What do you do with a list of surplus stuff like this?
1 12vt 750gph livewell pump
1 cartridge filter housing
1 Brand new RV garden hose
1 16vt. HP printer powersupply unit (w/ghosted printer)
1 110vt wall switch
1 12vt indicator light
assorted leftover PVC pipe ends and fittings, filter foam, floss and chunks of a broken reptillian heat rock, teflon tape o-rings, etc.
and last but not least 3 meat and driftwood eating Plecos
with their turd cutters in need of some tuning...
Awhile ago there was this thread that had a device that was used for servicing aquariums...all self contained to vac out debris and make bottom cleaning much simpler...
I had the stuff in the list above laying around, so I had this idea to make something that I could use between W/C's to rid the tank of those pesky ammonia producing Pleco parades, that mine seem to enjoy draping all across the tank decor.
You know the kind that they doo right before you are showing off your prized Aro, to the pasty faced, weak stomached neighbor, who is always stopping by to see what you are working on today?
I started out by making the top of the cartidge filter work in the reverse direction from stock. Instead of the OEM cartridge, I made a 1" PVC standpipe with 12- 3/8ths inch holes on one end and placed it "holes down" in the can.
Then I made a rubber gasket out of thick truck-innertube, to seal the top the housing to the standpipe when the unit is screwed together.
I filled the "can" with floss foam and reptile rock, loose so as not to impeed the flow too much, but still mechanically filter out the bottom debris in the tank. All this stuff can be hosed off in the sink when needed, no problem.
For some H20 flow I took the 750GPH livewell pump and o-ringed it into the top housing on the outlet side. I did this to prevent any leaks from dripping water onto the floor, if any of the connections should ever work loose.
On the intake side of the housing I put a 10' section of the RV garden hose with the female fitting that is factory installed. (always nice to have a 3/4"MPT to 3/4" MGH adaptor on hand) On the other end I put some PVC pipe pieces stepped up to 2" for a nozzle to vac with...
Lined RV hose is approved for potable water so I think it'll work fine...
Of course my now 40' RV hose needs a new Female fitting,
but hey, whatcha gonna do with a perfectly good hose this time of year anyhow, right?
Now to power this contraption, I originally was thinking a motorcycle battery, but decided against it, because of having to recharge it. If it is anything like my cordless drill driver, it wouldn't matter if I had 12 batteries, they'd ALL be dead when I needed them.
The Warden reminded me about the old HP printer power converter I been coveting forever. A quick check of the voltage...
Yeah man! 16vts DC.
So I soldered a "power on" light, inline and then to the PCB in the powersupply. I used a simple wall switch I had laying around on the 16vt side positive wire...
Time to see what she does....
I hung the pump into my sump with the cartridge outside...flipped on the switch and put the hose in the tank.... after a few seconds of priming by holding the hose near the outlet bulkhead, she took off!...Yeah buddy, once primed this litttle sucker does it...
All I had to do was get the nozzle close to the bottom and the crap would disapear...I put my palm over it and it thumped tight to my hand...Cooool!
I use a rubber ball to plug my outlet bulkhead to the sump. and the flow is enough to keep the main pump wet...Just a bit of throttling back and the level in my sump stays constant...
Another use for this will be as my 12vt backup in case of power failures. I'll need to get some connector plugs to be able to swap out the Powersupply with some clips for a deep cycle marine battery...The outlet on the 12vt pump is already fitted to feed my wet/dry...just plug and play...
Thanks Chompers for inspiring me to get my tweek on
, and make the warden happy for cleaning up my messy pile of
"aquarium crap, that you don't use anymore"
as she refers to it...
Peace ~Ben
1 12vt 750gph livewell pump
1 cartridge filter housing
1 Brand new RV garden hose
1 16vt. HP printer powersupply unit (w/ghosted printer)
1 110vt wall switch
1 12vt indicator light
assorted leftover PVC pipe ends and fittings, filter foam, floss and chunks of a broken reptillian heat rock, teflon tape o-rings, etc.
and last but not least 3 meat and driftwood eating Plecos
with their turd cutters in need of some tuning...
Awhile ago there was this thread that had a device that was used for servicing aquariums...all self contained to vac out debris and make bottom cleaning much simpler...
I had the stuff in the list above laying around, so I had this idea to make something that I could use between W/C's to rid the tank of those pesky ammonia producing Pleco parades, that mine seem to enjoy draping all across the tank decor.
You know the kind that they doo right before you are showing off your prized Aro, to the pasty faced, weak stomached neighbor, who is always stopping by to see what you are working on today?
I started out by making the top of the cartidge filter work in the reverse direction from stock. Instead of the OEM cartridge, I made a 1" PVC standpipe with 12- 3/8ths inch holes on one end and placed it "holes down" in the can.
Then I made a rubber gasket out of thick truck-innertube, to seal the top the housing to the standpipe when the unit is screwed together.
I filled the "can" with floss foam and reptile rock, loose so as not to impeed the flow too much, but still mechanically filter out the bottom debris in the tank. All this stuff can be hosed off in the sink when needed, no problem.
For some H20 flow I took the 750GPH livewell pump and o-ringed it into the top housing on the outlet side. I did this to prevent any leaks from dripping water onto the floor, if any of the connections should ever work loose.
On the intake side of the housing I put a 10' section of the RV garden hose with the female fitting that is factory installed. (always nice to have a 3/4"MPT to 3/4" MGH adaptor on hand) On the other end I put some PVC pipe pieces stepped up to 2" for a nozzle to vac with...
Lined RV hose is approved for potable water so I think it'll work fine...
Of course my now 40' RV hose needs a new Female fitting,
but hey, whatcha gonna do with a perfectly good hose this time of year anyhow, right?
Now to power this contraption, I originally was thinking a motorcycle battery, but decided against it, because of having to recharge it. If it is anything like my cordless drill driver, it wouldn't matter if I had 12 batteries, they'd ALL be dead when I needed them.
The Warden reminded me about the old HP printer power converter I been coveting forever. A quick check of the voltage...
Yeah man! 16vts DC.
So I soldered a "power on" light, inline and then to the PCB in the powersupply. I used a simple wall switch I had laying around on the 16vt side positive wire...
Time to see what she does....
I hung the pump into my sump with the cartridge outside...flipped on the switch and put the hose in the tank.... after a few seconds of priming by holding the hose near the outlet bulkhead, she took off!...Yeah buddy, once primed this litttle sucker does it...
All I had to do was get the nozzle close to the bottom and the crap would disapear...I put my palm over it and it thumped tight to my hand...Cooool!
I use a rubber ball to plug my outlet bulkhead to the sump. and the flow is enough to keep the main pump wet...Just a bit of throttling back and the level in my sump stays constant...
Another use for this will be as my 12vt backup in case of power failures. I'll need to get some connector plugs to be able to swap out the Powersupply with some clips for a deep cycle marine battery...The outlet on the 12vt pump is already fitted to feed my wet/dry...just plug and play...
Thanks Chompers for inspiring me to get my tweek on
, and make the warden happy for cleaning up my messy pile of "aquarium crap, that you don't use anymore"
as she refers to it...
Peace ~Ben
