DIY Mini Canister Filter

[Pure]

For your air in the top of the canister problem...

Remove the pump, install a small bulk head fitting hooked to the same diameter tubing you've been using then relocate the pump in-line. This will not only suck all the air out of the filter, but also eliminate the extra hole needed for the power cord. You could even get fancy with this set up and hook up quick connect fittings. Dr Fosnsmith sell some that would work.

Nice DIY BTW.

[Orion]

http://www.exo-terra.com/EN/products...flo_250_i.html

This is the pump I am useing. I would love to put the pump inline on the return side, but I can't really figure out a way to do this. As you can see in the picture, the bottom of the pump, where the water intake is, is flat and not made to use any type of connections for the intake.

If you can think of a way to make this pump work inline I'm all ears, cause I would love too do that.

[Pure]

The pumps I have like that (not the same model or manufacture) the flat side can be removed, and on the inside it has a small tube opening just like ones made for in-line use.. Did you pull yours off to see if it was made this way?

If not well then yeah your kinda stuck. LOL

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...&N=2004+113833

[Orion]

I'll have to double check to be sure, but I'm pretty sure on this type the bottom is what helps hold the impeller in, so it's not going to work as good if at all without that bottom part. I know there isn't a tube on the inside like what your talking about.

What pumps are you usining that have that type of water intake?

[Pure]

Damn...that stinks. Well I am using these http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...&N=2004+113040 model 600. Pretty cheap too.

Edit: Dangit Orion, make the boards pick up the pace I wanna hit 1000 posts before I get offa work!

[Orion]

How good have those worked for you? It says that you can use them in-line or submerged, have you tried it this way?

I've had iffy feeling for azoo's products.

[Pure]

Actually I use them as filters/water movement in a lot of my pleco tanks and none of them have failed. I refitted one of these. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...&N=2004+113424 by removing the fine filter pad and tossed it in the trash. On the inside of this filter tube is a smaller diameter plastic screen tube. Wet dry filters sometimes use a tube shaped foam filter for a pre filter. I found this to fit perfectly over this internal screen tube and the outer plastic clamps perfectly around this foam. I then filled the inside of the screen with bio rings. The foam is large pored and works great for this application.

[Orion]

Nice pure. I've been meaning to pick up some of those quick filters for a while now. No particular reason in mind, but just that there seems to be so much that one can do with them, seems a shame not to have some around.

I'll have to pick up one or two of those pumps next time I make an order then. It would be nice to use something a bit more flexable. Do you know about what size the intake is?

I removed all of the hotglue, and siliconed everything saturday morning. It should be well set by this evening so I may hook everything back up and see how it works out. Since most of my problems with leaks was around where the electrical cord passed though the top, I used a small piece of tubing for the cord to go though. By doing this it allowed me to have a larger contact area directly with the cord and the silicone to hopefully allow for a better seal, as well as allowing the cord to flex a little bit more without being bothered by harming or weakening the seal any. I'm actualy not too worried about air in it anymore because as long as there isn't a large amount when the top is put on, the intake stays under the water level, and there aren't any leaks then air will not build up inside of it.

It would make for another interesting 'nano' project by adding a small inline Co2 reactor to this. Course not so sure I'm ready to start messing with the DIY Co2 agian.

I've also got pictures of the spraybar that I will try to get up asap.

[Orion]

This is the mighty spray bar that I've put togeather for the return water.







I didn't have an actual spray bar, so I used a piece of pipe that came with the rena's, drilled a few holes and gobbed up hot glue at the end of it to cap it off. Works rather well so far.

I knew that there was something better I could do for the intake and return water where it passes thought the container. I searched around Lowes and came up with this:



This would allow me to do a bulkhead type fitting, also allowing me to use 90 degree angles to better help run the flexible tubing without putting so much presure on it. For the intake I wasn't real picky, just needed something to hold tight. I used a 1/2" female threaded to barbed adapter:


To help get the fitting water tight I used o-rings on both sides of the male threaded part. One ring on the outside of the container and on on the inside. Washers really would have worked better than o-rings, but didn't pick any up at the hardware store so I just used what I had on hand. I also used teflon tape on the threaded fittings.

[Orion]

I also used the same basic principal for the return water. I used the same elbow piece, but a threaded cap on the inside for this one. Here's why I used the cap: I drilled a 3/8" inch hole in it, just a tad smaller than the pump outlet, heated the cap up with a heat gun (boiling it in water works just the same. The point is to get the cap heated up so that it will give a little bit allowing the end of the pump return to be squeezed in it.). This doesn't give a water tight seal around the pump outlet, but so far I've found it to be enough to allow minimal water leakage plus snug enough to keep the pump in place.