Fisher Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 (edited) My 1st HMF project was in a 29g tank; a single piece of foam installed on one end. I cut the sheet slightly oversized so the mat was tight, but didn’t bow. Along with the jetlifter, I put the water heater behind the mat too. Two inch spacers along the front and back glass, made of foam trim pieces, ensured the mat wouldn't creep toward the side glass and touch the heater. Obviously, an end HMF reduces swim length of the tank – which was a consideration I hadn’t thought of before. Here's the front view of my 1st 29g HMF. On a small tank, the space the HMF occupies is noticeable.A piece of 2” 30ppi poret is probably rigid enough to span 18", but I wasn’t willing to concede 4” of tank length, even though the next tank I was going to convert is 4 feet long. The corner designs I found require channel on the tank glass to keep the foam in place. Effective, but I didn't want the hassle of draining and drying the tank in order to do it. My intent was to build something I could just drop in.I found these on the weeb. They're made of plastic – couldn’t find them anywhere on our continent last year.The prototype is cobbled together from salvaged aquarium glass; the base is 7” square. I assembled the pieces with silicone sealant – not worried about bond strength because it won’t hold any weight. I am pleased with the cavity size; plenty of room for the jet lifter and heater in there.The silicone bead in the aquarium keeps the corner units ¼” away from the tank glass. Nice space for shrimp to hide. If I were to do it again, I’d make the back corner a 45o profile.To my shame, this has been sitting here empty and dry since we moved to Ontario 9 months ago. It’d be pretty easy to put channel inside the tank to hold the poret now. But I’ve made something that I can take out and exchange for the ol’ canister anytime.Take good care folks. Edited January 25, 2016 by Fisher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geleen Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 YOU'R ALIVE!!!!! Nice to see a post from you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syno321 Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 Interesting design! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisher Posted January 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 I was looking into this approach too, sans all the franken-pipe.No bend in the mat, no pore compression. Tweak the angle to maximize water flow through the mat. And we all could use more flow :drunk: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceturf Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 I've always wondered, how are these to take care of after a while? I tried a sponge on my canister intake, and it was forever problematic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoopkamol Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 It's just a glorified large sponge filter. Way I see it anyways. All filter setups have there uses Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geleen Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 I use this type of filtration in most of my tanks. Very happy to report that maintenance is very minimal. Some are in use for 2 years now without cleaning required. When the water level is different on the "pump" side by say more than 2 inches I drop it on the sidewalk a dozen times and reinsert it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceturf Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 This might be somewhat off topic - is 30PPI ok for shrimp? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geleen Posted January 26, 2016 Report Share Posted January 26, 2016 While I don't have shrimp, I do not see an issue if it is fitted well so they cannot get behind the filter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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