# Plywood 250 gal tank for Pacu,filter help needed.



## deezdrama05 (May 19, 2005)

Hello all this is my first time here. I have a 3month old pacu who is outgrowing his tank rapidlly.I do not have the money to buy a huge tank so i decided to build a 250 gal tank with GARFS plans. I also dont have alot of money for filtration ect..... I was wondering if a small canister style pool filter would work? I have one from one of those 12ft above ground rubber pools that you see everywhere at wal-mart. I think it pushed 500 gallons per hour,or is it 500 gallons a minute?!? :neutral: I could pack the inside with filter media and on the return end i was going to make a acrylic overflow resevoir filled with bio balls. Does this sound like it could work well?Please help i need a cheap filltration idea.Thanks in advance.


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## TANKER (Apr 28, 2005)

Sounds like it would work to me. Just an idea tho, split the return and add in the diy fluidized bed as well for additional filtration. At only a 2-1 filtration ratio you are going to need all the help on filtering you can get. The addition of some sponge filters wouldn't be a bad idea either and the upside to these is they are very cheap.


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

Welcome, and its nice to hear someone working to get a bigger tank for their fish. There are many who use those pool filters for ponds so it should work for a tank. ALso be prepared to continue building bigger tanks as your little pacu can grow huge.


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## euRasian32 (May 19, 2005)

> I think it pushed 500 gallons per hour,or is it 500 gallons a minute?!?


Gallons Per Hour


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## fishboy (Feb 26, 2005)

what kind of pacu is it?


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## Celeste (May 13, 2005)

what we did for our pond is we took a 5 gallon bucket (you can use a rubbermaid container too if you need more filtration) and we took a 4" piece of PVC pipe cut to the height of the bucket plus another foot or so. we then cut a hole in the middle of the bucket lid to fit the PVC pipe down the center. for the filtration medium, we used furnace filter. it's blue and comes in large sheets, looks like a bunch of wires and fibers all woven together. we cut triangular slits in the bottom of the PVC pipe (inside the bucket) and used a sturdy saucer (for a plant pot) turned upside-down also with a hole in the center for the pipe and with several holes punched in it. the filter material is cut into disks with holes in the center for the pipe.

construction. drill one hole in the side of the bucket as close to the bottom as you can. this will be a drain that will be plugged with a cork or other stopper most of the year. 

drill another hole a couple inches from the top of the bucket. this is for out-flow. 

place the saucer with holes in it upside-down in the bottom of the bucket. place 4" round PVC into the hole cut in the saucer. remember, this end of the PVC should have slits cut in it to allow water to pass through. 
like this. pretend it's the pipe

|----|
|----|
|_/\_|

layer the filter material into the bucket. if you think you need more filtration, you can fill the top couple inches with polyester quilt batting or fiberfill.

use 1" flexible tubing and fit it into the hole you drilled at the top of the bucket. this is your out-flow into the pond. you can use PVC glue to attach it. this might take some creativity to figure out.

drill another hole (or just cut a notch like you did at the bottom) at the top of the PVC to allow another tube to pass through. this does not have to be water tight. push the tube a few inches into the large PVC pipe, but not all the way to the bottom. use a pipe cap to seal the end of the PVC pipe. this is the intake for the filter and the tube should run to the pump. 

ok, so the water goes from the pump, up the tube, splashes against the inside of the PVC pipe, airating the water. it then goes to the bottom of the filter and is pushed UP through the filter material and out the tube at the top of the bucket, back into your pond. 

and that is how our filter was made.


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