The clarifier is simply a 55 gallon drum that houses the garden fence material which comes in a roll, is cut up into sections and stuffed into the barrel. As mentioned previously the pump sits on top of the barrel and via a vinyl hose pumps water to the moving bed biofilter. Water enters the barrel via siphon due to gravity displacement. That is, as water is removed from the clarifier barrel the siphon compensates by bringing in water from the fish tank to keep the levels the same.
Here is the fence material pulled up. It's cut in 6 to 8 foot sections from the roll and bunched up in the tank. For cleaning it's just a matter of pulling up a section at a time and spraying it off in the clarifier. Then placing it temporarily in a clean garbage can or barrel.
Here is a clarifier barrel with a drain on the bottom to drain off solids after the siphon is capped. The drain is installed the same way as the fish tank or one can use a bulkhead fitting. I cut out the mesh of the shower drain to allow quicker clean out.
Once the clarifier is drained and scoured out of all remaining solids, a valve that is located on the drain hose, is closed back up and the tank is refilled with clean water.
The drain hose showing the inline ball valve:
Then the cap on the siphon is removed and the extension added. Next step is to pack the tank back up with the cleaned off garden netting, and place the pump back on top after it was temporarily in handing in the fish tank.
