Henri deBruyn mini wet/dry filters

[ruyle]

Ronnie, is there an uplift tube in each partition? Or are they "loose" enough
to where they share a common filter. ie the air driven filter in the photo.

Looks pretty nifty so far! :wink:

[RonWill]

Bill,
Single uplift at right side of tank. Drips to 3 other partitions and return through the partitions, via 2 long slots and gaps between partition and tank.

Breeders won't be able to squeeze through except for fry (if eggs happen to drop from mop and hatch in tank) but I'm only interested in the hopefully egg-laden mops.

Dumped expendable guppies this morning to cycle setup, getting ready to receive next lot of killies :wink:

[RonWill]

Dear all,
I've gotten another 25 litre pack of lava rock and it's reddish like what Wright described in his post.


Straight from the pack, there're various grit sizes and it does feel somewhat crumbly. Hope what I bought is the correct type and that it doesn't cloud up the water. [worst case scenario is to 'recycle' it for my orchids]


The packaging label and if you can't see, click here

Will rig up another 4 Henri's with this material and see if works comparably with Eheim's "EHFI LAV".

[ruyle]

Ronnie, looks like you'll have to rinse fiercely with this stuff :wink: Red
lava like Wright has mentioned, contains more iron and should be great
for the plants! All the department stores here are out of red lava rock, but I'll be getting some this spring! Winter is finally upon us, got down to 33F
last night.


Good luck!

[RonWill]

Bill,
No amount of rinsing could rid the turbid nature of red lava rock and it's now used for orchids instead. I console myself that at least it didn't go straight into the bin. Anyway, the tank revamps are still very much work-in-progress but my little corner is much neater now.

One of the low-maintenance tanks, previously sponge-filtered, now uses a Henri from another torn-down setup. Water is turbid from the gunk in the tank but here it is...

It's a warm night and no breeze, with thermometer hanging off at right-side of tank, reading 28ºC.

The Henri bubbling and dripping away...


I previously dumped a few Otos fry into this setup to see if any will survive but instead, found a single Coral Red Pencilfish fry (Nannostomus marginatus mortenthaleri). The adult pair were transferred to another setup some weeks back.
Ain't it cute?

Will update temp reading difference during the coming warm months (think it started already )

[ruyle]

Ron,
That's some nice-looking driftwood! Looking at the pic of red lava rock in
your hand, it looks like you'd have to blast it with steam to remove all the
loose and caked-in particles. The stuff I'll be buying tomorrow (they finally
got it back in stock) will look much cleaner than that where you can see
all the holes/pores in it.

And yep, that's a cute fish!

Regards,

Bill

[ruyle]

The Eheim lava rock has some red rock in it. I'd stick with that if it's not
too expensive.

Bill

[ruyle]

Ronnie,
Was curious if you ever coupled the de Bruyn with an UGF filter like you
mentioned you wanted to do, some time ago. I'm getting a 40 gallon
breeder tank next month and am seriously thinking about your idea.

Bill

[stormhawk]

Eheim's lava rock product or Ehfilav is a pretty great buy. A 1 litre box costs roughly $10 at the regular LFS I visit and its by far the best filter media in the Eheim range.

I'm not sure how much it costs over in the US but if its too expensive an alternative cheaper product would be a better choice if one's running on a tight budget.

I've seen Ronnie's Henri filters in action and I must say the results are satisfying. Coupled with windy cool weather during the later end of 2004 I recalled seeing two thermometers hit a cool 24 deg C.

As for that little pencilfish fry, I saw it today and that cute bugger has finally developed his horizontal stripe pattern.

[ruyle]

I'm not sure how much it costs over in the US but if its too expensive an alternative cheaper product would be a better choice if one's running on a tight budget.

Oh yes, there are cheaper alternatives: one cubic foot of red lava rock
in a bag goes for $3.69 which would fill 4-5 2-liter bottles, maybe more.
I don't mind busting it up with a 3 pound maul, then washing it thoroughly

As for that little pencilfish fry, I saw it today and that cute bugger has finally developed his horizontal stripe pattern.

Very cute fish..I'm told they are rather expensive over here, too, if you
can find them.

Regards,

Bill

[TyroneGenade]

A crazy idea just popped into my head.

Instead of using lava rock in any shape or form why not opt instead for a filter floss layer with coarse sand ontop into which plants (such as Hostas or other bog plants) can be planted? Such plants would soak up any N-waste. Has anyone tried this?

Regards

[stormhawk]

Tyrone, you mean something like a vegetable filter for ponds?

I've seen them online but do not know of anyone locally in SG who has adapted the method for the home aquarium.

I understand Ronnie tried to grow some moss and liverworts on a small drip tray placed above the filter box. It works to a certain extent I think. Probably thats the only adaptation of the veggie filter method that I know of.

[RonWill]

Was curious if you ever coupled the de Bruyn with an UGF filter like you mentioned you wanted to do, some time ago. I'm getting a 40 gallon breeder tank next month and am seriously thinking about your idea.

Bill, I have a bare-bottom tank in my 3tier-2ft rack that will implement UGF/Henri but it's on hold as the Cory habrosus are spawning in there. There's no reason why this combo wouldn't work but since the water level is quite high and near to the tank's top rim, figuring out how to DIY a screen/cover would be top priority... no point having a 'cool' tank when all the killies have jumped!

I suspect that unless you have a decent air-pump and an uplift tube that's not too large in diameter (where there's more turbulence than water-lift), you ought to achieve a decent upflow over the drip plate (or V-trough, going by your earlier designs).

Wright was right when he said that smaller pieces (about 1cm grit) will wet better than a large chunk but if you overworked that maul and end up with powdered-lava, you can always pound it further, recycle that and implement a fludized-sand filter (not difficult to DIY and water can be fed via a bleed-off connector from your powerhead, if the Henri is not air-driven). Should you find the waterflow from a powerhead-driven Henri too swift, the bleed-off current can still be used to provide circulation in the water column.

As Jian Yang mentioned, low light plants eg. moss, grows slowly but steadily on the drip plate, will help reduce Nitrate (Nitrite?... fish gunk, whatever ) Also, this moss-spread actually help reduce surface tension throughout the surface of the drip plate so that water distribution/drip is quite even. Just go ahead with the idea. As far as I can see, you can't lose and when I get mine up and running, let's check back and compare notes.

A crazy idea just popped into my head.

Instead of using lava rock in any shape or form why not opt instead for a filter floss layer with coarse sand ontop into which plants (such as Hostas or other bog plants) can be planted? Such plants would soak up any N-waste. Has anyone tried this?

Tyrone, that idea is neither crazy or new . Think hydroponics and we're essentially talking about the same concept. My tanks are not lit, relying mostly on ambient lighting, so I'm limited by low-light plant species but I have considered emersed echinodorus, bacopa and wisteria (sp? Indian/Water Sprite). What I'll change from your idea, is the choice of media. Coarse filter pads and smaller grit expanded clay is, IMHO, a better combo. Of course it'll help if the plants of choice doesn't throw complex and long root systems that'll grow unsightly, through the OHF and into the tank.

[Side note]

Very cute fish..I'm told they are rather expensive over here, too, if you can find them

Locally, these are also not cheap but a single accidental Coral Red Pencilfish fry (Nannostomus marginatus mortenthaleri) isn't considered breeding in my books and since I'm figuring new ways to fund killie-purchases, I'll be setting a partition up just for them and see if it's worth the effort.

[ruyle]

Thanks, Ronnie,
I do believe this is what I'll do, then. I use eggcrate diffuser panel cut to
size for the tops of my tanks to keep the critters in. Works great...

Bill

[whuntley]

I'm using a variant on the eggcrate diffuser. I found a surplus yard that had a huge stack of light troffers that each had a 2X4' panel of 1/4" eggcrate-looking material, but it was actually clear, with aluminum reflective material on the vertical surfaces but there was a solid clear plastic layer that makes them into a beautiful, ultra-light, stiff solid cover with high light efficiency. I bought a bunch!

I can saw the stuff on my table saw and have made a few covers, already. I'm holding off to decide where the inlet and outlet water lines will go, as I want to notch for those at the proper end, as well as a notch for each heater and each sensor. [I bought 20 stainless 50W heaters with external control and separate sensor, so each needs two holes/notches.]

[Obligatory on-topic comment:] I have no current plans for DeBruyn-type filters, though I like them and believe they are a superior system for Henri, who must leave his tanks for others to tend for part of the year (he commutes between Belgium and Florida). Missed water changes are much less problem with them. My constant water change system will be even better, I think. ...I hope.

My two current Metro (steel wire) racks have 10 5G tanks on the first shelf below the top, and 8 10G tanks on the next one down. [Both comfortable viewing levels] The bottom shelves each hold a 20G long tank. The top shelf will be reserved for a large insulated cooler for my inlet to a constant-flow or automated water-change system, and for storage of light-weight "stuff."

I'd sort of like to document the assembly of this system, somewhere. Is it possible that I could have a bit of gallery space here to make the pics available to anyone who wants to learn from my mistakes, without having to make them by themselves?

In addition to the metro racks, I'll eventually be populating three Baker's Racks with tanks, too. They each hold about 8 5G and one 10 or 15G tank. These racks are epoxy-coated steel and have been around for at least 5-6 years without any sign of rust! Remarkable.

Note: the bottom (and one end) of the current 10s are painted black, but I used some floor panels under the 5s, as most fish hate open bottoms that make them feel vulnerable to attack from below.

Now, back to your regularly-scheduled thread...

Wright

[whuntley]

Bill,

I hope you aren't trying to use eggcrate light diffusers for RIVs or wild Bettas. I have had the latter go through a 1/4" airline-hose hole that was at least 2" above the water surface. Amazing as I thought the fish was about 3/8" in diameter!

Many of my smaller RIVs have also liked going for a stroll. I used to have a floating piece of wood or styro o/e for them to climb out on. That seemed to work a bit better than the carpet. In south and central America, they like to go wriggling through the grass beside their stream, looking for insects.

My male K. marmoratus used to like to stick himself, by surface tension, to the side of his tank, well above the water. I would see him jump down when I walked into the office where he lived. The biggest hole in his lid was about 1/32" in diameter.

I was told the original collection found them deep in a hole in a mangrove root, well above the water line. That conflicts with the report that they were in pure rainwater of near zero tds, so I do not know what is fact and what is fancy. Mangroves do not live in rainforest conditions, AFAIK.

I ain't stickin' my hand into any hole in a mangrove, either!

Wright

[ruyle]

Thanks for the warning, Wright,
I've had only one jumper which I was able to catch off the floor and put
back in his tank. I have some Epiplatys that I just received a few days
ago that look like they could jump thru the holes, too. I may have to get
some styrene "cracked ice" fluorescent panels for a few of my tanks.

Bill