Re-powering a canister with an external pump

[*Ci*]

I currently have 2x Oase Biomaster 850’s on my 84g Discus tank, which seem adequate, but I want to add an inline UV which will slow the rate, plus I’d like to get a bit more flow in the tank, overall.
The 850 is rated at 400gph, mine are filled with the stock media and the head height is at max. since the filters are lacated under the floor and the tank is tall. So, probably getting less than 200gph each, I would think. I would like to double that.

Can someone explain how to re-power these canisters with an external pump, please? I know nothing : )
What kind and size of pump - brands and links if you have them?
How and where to place them inline - pictures?
Additional on/off valves or disconnects?
Assuming you do not run the canister pump at the same time?
Anything else to know?

Thanks for your time and help!

 

[Pepere]

The 850 is rated at 400gph, mine are filled with the stock media and the head height is at max. since the filters are lacated under the floor and the tank is tall.

Well, first of all head height does not impose any flow restriction in essentially a closed system. The weight of the water on the outlet side do indeed impose any flow head loss, but that head loss is entirely made up by the weight of the water pushing down from the inlet side.

A canister filter does not have head loss like a sump does.

The reason to not exceed height requirements the manufacturer lists is solely to avoid the gaskets water holding integrity against the weight of water pushing down from the height…

So, categorically no flow loss occurs in canister filters due to distance from tank waterline. This is so frequently and hopelessly misunderstood by so many people….

I love the heaters in the Oases and I like the prefilter cartridge of the Oase, but I do find the flow from them underwhelming. On my 75 gallon I ended up going with 2 Biomaster 350s in order to get some semblance of adequate flow, and even at that I think it could be better…. I just feel the gallons per hour has to be rated with no media at all in the filter and next to no hose attached….

So lets sort of look at some basics.

First of all, it isnt just the pump, but the whole system of piping and the media. I used to build boats and we used relatively low power pumps in the plumbing system. With plumbing and head loss some people intuitively feel that if you have a restriction from say 3/4 down to a 1/2 inch, the 1/2 inch fitting restricts all flow down to what 1/2 inch pipe can flow. This is not how it works. The restriction causes the flow velocity to increase through the fitting and imposes head loss. Every component of the system imposes some head loss due to friction and turbulence. A right angle elbow fitting is the equivalent of adding 3 feet of straight pipe. Sometimes clients would ask for more powerful pumps to get better flow, and the better answer was to replace the plumbing with bigger pipes and reduce fittings. It would increase flow for less money and battery power to run the pumps…


You can certainly add a booster pump and run it in addition to the existing pump in the canister filter. The extra pump will be additive, the two working synergestically. You can nott however dramatically increase the flow above what the plumbing can allow though. The more you increase pressure on a given pipe size, the more that pipe will impose head loss through the system.

You might be better off though with plumbing a separate circuit using a pump to go through an inline sterilizer and into a separate nozzle or spray bar.


If you want to do this low cost, I would probably suggest getting a Sunsun canister filter with built in UV. I just bought a 304b for around $140.00 and the flow through that is more than through my 2 Biomaster 350s combined. I will grant you that all UV units are not equally capable and I would judge the one on the Sunsun suitable mostly for green water only vs deep sterilizing the water, but clearly it would have plenty of pump power to push through whatever sterilizer you had in mind…

 

[*Ci*]

Lot’s of good information there, @Pepere , thank you for taking the time to provide it!
I did figure the height did not matter in a closed system, but have always been unsure whether or not that was correct information. It does make sense, though.

I thought about adding a third canister to accommodate a UV, but I would really like for all the flow to go through my 2 existing spraybars and to boost the pulling power through the perforated bottom drain pipe that sweeps the tank floor clean (outlined in my journal here: A Symphysodon Symphony). Plus, I already have some inline UV units in my stash, even some fresh, unused bulbs!

I would guess that the hoses and pipes that came with the Oase 850 could handle the rated 400gph flow that they advertise? Maybe, to be sure, I could drill the spraybar holes bigger?
So, I would still like to hear about using an extra external pump - I know I have read about somebody doing this on ScapeCrunch, but can’t find the thread…

 

[Pepere]

Jeff Miotke added a pump and remived the impeller from his Oase Canister.

Do you have each canister filter set up independently currently, or do you have them plumbed together in the same intake and outflow?

Are you comfortable doing plumbing? Ie cutting and fitting together pipe? Either so,vent welding pvc, screwing in fittings, or pex plumbing?

 

[*Ci*]

Each filter has it’s own intake and out take pipe and I prefer to stick with hoses rather than hard piping, just for ease of removing the canisters for maintenance and for snaking the hoses through the holes I have drilled in the floor leading up to the tank.
Maybe @Jeff Miotke will chime in with details of his setup?
Can I just get a variable speed pump like this and attach the canister output hose to it?
Hygger pump

And put the UV inline either before or after the pump?

 

[Pepere]

Maybe @Jeff Miotke will chime in with details of his setup?
Can I just get a variable speed pump like this and attach the canister output hose to it?

Yes you can. And you will likely have similar flow and power consumption he is experiencing.

He installed an OASE Optimax 1420 pump , that cost$120.00, capable of flowing 1420 gallons per hour and consumes 78 watts 24/7 (about the same as a refrigerator uses a month… about 57 killowatt hours a month. About $15.00 a month at my electric rates. He is only getting around 250 gallons per hour through the canister and a co2 reactor using stock pipe…


As I said originally, sometimes the solution is not a bigger pump, but better piping.

I think the 16 mm internal tubing is way too restrictive…. My fluval 207 uses the same 16 mm hose to push 207 gallons per hour for 10 watts.

My Sunsun 304 b uses 20 mm internal diameter hose.

There are options that could use the larger diameter hose.. small increases in internal lumen size yields significant reduction in frictional losses…3/4 pipe can handle about twice the flow of 1/2 inch pipe…

 

[*Ci*]

Hmmm, I see. Ok, I will rethink the situation.
So your advice would be to re-plumb with larger diameter pipes? Do you think that would require new intake and outflows inside the tank, as well? @Pepere

 

[Pepere]

Do you think that would require new intake and outflows inside the tank, as well?

All sorts of options. You could just use reducers as you get to the inflows and pickups…. As I mentioned in first post, every component imposes some loss of head and it is cumulative…

I am actually contemplating increasing piping size for my Biomaster 350 and putin a new horizontal reactor with larger connection to see what sort if increase in flow I can get,

I would personally be inclined to just try larger hose to existing ports to see what sort of increase in flow you get, then if not enough the two filters could be plumbed to a hose via closely spaced tees and the fikter would just circulate water through the filter and the main pipe…. You would ten install a larger pump to give you desired flow into the hose…

Sounds complicated, but pretty simple in practice. There are readily available barbed fittings that adapt to both hose sizes…

I could draw some diagrams that make it all clearer..

 

[*Ci*]

I could draw some diagrams that make it all clearer..

Yes, please. It would help me and others who might be contemplating the same upgrade.

 

[Pepere]

I can work on it tonight after my Grandson gets picked up by Mommy…

 

[*Ci*]

I can work on it tonight after my Grandson gets picked up by Mommy…

Lol! I’m in that same situation once a week : )

 

[gnatster]

There is an excellent book on the subject. Aquatic Systems Engineering: Devices and How They Function, by Pedro Ramon Escobal. My local library has a copy; you might want to check with yours.

Can't find the book in my personal library, must have lent it out. I do have the CD that came with the book. It boasts, Works with Windows 95

 

[Pepere]

Ok. Lets start by addressing the need for new intakes and outlets going into the tank.

You dont need to, t
You can use adapters, but the more you optimize the plumbing, the greater the increase in flow will be….

I am guessing you have the biomaster 1, not the newer design. The valve that attaches to your hose has 2 sharp right angles. The new Biomaster 2 has a smoothly curved radius… so not only will you have flow reduction from a decrease down to 166 mm hose from 20 or so mm hose, and both decreases and expansions are effectively the same as adding several feet of extra hose, but each 90 degree hard turn provides as much restriction as adding 3 extra feet of hose. So by replacing those two valves per canister filter with a smooth U would be the same as reducing about 12 feet of hose. Can you see why Oase changed them?

So swapping out your intakes and spray bars and valves to larger diameter andu turns as opposed to hard angles and not needing to plumb in extra adapter fillings will yield significant reductions in flow disruptions.

For @around 30-35.00 you can buy the Sun Sun hose and intake pickup and an 18 inch long spray bars that fits and have the smooth u shape to go over the top of your aquarium. $60-70 for a pair to do both of the oase 850s it also has 2 generously sized hose lengths.

Amazon.com : SunSun Original Replacement Accessories HW304B HW404B HW704B Canister Filter : Pet Supplies

Amazon.com : SunSun Original Replacement Accessories HW304B HW404B HW704B Canister Filter : Pet Supplies

www.amazon.com

ImmersiveView

However it is definitely viable to just replace the main hose to start with and just leave a bit extra hose length should you want to make further reductions in restrictions later on.

Pex hose barbs work great on aquarium hose. The 3/4 hose barb makes a decent fit to 16 mm hose and the 1 inch pex barb can be coaxed onto the large 20ish mm hose that comes with the Sunsun 304b canister filter. Just use stainless steel adjustable hose clamps over them.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Apollo-1-in-x-3-4-in-Brass-PEX-B-Barb-Reducing-Coupling-APXC341/

Above is a 3/4 to 1 inch pex coupler that can convert from the 16 mm hose coming off your Oase to the larger hose size.

You could use them again to convert from the larger hose to 16 mm hose attached to your over the tank valve fittings.

If plumbing through a uv sterilizer that features16 mm hose fittings, rather than couplers I would use Pex Tees thT feature 2) 3/4 barbs and a single 1 inch barb

PLUMBFLEX 1 in. x 3/4 in. x 3/4 in. Brass PEX Barb Reducing Tee Pipe Fittings (5-Pack) 10335PXRT - The Home Depot

Compatible for potable water distribution and hydronic heating applications The Plumber's Choice Brass PEX Barb Reducing Tee Pipe Fittings is easy to install.

www.homedepot.com

Your 1 inch will attach to large size and the opposite side 3/4 will attach to 16 mm hose going to sterilizer. Flow prefers to go i a straight line so most will go into the uv sterilizer, but it restricts from 1 inchdown to 3/4 which will push excess water up the other 3/4 barb.. you will do the reverse on the other side if the sterilizer. You then attach a 16 mm hose between those two 3/4 barbs that allow a bypass of extra water around the sterilizer..

Uv sterilizers work more effectively with slower flow through them and longer dwell time…

Its late tonight, I will sketch a diagram out tomorrow to maje it clearer…

There is no question that a single additional Sunsun 304 B would be the cheaper option here, but I am fairly confident just replacing the hose and inlets, spraybars and over top valves would give a significant increase in flow from the existing biomaster.

I also have ideas to even dramatically increase flow from there at added expense of more fittings and an additional inline pump if the piping upgrade did not get you all you were hoping for….


But this is enough for tonight…

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

So, I would still like to hear about using an extra external pump - I know I have read about somebody doing this on ScapeCrunch, but can’t find the thread…

On both of my tanks in my signature (both journals) I don't use canister filters -- I use Prefilters and an external Oase pump! The Oase Optimax pumps come with attachments to natively fit/work with the standard 16/22mm aquarium hose size that the Biomaster filters ship/use.

You could do what @Jeff Miotke did, and just remove the impeller from your biomaster, use the biomaster AS a prefilter, and run an in-line pump downstream of it.

They just plug-and-play with the existing hose you have!

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

Ok. Lets start by addressing the need for new intakes and outlets going into the tank.

You dont need to, t
You can use adapters, but the more you optimize the plumbing, the greater the increase in flow will be….

I am guessing you have the biomaster 1, not the newer design. The valve that attaches to your hose has 2 sharp right angles. The new Biomaster 2 has a smoothly curved radius… so not only will you have flow reduction from a decrease down to 166 mm hose from 20 or so mm hose, and both decreases and expansions are effectively the same as adding several feet of extra hose, but each 90 degree hard turn provides as much restriction as adding 3 extra feet of hose. So by replacing those two valves per canister filter with a smooth U would be the same as reducing about 12 feet of hose. Can you see why Oase changed them?

So swapping out your intakes and spray bars and valves to larger diameter andu turns as opposed to hard angles and not needing to plumb in extra adapter fillings will yield significant reductions in flow disruptions.

For @around 30-35.00 you can buy the Sun Sun hose and intake pickup and an 18 inch long spray bars that fits and have the smooth u shape to go over the top of your aquarium. $60-70 for a pair to do both of the oase 850s it also has 2 generously sized hose lengths.

Amazon.com : SunSun Original Replacement Accessories HW304B HW404B HW704B Canister Filter : Pet Supplies

Amazon.com : SunSun Original Replacement Accessories HW304B HW404B HW704B Canister Filter : Pet Supplies

www.amazon.com

ImmersiveView

However it is definitely viable to just replace the main hose to start with and just leave a bit extra hose length should you want to make further reductions in restrictions later on.

Pex hose barbs work great on aquarium hose. The 3/4 hose barb makes a decent fit to 16 mm hose and the 1 inch pex barb can be coaxed onto the large 20ish mm hose that comes with the Sunsun 304b canister filter. Just use stainless steel adjustable hose clamps over them.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Apollo-1-in-x-3-4-in-Brass-PEX-B-Barb-Reducing-Coupling-APXC341/

View attachment 9420
Above is a 3/4 to 1 inch pex coupler that can convert from the 16 mm hose coming off your Oase to the larger hose size.

You could use them again to convert from the larger hose to 16 mm hose attached to your over the tank valve fittings.

If plumbing through a uv sterilizer that features16 mm hose fittings, rather than couplers I would use Pex Tees thT feature 2) 3/4 barbs and a single 1 inch barb

PLUMBFLEX 1 in. x 3/4 in. x 3/4 in. Brass PEX Barb Reducing Tee Pipe Fittings (5-Pack) 10335PXRT - The Home Depot

Compatible for potable water distribution and hydronic heating applications The Plumber's Choice Brass PEX Barb Reducing Tee Pipe Fittings is easy to install.

www.homedepot.com

View attachment 9421

Your 1 inch will attach to large size and the opposite side 3/4 will attach to 16 mm hose going to sterilizer. Flow prefers to go i a straight line so most will go into the uv sterilizer, but it restricts from 1 inchdown to 3/4 which will push excess water up the other 3/4 barb.. you will do the reverse on the other side if the sterilizer. You then attach a 16 mm hose between those two 3/4 barbs that allow a bypass of extra water around the sterilizer..

Uv sterilizers work more effectively with slower flow through them and longer dwell time…

Its late tonight, I will sketch a diagram out tomorrow to maje it clearer…

There is no question that a single additional Sunsun 304 B would be the cheaper option here, but I am fairly confident just replacing the hose and inlets, spraybars and over top valves would give a significant increase in flow from the existing biomaster.

I also have ideas to even dramatically increase flow from there at added expense of more fittings and an additional inline pump if the piping upgrade did not get you all you were hoping for….


But this is enough for tonight…

I'd be careful, brass fittings aren't always aquarium safe! I'd recommend Stainless Steel or thick plastic/PEX fittings. Some brass fittings might be fine, but in soft water they will leach copper, which isn't snail/shrimp/sensitive fish friendly. Otherwise great info

 

[Pepere]

You could do what @Jeff Miotke did, and just remove the impeller from your biomaster, use the biomaster AS a prefilter, and run an in-line pump downstream of it.

They just plug-and-play with the existing hose you have!

Yes, but look at the pump Jeff is using. Capable of something like 1,400 gph. Burns 78 watts 24/7/365. As installed in his vide he was pumping out around 250 gallons per hour.

That is an incredible amount of loss! And the loss is due to frictional losses through hose, fittings, canister etc…

The Oase optimax pumps also have adapters to pump through 1 inch ID hose. Vs 5/8 ID. That extra internal size will cut frictional losses down in half at least…

I sort of think the hose size is harming the flow through the oase Biomaster 850. Certainly the supplied valves to take water over the top is seriously imposing a flow restriction as Oase redesigned it for the Biomaster 2…

Bigger more powerful pumps will always cost more electricity to run them and it is not an insubstantial amount of money.

If you are running 50 more watts, you are looking at about $90.00 a year more at national average electricity cost. I think you could get more flow out if an Oase Biomaster 850 from new larger less restrictive tubing and better fittings than going with a more powerful inline pump and no added electricity cost…

When dealing with electric pumps, often times the solution is better plumbing rather than bigger pump.

I have 16 mm id tubing on my fluval 207 that pushes 200 gallons per hour…. The 850 is trying to push twice that amount. In boating, to double boat speed in the water, you need to increase horsepower by a factor of four. Water is a viscous medium. Once you get past a certain flow velocity, drag increases substantially. Nominal increases in pipe diameter can cut flow velocity in half…

 

[Pepere]

@Ci , the next time you do a water change disconnect the outlet from the spray bar as soon as the water gets below the spray bar and then stop draining water. Put a gallon bucket out of the outlet and use the stopwatch feature of your phone to time how fast your canister filter can fill that bucket.

From that you can know for certain how many gallons per minute flow you are getting through your system rather than just guessing how much.

Then, get a couple short lengths of hose, an intake and outlet and pull your canister out and attach those lengths of hose to the valve and pump some water from one bucker to the other. On e it is free of air and pumping well, time how quickly it pumps a gallon of water.

Then you can know what the Oase Biomasters moves in gallons per hour through the housing and media…

That way we can quantify how much loss you are getting through the plumbing itself.

Then next steps can be determined….

Having concrete numbers makes everything so much easier.

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

Yes, but look at the pump Jeff is using. Capable of something like 1,400 gph. Burns 78 watts 24/7/365. As installed in his vide he was pumping out around 250 gallons per hour.

That is an incredible amount of loss! And the loss is due to frictional losses through hose, fittings, canister etc…

The Oase optimax pumps also have adapters to pump through 1 inch ID hose. Vs 5/8 ID. That extra internal size will cut frictional losses down in half at least…

I sort of think the hose size is harming the flow through the oase Biomaster 850.

I totally agree with you, larger diameter tubing can majorly help improve flow, but I think Jeff's particular scenario has more to do with using the canister filter as a prefilter than the tubing size.

I use the same Oase Optimax 1420GPH inline pump to run my whole system on my 150p tank with 16/22mm (5/8") tubing. I have an inline prefilter, inline CO2 reactor, inline UV sterilizer, and multiple U-turns within the system. All on the 16/22mm tubing size.

I get about 1,000-1,100GPH. Since my tank's actual volume is approx 100gal, this is at least a 10x turnover. All with just standard size tubing and one inline pump! This was measured multiple times with a pitcher within the aquarium itself at the actual head height, with all the sponges and media installed.

I think you could get more flow out if an Oase Biomaster 850 from new larger less restrictive tubing and better fittings than going with a more powerful inline pump and no added electricity cost…

You might be right, but I think using the oase filter as a preftiler itself is the #1 most affecting factor in his system, not the tubing size (because again, I use VERY LONG lengths of 16/22mm tubing for my tank using the same inline pump and see nearly 4x his flow rate). I have at least 8-10ft of tubing in this whole system.

I thought about trying to upgrade my entire system to larger diameter tubing, but when I tested and found that I still get close to 1,000GPH with all the equipment, I thought it would be fine. And the tank is the best I've ever created, no doubt!

Just adding my $0.02 that increasing the tube diameter in @*Ci* 's tank would help, but not as much as just changing the system entirely (or even adding an inline booster pump like the Optimax 1420.

 

[Pepere]

You might be right, but I think using the oase filter as a preftiler itself is the #1 most affecting factor in his system, not the tubing size (because again, I use VERY LONG lengths of 16/22mm tubing for my tank using the same inline pump and see nearly 4x his flow rate). I have at least 8-10ft of tubing in this whole system.

I am now curious to test my flows with the system and running just the filter to see what sort of flows .i am getting on my system…. I will probablytest the fikter with all the media removed as well to compare..

Honestly I have found the flow out of the Biomasters rather underwhelming

Once you have hard numbers in various configurations you can figure out what to do after…

I could see switching back to one Biomaster plumbed as a Primary secondary system with an extra inline pump providing all of the flow through the tank and the biomaster pump just circulating water from and to the Primary line with closely spaced tees…

I wouldnt mind having a bit more flow in the tank myself.

 

[*Ci*]

… I use the same Oase Optimax 1420GPH inline pump to run my whole system on my 150p tank with 16/22mm (5/8") tubing. I have an inline prefilter, inline CO2 reactor, inline UV sterilizer, and multiple U-turns within the system. All on the 16/22mm tubing size.

I get about 1,000-1,100GPH. Since my tank's actual volume is approx 100gal, this is at least a 10x turnover. All with just standard size tubing and one inline pump! This was measured multiple times with a pitcher within the aquarium itself at the actual head height, with all the sponges and media installed.

I’m inclined to try just adding the pump as Rocco has it. I could measure with a pitcher first, but might be too lazy. I’ll be able to gauge an improvement by the force of the spraybars. Right now they don’t seem strong enough to push the water to the other side of the tank! (I made larger diameter, full tank length bars to replace the stock ones from Oase).

I think I could also get away with a smaller pump that the 1420, since I am shooting for more like 500gph.The hygger 1060 gph, I linked to in post#5 is only 33watts and the pump on the BioMaster 850 is 25w. If I turn it off and only use the hygger the increase in cost is minimal.