# Sand Filters



## Lamplighter (Aug 3, 2012)

Does anyone have any experience with sand filters?

I don't believe that they are commercially available. I saw one in action some 35+ years ago but I didn't think about it too much then. What prompted this line of thinking was another thread that mentioned the high cost of energy.


What I have in mind is a 20 or 30 gallon container with a layer of coarse filtering material (to prevent the sand leaking out).The next layer would be charcoal followed by fine sand and then a layer of coarser sand/grave. A pump would pump the water into the container and the bottom/side would have a bulkhead fitting with a conduit to return the water to the tank.


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

I believe people use them on very large tanks. Check Monsterfishkeepers. There might be some examples there. Pools and ponds would be the main commercial use and people adapt them for use with fish tanks.


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## spit.fire (Jan 3, 2011)

So kind of like a bio reactor or "universal media reactor)


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## Lamplighter (Aug 3, 2012)

Well my tank will be 250 gallons +/-.


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## djamm (Sep 25, 2010)

Lifegard Aquatics Lifegard Fluidized Bed Filter FB-300

Is the one I picked up a while ago with a lifeguard filtration system that I have yet to get running...

Little more info....

http://www.lifegardaquatics.com/products/product.php?id=7


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

the thing about a sand filter is it would usually need backflushed when the filter needs cleaning, which doesn't seem possible with what you described. If you have filter material in the bottom with charcoal(I think is unnecessary) and sand on top of it, the filter material in the bottom will eventually clog up and you would have to disassemble the whole thing to clean it properly. You'd be better off to just find a small sand filter off a small pool or hot tub, fill the bottom (up to the elements) with gravel and then top it off with filter sand if you were dead set on the sand filter idea. One that could be taken apart easily would be ideal, then you could add a filter material if the water needs a bit more polishing. Im no expert, but many years as a pool/spa service tech, that is what I know about sand filters


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## Adz1 (Apr 21, 2010)

i use a lifegaurd aquatics one on my 250g....
it has been great for bio filtration.
before i got it the 3 xp4s had to be cleaned 1 a week with water changes every 3rd day to keep the water clear.
now that i have the sandbed filter i only do water changes once a week with filter cleanings at 1 per month.


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## Lamplighter (Aug 3, 2012)

This is great 'cause it gets me thinking.

I get the back-flushing so to solve this I'm thinking 2 filters. I'll vacuum off the top layer of sand with my large shop vacuum clean it and put it back again. I'll alternate between the two filters. I'm guessing that the water will be drinkable when it passes through the filter. Guests first!

You're most likely right about the fact that there's no need for the charcoal.

It seems to me that depending on the size the filter would be like a small septic field.

I'll post a picture later of what I have in mind.


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## Lamplighter (Aug 3, 2012)

The blue container is around 18 gallons and the garbage can is 32. I'll fill the 18 gallon container with sand and perforate the bottom. Insert it in the garbage can. The dirty water gets pumped into the blue container and filters into the garbage can and then into the tank. I could have a few of the blue containers on standby so all I have to do is switch.

I figure this will save BIG bucks because a minimum of 40 gallons will be used every time I replace 120 gallons. 80 gallons twice a week for a year equals around 4,000 gallons.


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

I actually have been toying with this idea myself however i am struggling to decide weather a "fluidized sand filter" is a better option or if a gravity draining filter would be better and i have googled some stuff and the monster aquariums ie vancouver aquarium sized sstuff use them alot so i cant see how they arent effective , just trying to figure out a way to put it all together in my head.

the idea i had was to have an acrylic box where water is exhausted into the top gravity forces the water down through the sand and falls into another "chamber"and that chamber fills about 4 inches or so and then goes out a bulkhead fitting and back into the tank however i am still a little stumped on how to prevent the sand from entering the second chamber without putting something in there to stop sand , but then what if it clogs and then cant drain at the same rate it is filling and cascades over te top of my "container"

my rena exhausts into an acrylic box on top of my tank and trickles back into my tank after passing through lava rock and it has made a tremendous improvement in my bio filtration, but hey you cant have too much

and FYI canadian tire in the bbq sections sells lava rock in 7 lb bags for like $3 it is made by the great grill company and is just straight up lava rock no sillyness added in and i have had great success with it, just rince it and run it ,

i was also thinking of building an upflow bio filter where a return pump exhausts into a manifold of pvc tubes <as big as you can get > which would also be filled with just lava rock and have a couple of 90 degree elbows on the top so it can "hang" on to the tank edgeand just pour in without to much hassle but again all thing i have thought of but havent really put much more than the day dreaming aspect of things

but if you do come up with an idea please do post all your diy stuff, you cant have enough good or bad ideas on there because it will only make us have a better understanding of what to do and what NOT to do i build screwy stuff all the time and have had some real that was stupid moments but it is all in the name of learning, and the only way to know that that was in fact a dumb idea is to screw it up royally so Pleas ebuild something and post as many pics as possible


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## Lamplighter (Aug 3, 2012)

They used to have outhouses with a well not too far away. Drinking filtered body waste doesn't sound appealing but it's reality. I believe they also do that at the space station. A filter that's effective enough would eliminate the need for water changes. Of course I wouldn't want to set up a filter like that in my living room.

My one concern is that sand might plug up the bottom so the water can't exit. Bear in mind that the holes will be drilled 1/64th of an inch. I know that it can be done and I will do it. There's no rocket science involved.

Daydreaming is OK but it won't get things done.

I'll build a prototype, perhaps tomorrow. I'll filter the water that I vacuum from the bottom of my tanks and test it. I'm betting that it'll come out perfect.


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

for sure , my stuff usually stays in day dream mode because of cost or time to construct i have 5 kids...... 6 and under my house is insane.. INSANE so time is very valuable so often tinkering isnt an option but im pretty stoked to see this and i know your right space stations recycle the pee so to speak and also i saw an episode of either ssurvivourman or man vs wild where one of them actually drank pee filtered through a sand filter , 


maybe it was jackass or something , none the less someone drank pee, and it was filtered now if it will work on a level that people can drink it im sure you fish are gonna be okay with it too, i bet you could get a viral video going if you were to urinate in your fish filter lol, anyways enough pee pee talk from me i give my kids crap all day about potty talk and here i am 

good luck with you build and i will be watching for the post


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## Lamplighter (Aug 3, 2012)

I've cleaned the bottom of one tank and I've got the waste standing outside I want to have it sit around for a bit. I've got a garbage can standing outside 1/3 full of sand. I'll drill a hole near the bottom of the can and filter the fish poop water later. Perhaps I'll add some yellow ammonia for good luck, test the water before and after. That is barring any unforeseen issues. My 95 year old aunt has been having dizzy spells. I was at the ER two days ago, with her. They continue but she hasn't collapsed.

My GF has my electronic water tester so I'll get that back from her. I'd drink the water if it showed that it was safe.

Can you imagine the surface area of the sand in the garbage can? I bet that it would be astronomical. One grain with a surface area of 4πr^2 might not be much but time it by a million or so.


You can bring your donkey over for a drink! Changed my mind Youtube or no I will not be drinking it.


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

haha , well while i may not been overly eager to drink pee filtered through a sand filter , I HAVE drinkin enough fish tank water in my life starting a siphon so I doubt whatever is in your tank is that bad, i do think a garbage can filled with sand is probably a big enough of a filter to run a pretty large pond , so a tank should be very easily filtered and i doubt the maintenance on a filter of that scale would even be that much,just because within a few months that sucker should be ripe with all sorts of creepy crawlers that would love to eat the waste i cant see you needing to touch the filter for like 6 months or more that thing is huge


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## Lamplighter (Aug 3, 2012)

The experiment was a success insofar as removing nitrate and nitrite. There are some bugs such as sand exiting with the water but they can be overcome. In any event it was anticipated. I think that the system has to be designed with an overflow but I don't see that as an issue. Essentially it's gravity that passes it trough the sand. I'll post some numbers later.


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## Foxtail (Mar 14, 2012)

My brain syarted working as I read this... I solved your sand problem... Have the top of your garbage can filter just above the tank, then run a pvc pipe from the bottom of your garbage can up and into your tank. Gravity will return water to your tank and keep the sand from sneaking out... You would just need a pump running water from your tank to the top of your filter... Flow could be adjusted by the height of the filter 

Sent from my SGH-T959D using Tapatalk 2


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## Lamplighter (Aug 3, 2012)

So I have only 2 pictures. One of the garbage can with sand on the inside, the other with the hole drilled in the bottom.

I had water sitting for plants that was high in nitrate and nitrite. The nitrite was 16 mg/l (ppm) +/- and the nitrate 100mg/l(ppm) +/-.

I removed approximately three gallons from the tank and poured it into the garbage can. I let the water filter out of the hole in the bottom and caught it in a bucket.

It came out negative for nitrate and nitrite.

I now know that a sand filter will work and I can build one for less than a hundred bucks.


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