Items needed:
Bottle- like the plastic pop bottles NOTE: for tanks larger than 20 gallons, use a 2 litre bottle.
Aquarium gravel
Filter wool
PVC pipe
Airline tubing
Air pump
Activated carbon (if wanted)
Small piece of sponge
Tools needed:
Knife
Scissors
warm fork (or something to poke small holes into the bottle)
Start with the bottle. Take the bottle, and find where the it comes flat. Cut the top of the bottle off with the knife. Make both pieces smoother with the scissors. Take the top, and poke holes in it with the warm fork. Press the PVC pipe into the mouth of the bottle. The side that you cut, should be at the bottom, with the end of the pipe about an inch above the cut end. Take the bottom of the bottle (this piece should look like a cup), and gently press the bottom of the top piece (the one with the pipe) down to the bottom of the lower half.
Now you can begin to add the media etc. Add a layer of gravel just under 1/3 of the way up the bottle. You can also add carbon if you wish. Take your filter wool, and fill the bottle about sn inch from the top. NOTE: do not get anything in the PVC pipe or the top half of the bottle that is now in the bottom half. Now that you have your media in the bottle, you are ready to get your airline tubing. Put the tubing all of the way to the bottom of the bottle. Hold it there, and cut a piece of sponge that will fit in the PVC pipe, around the tubing. This will help keep the tubing in the bottle. Connect the tubing to the air pump, and place the bottle in your tank. Turn on the pump, and the air will act as a vacuum, and pull the water through the filter. It is normal for bubbles to come out the top of the pipe.
You now have a cheap, working aquarium filter. Change the media and wool as needed. Tou NEVER need to change the gravel. If you do change the gravel, use gravel from the tank, not fresh gravel. There in no need to ever rinse anything with tap water, after you have started to use it. You can watch a video on how this is made on youtube.
If you have questions, I will try to answer them. Also, if I have left something out of am not very clear, I will fix that- just tell me.
Bottle- like the plastic pop bottles NOTE: for tanks larger than 20 gallons, use a 2 litre bottle.
Aquarium gravel
Filter wool
PVC pipe
Airline tubing
Air pump
Activated carbon (if wanted)
Small piece of sponge
Tools needed:
Knife
Scissors
warm fork (or something to poke small holes into the bottle)
Start with the bottle. Take the bottle, and find where the it comes flat. Cut the top of the bottle off with the knife. Make both pieces smoother with the scissors. Take the top, and poke holes in it with the warm fork. Press the PVC pipe into the mouth of the bottle. The side that you cut, should be at the bottom, with the end of the pipe about an inch above the cut end. Take the bottom of the bottle (this piece should look like a cup), and gently press the bottom of the top piece (the one with the pipe) down to the bottom of the lower half.
Now you can begin to add the media etc. Add a layer of gravel just under 1/3 of the way up the bottle. You can also add carbon if you wish. Take your filter wool, and fill the bottle about sn inch from the top. NOTE: do not get anything in the PVC pipe or the top half of the bottle that is now in the bottom half. Now that you have your media in the bottle, you are ready to get your airline tubing. Put the tubing all of the way to the bottom of the bottle. Hold it there, and cut a piece of sponge that will fit in the PVC pipe, around the tubing. This will help keep the tubing in the bottle. Connect the tubing to the air pump, and place the bottle in your tank. Turn on the pump, and the air will act as a vacuum, and pull the water through the filter. It is normal for bubbles to come out the top of the pipe.
You now have a cheap, working aquarium filter. Change the media and wool as needed. Tou NEVER need to change the gravel. If you do change the gravel, use gravel from the tank, not fresh gravel. There in no need to ever rinse anything with tap water, after you have started to use it. You can watch a video on how this is made on youtube.
If you have questions, I will try to answer them. Also, if I have left something out of am not very clear, I will fix that- just tell me.
