A Couple Super-Quick Filters

[Dan F]

I try to never bring home a fish I don't have anything set up for, but it was my birthday...

I threw these two filters together while the tank was filling.

One is a Rio 2500 with about 20" of 3/4" PVC drilled full of holes attached to it. I wrapped it in a double layer (twice around) of dual density filter pad and used a little fishing line to secure the pad. Filter complete. Almost. I attached a couple AC sponges with a zip tie to isolate the vibration from the Rio which quieted it right down.

The second filter is a Powerhead 402 with a piece of 1/2" PVC drilled full of holes attached to it. I cut a slit in an old AC sponge, pushed in the PVC, and it was done.

I inoculated the tank with some gravel gunk from an established tank. With only an 11" TSN in the 185 gallon tank, everything worked out great. I changed about 30% of the water after one and two weeks and siphoned out any junk I noticed.

 

[cichlid2006]

wow. if your filter ever broke and you have a powerhead lying about. nice one for quick fix/emergency. good bit of innovation there.

 

[fishdance]

Another suggestion is to add a small hose or pipe on the output of the powerhead and then bury the whole powerhead in a flowerpot full of established gravel. It does much better mechanical and biological filtration than filter pads and your gravel is already seeded. When you stop the powerhead to clean, it doesnt drop all the gunk back into the tank. I use 20L buckets and big powerheads for 10,000L ponds this way.