great one......
1st comment!! always a very good project! i like it-
Dropping knowledge:) thanks!
What is that widing ?? diffusor plate ? 2:17min
How is it called, where I get such a thing from ?
not sure where to find it but i believe it's lighting diffuser, chances are amazon will have it
Thx Fabio, I could not yet find anything like that. What is the use of DIY Videos, if we don't know what is being used, and where to get the stuff to DIY it at home ?
Enty Ropy np, happy to have helped
yeah diy is a lot about community and helping, that's a very important part of the hobby
@@fabiob7261 The lighting diffuser can be found in the lighting section of Home Depot or other home center stores.
Van you please make more up-to-date versions of this
Will the internal canister filter be safe to put inside an Arowana tank or will it hurt it????
Plzz Reply
should you have to have two pumps? one for the intake and the other one for the outlet?
No. The pump in the sump pushes water up to the tank where it overflows (surface skimmer, corner drain box, etc) and then gravity flows back into the sump.
Can you do this with a large plastic tub and a plastic flat piece to seperate inside?
Yes, works quite well.
Great series Joey, thanks for all the knowledge and ideas!!!!
can you make one vid of making a cylinder aquarium? ty
I have a question. When cleaning the media with tank water. That exactly am I looking to clean?
The idea is to remove detritus and excess bacteria buildup. In my opinion, if there is channeling then just taking out a third of the bio balls and putting them in a plastic bag and shaking them is sufficient to prevent the channeling (for the time being). Cleaning the floss prefilter should decrease the amount of bio-ball cleaning necessary. I would not clean all the bio-balls at once because that is your aquarium's biological filter!
How important is it to clean the media? I had a thriving tank and hadn't changed or cleaned the media at all in over 7 years. (I'd even forgot to change the sponge also, but that didn't seem to matter).
Plastic media does not degrade so if there is no buildup of ammonia or nitrite in your aquarium, then you don't need to clean the media (note, there WILL be a build up of NITRATE, which can be removed with water changes or other nitrate removing processes). Doing a 30% cleaning won't hurt and would help with channeling. But if you are good at testing to see if you have any ammonia, and your tests show that very little to no ammonia is present, then your filter is working perfectly so technically you don't need to clean it.
If i have a 28 gal tank, can i build a 10 gal sump? or tanks this size are not worth it?
I understand perfectly what you are saying and I am on a budget trying to set up my 125 gallon saltwater aquarium. now if doing an emerged sump will I still need a protein skimmer or not?
I don't recommend using this type of filter for a saltwater REEF tank. A reef tank uses live rock as it's biological filtration (along with low fish stocking and low feeding and carbon dosing/bio pellets). This type of filter is fine for a saltwater-fish-only aquarium. And your fish really don't need a protein skimmer.
can this sump be built with wood instead of glass if i seal the wood like you do the plywood tank?
A plastic box (storage box) can be used as a sump and would be a lot cheaper as it does not need waterproofing. It may need bracing if you get a big one (bracing can be done with wood).
What type of sump do you recommend for a 65 gallon red eared slider turtle tank?
Never kept red eared sliders but imagine this type of filter would work well. Be sure to clean the pre-filter (floss) frequently!
is it ok to use emerged sump and fluidised sump at the same time?or is it overkill?
Overkill. Both are aerobic bacteria filters.
Can I just use this for my filter? Or do I still need to run external filter?
This filter is better than an external filter as external filters will have less oxygen (and thus less bacteria to eat the ammonia) and external filters actually DECREASE the oxygen in the water that passes through the filter.
i'm doing a big turtle tank but i want to do a sump filter, i just don't know form this 3 sumps filters which is the best one for my turtel tank. can you give me an idea?
Did you end up using any of these filters? I plan on building a large tank for my turtle as well but cant decide on a filter system. Was wondering if there's a method youve had more luck with than another.
Yes i did and it's perfect, i have also fish on that tank, send me your email and i will send you same pic from my tank/sump for you... If you want.
Have you ever had a problem with flies with a sump filter? I'm currently having a problem with them
can this work for reef tank or saltwater aquarium
Yes; but it is avoided as coral are sensitive to nitrates. In FW, NO3 is not a problem unless you allow them to reach elevated levels.
Rahul g it's decently not the best filtration for reef or saltwater
It's fine for a "fish-only" salt water tank. Not good for a reef tank.
Joey how big of a sump do I need for a 125 g aquarium
what kind of silicone you using?
GE 100% silicone is good, available at home depot. Or look for "aquarium" under uses on any 100% silicon caulk.
Can I have a Co2 system with a wet dry filter with is work the same?
For a fresh water planted aquarium, it's best to run carbon dioxide thru a diffuser in the main tank.
what is that large pipe and thing it's attach to in the tote?
That is the water which flows from your display tank down to your sump and into the bio-ball filter.
Dude thanks. Im going to make this one.
do bio balls still work if i just submerge them in water?
Bio balls will get a bacteria film if simply submerged in water, but what SUPERCHARGES the bio balls is the AVAILABLE OXYGEN. So submerging them defeats the purpose of this type of filter.
Which is the best filter for arowana?
I think that wet/dry bio ball filters (shown here) are the best for fresh water fish only tanks.
hey joey is it possible to use the boi balls in the submerged sumps
That would defeat the purpose of a wet-dry filter. The idea is to suspend the bio-balls in AIR so that the only limiting factor is the amount of ammonia (not the amount of oxygen!)
do you not need a protein skimmer?
+JOSH good deal
Please see my reply on the same question
So I want to build a sump but there's 1 problem I know how it comes in but how does it go back into the aquarium
You have a pump to send the water back to the display tank
Anyone ever tried something like this on a turtle tank? Ill be building a 150 gallon for my turtle in the coming months but can't decide what kind of filter system I should use.
B3autifu1L0v3 this is perfect for a turtle. I also recommend canister filter.
looks cool
Does this work for saltwater aquariums???
Cuby313 162 yes and no. it can work for salt water but can contain nitrates in excess. sponges trap detritus which breaks down into ammonia, nitrates and nitrites then into phosphates. all of that works in fresh water builds for plants but for saltwater not so much. look at some of the saltwater sumps out their and modify this one with out the sponge and you'll have a commercial style saltwater sump but less hassle.
Is this work for clone fishes
ameer husain is this work for clone fishes? Are you genuinely cloning fish or did you mean something else?
I will test my nuclear MISSILES
I like the way you handle your caulk
Why would I need a sump if I got at saltwater tank
I'm new to this so don't kill me. :)
***** oh ok thx
*Because it allows for additional water volume; hence stabler water parameters. *Allows for removal of almost all equipment from the display aquarium. *Allows for better gas exchange
Honestly, sump is the best form of filtration. Would never use a canister filter again in my life.
I agree with the other comments but just want to emphasize that cleaning the SURFACE of the water in our tank (constantly) using a corner overflow (or similar) is very important to gas exchange and oxygenation of the aquarium water. Googling "surface skimming" should answer that question thoroughly.
My fish died when I made this light bulb.
Where do the bacteria come from ?
From the fish and any other living organism in the aquarium. Note, something living (or dead!) is needed to "cycle" the tank when you first set up your aquarium. Please research it a bit so you don't end up with a tank full of dead fish.
can you sing ,i think you might be a tenor ,had to turn down the volume ...tom
no closed captioning (CC) or subtitling for deaf or hard of hearing
WTF?