dunl Posted January 6, 2005 Report Share Posted January 6, 2005 I got this idea from the internet, and have expanded it a little for my own purposes, so I thought I would share. This is a great filter to use in a fry or juvie tank, and helps to keep the water clean. At first glance it appears not to be working very well, but I dare you to give it a full week in a dirty overstocked fry tank, disassemble it and tell me it's not worth it's weight in gold!! I had this undergravel filter kicking around that I didn't want to use,an extra gravel vacuum that doesn't fit my DIY python, some extra air stones and air tubing, extra gravel (I use sand strictly in my tanks), and several Nutrafin Max Color Enhancing Flake Food tins. So I set off to work. The air line goes through the top of the gravel vacuum, and leaves just enough space for it to escape on the way out the top. If you use something different, as long as you have left an escape hatch for the air, you're in business. The air stone attaches on the end, and ends up inside the vacuum. Now put some floss into the bottom of the Nutrafin container...about 1-1.5" worth, and some up the tube between the airstone and the escape hatch. Place the vacuum in a vertical position just like you were attempting to vacuum out the container, and have the air line come out the top to attach to the air pump. Now fill the container about .5 to 1" from the top with gravel. The gravel will hold the vauum in place, even while it starts to fill with water. Now you are all set! Your water will be crystal clear in no time, and you can clean this while you are doing water changes. I have found that by using an old gravel vacuum and a nutrafin container, that you have room to place your water change vacuum in the top of the container and clean all the "filter jello" from out between the gravel. The first time I tried it was in a fry tank that I could never keep clean with a sponge filter. Now the water is crystal clear. How it works: Some people think that the escaping air sucks water into the filter. Close, but not true. As the air escapes, the water pressure in the aquarium forces the surrounding water to flow into the filter and up the tube, where it escapes with the air - getting filtered in the process. When I first tried this, I tried a wide filter, and the top of a plastic bottle as the interior tube. Too much surface area is a poor thing - go tall and narrow instead of wide, and you'll get better results!!! I'm writing this in a hurry, so it's probably not explained the best it could be, and I will be back to edit it I'm sure. PM me with any questions about this! Dunl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted January 6, 2005 Report Share Posted January 6, 2005 Neat idea I"ll have to try it sometime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishManTy Posted January 6, 2005 Report Share Posted January 6, 2005 Hmm... isn't that like an advanced sponge filter, in theory? Looks tempting, maybe I will try to construct something like that.... The food container, was it plastic, or tin? or what? Got any pictures of the finished product and or in use?? Thansk Ty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunl Posted January 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2005 Yes, kind of like an advanced sponge filter. I found that the sponge filter I had clogged too easy, and then didn't filter the water as well. However, the sponge that I was using was quite dense, and something like the AC sponges would probably be more efficient. By using a couple of inches of gravel, there is more space between the pieces for waste to get trapped, and the floss polishes everything else off. You would need to change the floss on a bi-weekly or so basis, but that is about a 2 minute job to do. The food container is a white plastic, with a label that removes very easily. Being white plastic, it looks very non-descript to anyone who walks by your tank. I will try to get a couple of pics on two variations of this to show you. On one filter, I used the charcoal insert for an undergravel filter as the main tower. I never use undergravel filters, and had this one given to me, so I don't know how common this type is. If it's very common, then many people will find something to use that will fit perfectly in a Nutrafin container. Hopefully, people can make use of all those "useless" undergravel filters laying around...... Dunl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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