Hello everyone,
I have always liked the idea of the De Bryun type filters, unfortunately I try and stick with the plastic tanks and I thought it was probably something impractical to consider.
However the sponge filters I dont really like, they take up room and with regular water changes I doubt they have that much effect on the water quality. Also they are messy to deal with.
Another issue is water temperature and oxygenation, more than a few times I have had my fish laying on their sides, which at first I thought was a disease problem but then I realised that it seems to be an oxygen issue - well I hope. But anyway as soon as I have boosted up the air they seem fine again.
Anyway I thought there has to be a better way, so here is my latest experiment. Most of it is based on the posts by Ronnie et al, I have just tried to make it work in my small critter keepers.
This is a rough prototype, really held together with cable ties and rubber bands. But I wanted to see how it worked first before I go any further.
It is basically a take away container suspended inside the lid with ties and a simple airlift. At the moment the media is some of that red pebble stuff for plants from a display tank.
I have had to lower the tanks water level about an inch but that is not really an issue.
There is a constant drip though the bottom, which is what I wanted as I am more and more seeing oxygenation as a problem.
At the moment it is very rough as I just wanted to see if my idea worked first. So now I am kind of happy with the concept any advice or suggestions would be good.
What is the optimum diameter for the airlift? At the moment I am just using scraps so the next step is to do it properly.
Either way i am quite surprised at how easy it seems to work, clears out all the junk from inside the tank and I can remove the lid and filter all in one go for easy cleaning and maintainance.
Some ideas anyway, and it is always fun to make something and clear your head of real world problems.
Thanks again,
Scott Douglass
Scott, thats a good idea. But having exact fit take away box has always been my biggest problem. More over, they are rather fragile as they were not design to be handle in that manner.
You might want to drill some holes to allow water overflow so that just in case for some reason the water pump faster than the drainage, the water won't ended up on the floor rather than staying in the tank. This kind of things do happen.
KeeHoe.
Scott,
If the plastic container is secured from under the lid, that will work just fine. These filters are not meant to be cleaned out regularly and the nice thing about your idea is that while you can increase the oxygen level, cleaning is a breeze since everything is out of the way once the lid is lifted off.
Now that the weather is uncomfortably warm, heh, now I want to try your idea too!!
For efficient air lift, use a smaller diameter tube. Larger tubes creates more turbulence than lift and that can challenge pumps of lesser capacity.
I have lots of unused Hydroton expanded clay and do swing by to pick what you need. Two grit sizes but I suspect the larger might work better since there are more empty air pockets in the drip tray and don't easily clog up the drip holes. Give me a buzz to arrange collection, ya?
Kee Hoe,
The ZIIs really like such filtrations and you're welcomed to the expanded clay too. In case you've forgotten, the yarn and small filters are still waiting for you.
BTW, the dripping and overflow holes are much easier with a soldering iron than a drill. Trust me, I've tried
I'm back & keeping 'em fingers wet,
Ronnie Lee
Thanks Ron. I will wait for the USA shipment and pick them up together.
The ZII, love acidic water. I just place a piece of cooked driftwood into their tank and stain the water to tea colour. The sub-adult colour up nicely despite their young age.
Would the clay harden the water?
I have one observation that need expert eyes to tell me what is happening.
I got one tank with one inch thick of "mud" (bentonite). Left near the sun with some java moss inside.
I realise: 1) No mosquito larva
2) minimum algae (next to none after placing near windows for two months.)
3) Seldom require topup of water
4) Java moss, grow well and green even from under
I think it will looks good on planted tank as it gave the feel of "above the cloud". It is wonderful seeding moss growth out of the "cloud".
Scott, perlite is another filter media you can consider. It is light (Float on water) so you can do without the plastic takeaway box. Just stocking tie to the side of tank and water run over it. It is silicon with so much surface area that trap so much air that it is virtually un-sinkable.
KeeHoe.
The bentonite would probably be very rich in nutrients and the combination with sunlight would have contributed somewhat to the nice growth of moss you are observing.
Take some pics and post this topic under Planted Tanks.
Fish.. Simply Irresistable
Back to Killies... slowly.
But no algae? I don't know whether that is another easier way to increase O2 level for the killie fish that i am keeping in chiller tank. Especially CYA and EXO.Originally Posted by stormhawk
The bentonite would probably be very rich in nutrients and the combination with sunlight would have contributed somewhat to the nice growth of moss you are observing.
Take some pics and post this topic under Planted Tanks.
KeeHoe.
Hello killi-friends!
Do you know where could I get more information about this filter? What should I need to buy, how should I build it, how should I place things inside the aquarium, etc?
Is there any particulary webpage in wich I could base all my procedures?
Best regards from Portugal
Ruben Isidoro
APK42 KT140 SAA160 GAK51 NMG15
Ruben, hope you haven't felt ignored, but somewhere back in the mists
of time there's a rather long thread that Ronnie and I did concerning the
de Bruyn filters. I'll see if I can find it...as I remember it's in the Killies
Arena category.
Bill
Hi Bill!
Of course not! We're now enjoying easter's holidays and I believe most people are out of town.
I'll search for it, thank you very much! I must be prepared for this tough summer and everything capable of turning my killis happier, is welcome!
Best regards from Portugal
Ruben Isidoro
APK42 KT140 SAA160 GAK51 NMG15
Ruben, simply put, you can just use an OHF filter box. Poke some holes at the bottom, then fill the entire OHF container with volcanic filter media, say Eheim's Ehfilav. Then rig up the water pump to push water up into the OHF box and letting it drip right through the entire media bed.
For DeBruyn filters, they work on the airlift system, rather than using pumps to push the water up into the box.
Ronnie has made several DeBruyn filters and from my past few visits, it is working, albeit with a pretty small margin of temperature drop.
Just use this search term - DeBruyn or De Bruyn.
Fish.. Simply Irresistable
Back to Killies... slowly.
It's not so much its ability to lower the temp, but increase the oxygen
level in the tank. Ruben, you may enjoy more of a temperature drop
than I do in SE USA or Singapore, because of your more arid climate.
Henri de Bruyn has been able to keep fish in the low 90's F where others
in his area lost their fish to depleted oxygen levels as they were using sponge
filters, back filters. The "bio-wheel" type backfilter would
probably approximate the same oxygen level, though no comparison tests
have been performed, AFAIK--both are wet-dry filters.
I plan to make more of these this summer but will do them differently
than my last ones.
Bill
Well, I was thinking about creating some De Bruyn filters not to lower the temperature but to increase the oxygen.
I'll do as you said, but I must confess that a couple of "step by step" pictures would be great. The idea is simple and I can't complain about the description made above but... I just want to do it all right!
I'll try to "google" it out!
Ruben Isidoro
APK42 KT140 SAA160 GAK51 NMG15
Found it!
Thank you very much for your help!
http://www.killies.com/forum/viewtop...hlight=debruyn
Ruben Isidoro
APK42 KT140 SAA160 GAK51 NMG15
Ruben, the next thing you'd need to do is update us on how the Henri's are working for your purpose. Good luck.
I'm back & keeping 'em fingers wet,
Ronnie Lee
Sure thing!
But it will take a while as I'm going to make now some new aquariums... I'll have to pay attention to each detail in order to make it all right! There's money involved, you know what I mean...
Ruben Isidoro
APK42 KT140 SAA160 GAK51 NMG15
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