The primary reason for building this was I have a 40 gallon tank sitting basically on the ground and that makes it really hard to prime canister filters, as most of them pump water out, not in.
My version pumps water into the filter, instead of out. With the output being larger than the input, pressure build up is not an issue. This way I can turn the filter off to clean and easily turn it on again without priming.
This pump is pumping water up through 1/2" vinyl tubing to a double threaded bulkhead at the top of this 2 gallon bucket. You could save a lot of money going with a 5 gallon bucket. I paid more to have a smaller, more manageable bucket with an integrated gasket lid. Requires less filter media.
The bucket is filled with bio balls and some filter floss.
The water flows out of the bottom of the bucket through a 3/4" bulkhead and down vinyl tubing to a sch40 pvc 90 to a tube I drilled a line of 5/32" holes in.
The design definitely fits my needs better. Unsure yet if it actually filters better or worse than one youd buy. The GPH is pretty good, so it may actually be better.
And without the cost of trial and error, it could be cheaper than buying one too.
https://i.imgur.com/Su4Nsm0.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/2fZ23Jn.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/m2pNroE.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/hI9yInj.jpg
I doubled the length of this pvc pipe fyi.