Go on, have a laugh - you know you want to. Blue Peter time

Big John · Post by **Big John** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 11:05 pm

So, anybody who's been following my foray into the world of fishkeeping - Koi in particular - will have been reading my 'confuddled newbie' thread & thinking 'that's never going to work - what an idiot' (or maybe you were thinking 'good for you, have a go, hope it works out for you').

Well, from scouring these forums for info on building a trickle tower & wondering if it could be made a little differently, I thought I'd give it a go.

I already had the media from a couple of box filters so my only expense was the bits & pieces to make up the actual tower...
A grand total of Ã‚Â£14.98.
Everything went well for the first hour (that's when I was chucking it together) then things started to go 'slightly' pear-shaped...
I decided to have a double wall of mesh for strength[img]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/sludg ... 11f99d.jpg[/img]
The pegs help hold it together whilst I add the plastic ties.
I also used the ties to fix the mesh to the sieve
[img]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/sludg ... 52e81f.jpg[/img]
Next, I added a second sieve, this was to be the top layer
[img]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/sludg ... ffbd84.jpg[/img]
I then drilled a series of holes to form a spray bar - 8mm holes at 50mm centres, 7 rows all offset by 30deg. into 32mm pvc pipe
[img]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/sludg ... cf37d3.jpg[/img]
The end was blocked off & this was fixed into the top bucket.
[img]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/sludg ... f799ff.jpg[/img]
And finally, the collecting point, outlets were added (borrowed from a box filter and 'spacers' were placed in the bottom (borrowed media).
[img]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/sludg ... IM0451.jpg[/img]

I assembled the whole contraption, attaching the supply pipe to the side for added stability.

I never realised my Aquashift st4000 pump could be quite so powerful!
The inlet pipe has a 90 deg bend top and bottom. The top of the unit is some 8' higher than the pump. The water is pumped via the filter through about 8 metres of pipe and yet the pressure blew the gasket out of the top bend & was really too powerful, so some water was splashing out of the sides.
Sorry, no pics of the finished product, too busy sorting everything out

Oh well.
Mark II
I'll be 'borrowing' the jap mat out of my box filter to provide a more solid wall around the mesh so any stray drops will be absorbed & run down to be collected.
I have 2 spare pumps which are less powerfull. I'll connect one of these up & see how it goes.
Aside from the major pressure problem & some water loss from the sides, the experiment went rather well.
The upper section was filled (14" deep, 12" diameter) with the green thingies & the bottom section was half green thingies & half flocor.

Looks better than Tracey Island

Bob Hart · Post by **Bob Hart** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 7:10 am

Nice one John, great set of pictures.

Great to see some experimenting going on. It often takes a few re-builds before you get something which looks simple to actually perform how you want it to.

Keep updating the thread with your progress please

Big John · Post by **Big John** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 8:50 am

[img]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/sludg ... IM0452.jpg[/img]

I think I could use a deeper & wider bucket at the top for markII & maybe I'll ditch the white pipe & feed my pump hose through the side of the mesh & up through the media.

Gazza · Post by **Gazza** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 6:17 pm

Nice one John and i am sure you will soon have this off to a tee

When i first did my QT filter i made one out of a bin and thought that will do and i will change it when i get some boxes.......well that was over a year ago and its still working

fatherted · Post by **fatherted** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 9:01 pm

That is great John. I love all this blue peter stuff.

GERRY5 · Post by **GERRY5** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 11:17 pm

john ...nobody is gonna laugh at some body trying something to improve there fishes habitat , since i first met you i have followed with interest your zest for koi keeping and thirst for knowledge in this field and i believe you have learnt so much in so little time i feel you are to be congratulated on your efforts, its a learning curve for all of us trying to improve , some things work some dont but we will all keep on trying , keep up the effort and keep us all posted with your findings .

mekoi · Post by **mekoi** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 1:29 am

Hi John,

Mate, I'm laughing all the way(the good laugh kind)

You just gave me some fantastic ideas

Thanks for sharing John, much appreciated

Big John · Post by **Big John** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 6:44 pm

ok, so I found a bigger bucket (with a cracked bottom) and a smaller pump - 1650lph.
The smaller pump had fittings on it for a fountain - the tube was just the right size for Wickes blue pipe system.
Managed to find an adaptor to utilise the pushfit pipes - only 15mm though.
[img]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/sludg ... IM0454.jpg[/img]
drilled a piece of 15mm pipe to act as a shower & re-assembled my trickle tower c/w foam sides to stop water splashing out...
[img]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/sludg ... IM0455.jpg[/img]
It ran fine but I decided that it didn't look very stable.

In my shed I just happened to have a couple of old kitchen bins...
The bases were concave - not very conducive to trickling water as it would all go to the edges - so I cut them out & used a bit of leftover plastic mesh to create a base, held in with plastic ties.
[img]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/sludg ... IM0456.jpg[/img]
Half filled the bottom bin with media (some flocor & some green thingies (what are they called?)) before adding the top bin and shower pipe...
[img]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/sludg ... IM0458.jpg[/img]
Sliding the two together, I fixed the upper one about 8" above the media in the lower by drilling & securing with plastic ties.
As luck would have it, the bins sit very nicely in the hexagonal planter to which I had already added the overflows (used 3 plant pots to keep the bin off the bottom.
Set it all in place & plugged in the pump - which works a treat...
[img]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/sludg ... IM0459.jpg[/img]
Once I set up my pergola, I will steady the bins on a post.
[img]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/sludg ... IM0460.jpg[/img]

I would have still liked to see a crossflow of air through the media. At a later date I may cut some vertical slits in the sides - but not really sure how this will affect the stability.
& that's another story.

Gazza · Post by **Gazza** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 7:45 pm

Hi John,

Well you have been hard at it and looks like you getting the hang of this now

Could you no put the bigger pump on this now to give you a good flow

I like a bin for a filter...heres one i prepared earlier

[img]http://www.koipix.com/gallery/albums/userpi ... G_2300.JPG[/img]

[img]http://www.koipix.com/gallery/albums/userpi ... G_2148.JPG[/img]

[img]http://www.koipix.com/gallery/albums/userpi ... G_2560.JPG[/img]

Big John · Post by **Big John** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 9:16 pm

Looks interesting.
Trouble is that my main pump is 4000lph, wouldn't that wash all the good bacteria off?

GERRY5 · Post by **GERRY5** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 10:42 pm

nope . the good bacteria would stay the dead would dissapear, if you thought the flow was to fierce you could always choke it back a bit or even put in a tee piece one diverting into your shower.looking better now john

Big John · Post by **Big John** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 11:03 pm

I thought that the idea of a trickle tower was to put a gentle flow of water over the surface of the media to allow the good bacteria time to act?
So what you're saying is that I can have the same system fed from my main pump?

GERRY5 · Post by **GERRY5** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 11:14 pm

high john ...a trickle tower is run as mark (macaws fly) states at between 200-500 gallons per hour , a bakki shower is run a lot faster with flow rates above 500 gallons an hour and they both work , what i suggest you do as your main pump is 4000 ltrs or approx 800 galls an hour is split the pipe into two via a tee piece and two valves and run both your main filter and the tt choking down via the valve to reach the desired flow over the tt media thus achieving a flow of what ever suits , also when you clean your main filter you dont need to turn off the pump as it will still feed the tt and vice versa

Gazza · Post by **Gazza** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 10:25 am

Hi John,

As you know Gerry loves a bit of plastic and pipe and has built a couple of these before.I know we often call them TT but normally we are trying to pump water over them a bit faster depending on what we are trying to achieve and what media we use.

My BST (Bin Shower Tower)

is pumped directly from the bottom drain with an Aquamax 8000,this is 8000lts (1750gph) and the tank is around 500gls so i am turning the water over fairly quickly and it all seems to work fine

mikey boy · Post by **mikey boy** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 10:44 am

i have just done a bakki type shower with stacking crates and my pump is 3250 gph and i can say in a week the water is looking very good