Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Decide to put the larger filter box together... thought I'd document the steps...

This is a "commercial" product... but it might help those who are thinking of putting something together themselves...

Will run to about ten posts... hold comments and questions until the end please...

The basic box... this one has inbuilt "slots" and level segments...

The primary chamber... has a raised grill to hold the filter mat off the bottom..

About half a dozen layers of filter mat goes on top of the grill...

Ultimately this is where the bio-filtration and nitrification will take place..

The layers of filter mat are placed on the grill...

And capped with another grill...

Water will enter this primary chamber from the top and pass down through the filter mats and under the seperating divider...

First chamber almost complete...

This is topped with several layers of filter wool...

The wool is the primary "solids" filter... and requires maintenance..
The second divider is put in place... to form the secondary "up-swell" chamber...

A small divider (about a third of the box height) sits flush with the box bottom... forcing the water to up well...

Through two large pieces of fairly porous filter mat...

With a pouch of activated carbon sandwiched between them...

Here is the completed "up well" ...

A "cap" of filter mat is placed over the carbon pouch (see later photo)....

The water wells up through the activated carbon... and over the divider into the remainder of the second chamber... where it then flows down and under the second big divider into the third chamber...

The rest of the second chamber (up to the top of the "up-well") is filled with filter mat...

Which is cut to size...

The filter mat is placed into the chamber... up to just below the height of the up-well divider... (note the small mat cap over the carbon pouch)...


And capped with several layers of filter wool... this serves as a trap for finer sediment flowing over the up-well... and down through the mat into the third chamber...

The third chamber is basically a "settling" tank.... and the outlet back to the tank...
Which is screwed through the filter box wall...


This fitting is rather unique... in that it incorporates a "ball valve"... which allows for adjustment of outflow... and height of water in the settling chamber...

That basically completes the box...

Other than the box covers... with inlet hole(s)... for attachment to pump, UV unit... addition of air line if required...And to allow maintenance...

This unit comes with two different sized inlet holes... and the second cover is a duplicate of the first... the holes in this one are essentially redundant... but allow the system to breathe..

And here it is in operation (actually, this is one I prepared earlier ... slightly smaller)...

Water inflow...

Throught the box...

And back to the tank...

Such filter boxes are more normally used with aquaria or ponds... rather than AP...

But allow for cases of filtering algae... removing fine sediments... and providing extra bio-filtration if needed....

I utilise them ... partly because I'm underfiltered (growbed wise) for the current level of feed... and because that imposes levels of fine sediments that could otherwise be detremental...

Also means I can move the box(s) around the tanks as required....

The two other smaller units I have will actually be setup on the mega system to pre-filter a couple of raft trays...

There you have it...

Looks good. I like that if it blocks and overflows the water ends up back in the tank.
Had to turn mine on after the last lot of rain. The green was comming back.

i like the filter box it is a good size but I would be tempted to change the dividers around and make the water flow through a little different.
My thought would be to have the second tall divider the other way around and that way you can force the water to go through more filter media if you wanted to.
This is merely a suggestion but you could then fill the top of the middle division with bioballs and make for a greater surface area.
Just my to cents and like the design because you can personalise it to your own likings as you get to know it,
Nick

Who makes these filters, and roughly how much do they cost?
I'm looking to change my system when I get home and am looking for a pre-NFT filter.