Project: Aquarium Filter
A self designed and made aquarium filter, With two iterations
Why did I make it?
The basic idea behind the aquarium filter to have a good filtration system for a basic 60L aquarium, that looked nice. This meant not an weird out of place filter with pump combi that u can by at the fish store. This is why it is a black plexiglass divider at the back. This way the filter blends in with aquarium scape as a back ground. This with as an extra advantage of having a bigger filter capacity.
How does it work?
The filter works by having a underwater water pump at the back of the aquarium behind layers of sponge and the plexiglass divider. This way the water is forced through the sponge, where beneficial bactaria live that transform harmfull things like amonia in things that are a bit less harmfull for fishes. The sponge material also filters out debree from the water making the water look cleaner. The pump than returns the cleaned water through a PVC pipe back at the frontside of the plexiglass divider, without the water going through the sponge material again. To keep the sponge material in place a back brace was also put in place. The divider and back brace were made on a lasercutter and glued in place with silicone sealant.
Different iterations
There have been two different iterations of this filter. The first one worked from front to back, and having small holes all over the plexiglass divider. However when in use this proofed difficult to clean. This is why the second iteration only had holes one side of the divider and sponge material stacked from left to right and after that the water pump. This wat the sponges where easier to remove, making cleaning easier.