# DIY SBA Filter



## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

Hello Folks,
in this thread I want to show you a filter I build for my 2L aquarium. I designed it all by my self using some brain power (I hope) to come up with the idea. SBA stands for Stand Behind Aquarium filter and I just thought it would be a funny name. 










Here's how I made it; the first step was to find a fitting container for this purpose and I found one in our recycling bin. The container is the bottom half of a 2l apple juice container. Next was the question on what to use for filtering material. My decision was made based upon what I had lying around, this turned out to be filter wool and siporax (tubes with a lot of pores for bacteria to build on). The water first gets filtered through the wool to remove any small particles, and then through the siporax to remove toxins. The wool will also act as biological filtration though which is why I wont exchange it a lot.The water gets back into the aquarium by flowing through the four tubes. Since there is only one tube supplying water I don't think there should be a risk of overflow. 










Here's how it works, the water gets pumped to the bottom of the filter using a water pump rated at 3gph. It gets prefiltered by a sponge attached to the intake hose of the pump. I know that this isn't a lot of flow, but since this filter will be used on a 0.5g aquarium it will provide enough filtration as there's a lot of filtering material. The water then rises through the first set of filtering material, aquarium wool. The purpose of this is to remove fine particles of dirt, and to provide space for beneficial bacteria to build up. The water then continues to rise through the next set of filter material, siporax. This filter material is a bunch of small ceramic (don't quote me on that) tubes with a lot of pores which will provide ample of area for beneficial bacteria to colonize. Next the clean water rises to the top of the filter which is were it returns into the aquarium through four airline tubes.










If anyone has any suggestions on how to make this work better please tell me. If you wondered what I want to live in this aquarium in the future I was thinking along the lines of two cherry shrimp.


----------



## bullseyejoey (Aug 30, 2012)

Interesting... I could never think of anything like that!


----------



## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

lol, just look into your recycling bin and it is super easy to come up with stuff like this


----------



## fishtankguy (Aug 3, 2012)

Wow! That is very kool! 



Sent from my iPod touch using PG Free


----------



## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

I made this because my other filter idea didn't work out. First I tried to make a canister filter using a marmalade jar but my attempts to make it airtight using silicon glue didn't work. With this I will hopefully actually get a 3gph flow rate.


----------



## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

Well after letting the silicon dry somewhat I attached the filter and now its running. I also added three RCS just to have something living in there that isn't a plant  I will add pics once I know if they survive because I couldn't really acclimate them since the bag they were transported in was s big as the aquarium itself.


----------



## ZebraDanio12 (Jun 17, 2011)

Pretty cool Got male and female shrimp? You will get babies in no time.


----------



## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

That's what I was hoping. I have no clue if I got male or females but I'll check tomorrow. I just got all the cherry shrimp my fish store had. They were super expensive IMO so they better not die.


----------



## ZebraDanio12 (Jun 17, 2011)

Its hard to tell but females have a big rounded tummy and shorter antenna, while males have a slender body, are smaller , and have longer antenna. Also, you may be able to see the females saddles.Mine are very high grade ( i believe the have fire red in them. But the saddles are still visible.) thats a dead give away.


----------



## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I don't see any reason it shouldn't work. You might want to swap out the container after 6 mo. or so as plastics can get brittle and crack after time in the sun.


----------



## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

ZebraDanio: Someone on here already told me about the belly and saddle thing which is what I was gonna check for tomorrow since the lights are out now. I don't have a clue about grade but one of them looks pretty vibrant while the other two are just meh. They were the last three so I picked them up anyways even though they didn't look the greatest. How badly did I get ripped off if I payed 5$ a piece?

emc7: Theres no problem with switching the container as it is just an apple juice container. Theres no direct sunlight hitting it at any time of the day. I don't know what gave you that idea.


----------



## ZebraDanio12 (Jun 17, 2011)

My lfs sell them i think 3 dollars a piece. but i got 30+ for 29.99 off aquabid. Theres some great deals on there. And yes, there are sellers in Canada


----------



## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Without sun, you may get 2 years, but even in the dark, "disposable" containers don't last forever. Better to switch it before you have a mess. Put in on a calender so you don't forget.


----------



## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

I'm moving back to germany in less than two years, but I will be sure to change the container at least once. I was thinking about aquabit but going through the hassle of biding for something and then maybe not getting it was not worth it for me. Also I would have had to ask my parents to pay and let me repay them but I kinda bought these guys in secret because I know my parents don't want me to get any more pets.

On another note, does anyone know any online places in canada were you can buy fish besides aquabid?


----------

