Our Recommended Durso Standpipe Strainer

This is the recommended Durso Standpipes strainer which we fabricate and sell.  We have sold a lot of these and not a single one has been returned.

As you can see it is very large (about 10.5 inches long) and has a lot of slots.  We make it out of 1.5 inch PVC and is available for fittings using 1.5 inch and 1¼ inch PVC (shown left).

It would take a considerable amount of debris to clog this.

DIY Intake Strainer

Brian W. Schott provided this DIY version. Brian like the idea of using foam to filter out food and other detritus from settling in his sump. Many reefers discourage using foam filters as to much natural plankton will also get filtered out.

Brian used 1¼inch PVC pipe inserted into the Standpipes Opening. He then used a miter saw to cut 1/8 inch slots down the pipe. Then he slid the Amiracle prefilter sponge over the slots and placed a 1¼ inch endcap over the opening.

DIY Intake Strainer Installed

This is Brian W. Schott DIY strainer (pictured above) installed on one of our Durso Standpipes.

Perforated Pipe Strainer for Durso Standpipes

Douglas J Miannay provided this picture showing how he reused the perforated pipe that came with his original Oceanic standpipe kit.

A 1¼ to 1 inch slip reducer is placed into the standpipe opening of the Street-Ell. The perforated pipe fits into the reducer. Doug used a 1 inch threaded reducer on the bottom on the perforated pipe and capped it off with a threaded end-cap.

The draw back of this method is the reducer needed to make it fit, it will impact the volume of water the standpipe can process.  However, it can be successful for lower flow applications.

Light Diffuser Strainer for Durso Standpipes

These are the very first known custom intake strainers ever made for the Durso Standpipe.

Jim Fox, a fellow reef keeper, made me these intake strainers that fit snugly right into the Street-ell opening.  These strainers are made from light diffusers.

I had a Valonia bubble growing in the overflow chamber release and got sucked into the Durso Standpipe and lodged at the restriction near the bulkhead.

When this happened, the other Durso Standpipe handled the flow (mostly) and only about 2 gallons of water spilled onto the floor.

From that point on I always use and recommend a good quality strainer.