Do not seem to find such a topic.maybe i do not know how to search for it

Particularly interested in keeping water as clear as possible,but find it  hard to find

 

Not sure if this is help or not but here goes.

 I raise catfish in similar tanks.  What I do is simply build a water purifier out of a big paint bucket and place it on top of the tank and use a small submersible pump to pump the tank water in to the bucket and clean and airate the water. Plus I change the water  regularly. I found 20 fish to a tank best to have them good mature size in 3 months. In my buckets I put rocks in the bottom,then charcoal in cloth bags,then sand in large cloth bags so it spreads thinly over top everything and lastly on top of it all I put loose cloth material to catch the big stuff and slime. I clean the filter once a week. Works for me. And scrub the tanks clean when you change the water clean it all out every time.

 

Edited September 12, 20169 yr by lovelomsak

Is this a concrete tank?  How many fish will you have in it?

 

Here are some vids that should help:

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVzNcU8EnwU

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N45FP6ctLes

 

have you built the tank already? Do you need info on what to build, or how to filter the water?

Mrs had the tank made by a couple of BLOCKIES while I was away one day.So dimensions are as above.

There is a draining tap to empty,run a small aerating pump during the day,but have no filter set up yet. She has 50 fish,has no idea how much to feed them daily,the supplier in the market has no idea!!

She has a  plant that floats on the surface and multiplies furiously .I read that floating parcels of Barley straw clears water well. Would rice straw do the job.another suggestion  Hydrogen Peroxide.

Any help appreciated,not quite sure wher I am heading   Thanks  everyone

If you look at this link it shows you a very simple cheap filter that seems to work well.  

 

I have some tanks of that same dimension. Not optimal, particularly for cleaning, but usable. 

Here's how I filter them.

Make a stack of concrete rings beside the tank. Make the stack higher than the top edge of the water tank.

Before you stack them up. The bottom ring needs to have a funnel shaped bottom (use concrete) with an opening at the bottom and a 1" or 1 1/2" pipe leading out the side of the ring with a valve on it. This is the drain for trapped solids. At the top of the stack there needs to be another pipe, this time at least a 2" which will lead from the stack back to the tank. A slight downhill run for the pipe is better than level.

Than get yourself a (approx) 100 watt pond pump ( the cheap Chinese ones work just fine) and have it pump water from the tank to the stack. Preferably so that the water creates a vortex in the stack. The rotating water will help draw out solids.

The return water to the tank will also make the water in the tank rotate if you place the return pipe parallel to a wall. And if you let the water drop a bit, it will also create aeration. In fact I let the water drop in to the stack as well, so there is aeration in the stack too.  Once a week or two you can turn off the pump and drain the stack. It will be loaded with nutrient rich poo. 

This is not a filter so much as a solids separator, but that it is the most important task of a filter, and it provides water movement and aeration which is good for healthy biocultures.  I have been using it for years already and it is very simple to operate.

Now having said all that, catfish really like to muck about on the bottom, and they will constantly be stirring up the detritus. So if you want koi pond type clarity, you will have to spend a lot more money. This system will give you healthy water though, but you will need to do water changes too.