Planted over-tank trickle filter

Hi all,
Some may remember that a while ago I tried to find the pictures of the drain-pipe based planted trickle filters, we used in the lab when we did the waste water work. I haven't managed to find the photos, but I've found a thread on "Loaches Online" where the poster has built a very similar system.
<http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=19431>



cheers Darrel

nice,garden and fish tank in one,cool.

Maintenance looks like it would be a pita lol

oh wow thats cool, like hydroponics using the water waste to go through the root system and clean out the end......thanks jk :thumbup:

Hi all,

Maintenance looks like it would be a pita

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No quite the opposite, because all the plants are out of the water maintenance is very quick and easy. If you use a relatively coarse material for the filter beds (we used rockwool blocks for planting and establishment and "hydroleca" for the filter material) the filter bed can be left undisturbed for years. You also have to remember that because oxygen is freely available, oxidizable organic matter doesn't build up, but is quickly broken down aerobically by the microbial biomass. The biological filtration capacity of these planted wet and dry trickle filters is absolutely immense.

The only problems we had initially was that I had a design where the water trickled back into the tanks through slits in the bottom of the drain pipe, these tended to clog with plant roots all the time. Once we modified it (to the system they use here) with the water flowing down the pipe, and cascading out of the end, it became almost maintenance free.

That would be my main suggestion for these filters, make them deeper, and with a much larger diameter over flow than you think you will need, otherwise a wet floor is eventually inevitable.

cheers Darrel

That looks really clever Darrel would work well above a pleco tank :clap:
I thought about setting up something like a planted gravel bed filter for our garden pond did not do it in the end. I just planted up the pond itself
Pete

would the additional weight not be an issue on the top of the glass tank or is it suspended from the roof ? cheers jk :thumbup:

Hi all,

would the additional weight not be an issue on the top of the glass tank or is it suspended from the roof ?

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I must admit I haven't really thought about it. In the lab the were supported on some fairly utilitarian scaffolding, and I just rested the smaller version on the tank tops. The tanks were all fairly old, so they were thicker glass and had strengthening bars at the top etc. but I don't think it should be a problem.

cheers Darrel

look like tomatoe plants as well, so if they fruit they would weigh it down a bit. Anyway I like this idea or hydroponics so to speak. cheers jk :thumbup: