Materials :
-Bottle: Can be any plastic bottle on earth.
-Tube: I used the handle of the bowl sponge thing that had to be thrown out. All plastic pipe is fine.
-Media: gravel, sponges, floss, ceramics, LEGOs, diamonds, etc. It's all good.
-Air Stone: Should fit inside the tube.
-Air hose
-Air pump
-Check valve: Optional (but not really)
Tools:
- drill
-Saw (hack or other kind. "I have a bread knife.)
-Hobby knife
Step 1: preparing the lid
I have an old Nalgene bottle for this project because:
1. it study
(2) it has a relatively large capacity (1 liter)
3. It has a wide opening for easy maintenance.
The first step is to prep the lid for drilling. The lid has a swivel on the top that keeps it attached to the neck of the bottle. Fortunately, it snapped immediately with a slight jerk; I'm not sure if this was due to bottle aging or if the connection is poor. Still, I definitely expected it to be more of a fight.
Step 2: drill the lid, place your pipe in the hole
Allusions that are fully determined.
This step will be easy for those who have a carving drill bit. I have a combination of a 5/8 bit, a bit like grinding, SA knife and brute force. Make sure you don't make the hole larger than the outside diameter of the pipe; the extra space between the tube and the lid will let water bypass your media, making it less effective. So get it tight, do it right.
Here is my Nalgene lid with the treated kitchen sponge tube. Why is there an extra hole in the lid ?! Stay tuned...
Step 3: drill the bottle
Next, some holes in the bottom of the bottle. This is where the water enters the filter so that you can decide on the number, size and location of the holes. You want them to be off the ground so they don't get blocked by the tank substrate, but not too high as the area between the holes and the bottom is essentially dead space (the air stone will pull water up into the bottle .
I got my holes about half an inch off the floor and 1 inch apart.
Step 4: adding the air stone
The original plan was to expose air stone inside the pipe. Problem was: what was going to hold it in place?
Enter the above extra hole in the lid! I went the airline hose through this hole and then connected the air stone and put it inside the pipe. Ta-da! Stays perfect.
A note on the position of the air stone: Basically, you want to maximize the water directly at the bottom of the pipe, lifting the action generated by the air bubbles. Not just on the middle or the top of the pipe. And in no case under the lid, where the bubbles only accumulate in the bottle.
(The air stone in my picture is actually a bit too high ... to do what I say, not how I do it.)
Step 5: putting it all together
Lastly, insert the media of your choice, screw the lid on, and you're done! Remember that putting the water bottom up will flow so the coarser media will flow under the finer things.
Mine has plain black gravel and filter floss.
Step 6: the tower in action!
Connect the airline hose to an air pump with a check valve and you're in business!
Here is the filter that sowing healthy bacteria in my main tank. Hope you guys had this Instructable, and feel free to ask questions or leave comments!
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