DIY Fluidized Sand Bed from 10 gallon tank?

yogoshio

yogoshio

New member
I've heard of people doing this, but does anyone have a diagram of how this works? Or how it's plumbed into a standard system?

I'd love to not have sand in the fuge and just use a 10 gallon tank filled with sand, or maybe a bucket or something. That way I get a DSB affect but without the in-tank hassle.

Any ideas?
 
That's exactly what I'm trying to figure out.

I want a RDSB for sure, but am trying to figure out how to plumb it. If possible, I'd like to have a 10 gallon or so tank on a shelf above my sump and have a pump feed it from my sump and then have it overflow back into the sump.

If it drains straight from the DT I worry about larger particulates getting caught up in it and I don't want that.
 
Good idea on top of your sump. I wonder if you can drill the tank without cracking on you using 3/4 piping.
 
I've seen some 5 gallon buckets used, but I was hoping for a little larger RDSB.

So a pump pushing water onto the top of one side, then a drain on the other back to the sump. Is it really that simple?

I've drilled 10 gallon tanks before. I could always use 1/2" too. Everything I read on that forum says 200-400 gph is ok. Is that enough flow going through? Should I get some more?
 
yogoshio said:
I've seen some 5 gallon buckets used, but I was hoping for a little larger RDSB.

So a pump pushing water onto the top of one side, then a drain on the other back to the sump. Is it really that simple?

I've drilled 10 gallon tanks before. I could always use 1/2" too. Everything I read on that forum says 200-400 gph is ok. Is that enough flow going through? Should I get some more?
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You will still need a PH to keep things flowing along with the return. Flow will be some what the key and time. The 1/2" should work also..
 
Ok. I saw a diagram of a 5 gallon bucket with just the pump and the drain, but a 10 gallon tank is quite a bit more surface area....

So, a 400-ish GPH pump, then a powerhead. This almost seems too simple, lol.
 
yogoshio said:
Ok. I saw a diagram of a 5 gallon bucket with just the pump and the drain, but a 10 gallon tank is quite a bit more surface area....

So, a 400-ish GPH pump, then a powerhead. This almost seems too simple, lol.
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It is simple!! But you will need snails and worms to keep the sand moving.. I have to buy snails all the time for my DSB. But the 400-ish gph sounds good ;)
 
Having found a few other articles, I think I'll stick with an almost filled 5 gallon bucket with some uniseals and no light, cryptic as they like to say.

A maxijet 1200 or similar will feed it from my skimmer area and drain right before the bubble wall. Since the surface area will be so small, it doesn't sound like I'll need a powerhead in there either, which would be nice.
 
I can only tell you from what I have read in the past and talked to the Old school members.. So many things have changed..

Give it a try and worse case you have to break it down..
 
I know what you mean...

I guess the real issue I'm having now is, do I use it as a fluidized bed filter or DSB. This will be a heavily stocked FOWLR system that I will also be running a fuge on to combat phosphates since a tusk and eel will eat anything I put in there....

The tank itself with be BB (faux sand bed) and the fuge will MAYBE have an inch of sand, but at this point I'm thinking none....

If DSB are to reduce nitrates, then I think the fluidized would work better for me since nitrates won't be a huge issue, since the main thing I want is to get rid of ammonia and nitrites. And the fuge will have a wide variety of macro algaes as well.

I need to read more before I post questions :vollkommenauf:
 
You will find so many pros and cons on this subject.. Will drive u crazy!! Its like the subject carbon dosing...
 
Ok, for nitrate removal I'll utilize my fuge, but for added biological filtration I will utilize a fluidized sand bed, rather than a RDSB, since nitrates in a FOWLR aren't really a huge issue.

So, for this instance, I'm planning this way (unless someone can let me know why it won't work):

The tank has a double overflow. One will be split one side to fuge, other side to skimmer area. Other drain will drain into a bucket 1/2 or 3/4 full of oolitic sand, and then will have a bulkhead/uniseal draining into skimmer area. The overflow will have roughly 400 gph coming through it. Will that be enough to keep the sand suspended but not flowing out of the bucket?

If need be I can always through another pump in the skimmer area and do it that way as well.

Opinions?
 
If I had about 30 lbs of sand in the bucket, and the drain near the top (so roughly halfway filled) how strong of a pump will I have? I was thinking maybe a 500gph or 700 gph? Would this be enough to keep it tumbling, if just a little?
 
Being just fowlr isn't this sort of overkill? I thought the whole point of the lr was ammonia conversion. I'm curious what the added benefit of this would be and why it would be better than biopellets or simply running carbon or something. BTW your thread encompasses my entire education on the subject other than a vague understanding of the concept but I'm always intrigued by your contraptions:D
 
Herbie said:
Being just fowlr isn't this sort of overkill?
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Yes, always a fan of this, LOL

why it would be better than biopellets
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Too many risks associated with even slight adjustments, just too much hassle for my taste

or simply running carbon or something.
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I am running carbon

BTW your thread encompasses my entire education on the subject other than a vague understanding of the concept but I'm always intrigued by your contraptions:D
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My hobby is tinkering with fish tanks, so this is what I do :)

And the overall is, I don't have a sandbed in the 110, so a fluidized bed will counter that IMO.
 
yogoshio said:
My hobby is tinkering with fish tanks, so this is what I do :)

And the overall is, I don't have a sandbed in the 110, so a fluidized bed will counter that IMO.
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gotcha. We all seem to have this odd "constant tinker" issue. I guess it's more about teh journey than the destination no matter what we tell our wives LOL I wonder if I can fit a fluidized sandbed into my stand, it just sounds so cool too. . .
 
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