How to DIY an AC 70 fuge

[ZooZ]

oh heyy i would do a reverse light cycle but its the light issue that bothers me...my tank is in my bedroom. I would really like to see some pictures of it and might try doing the same!!!

 

[Colin]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10204632#post10204632 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ZooZ
I got it..thanks for the help colin. Its up and running. Going to see nitrates in 2 weeks from now. Current nitrates are at 30ppm. The only thing i screwed up on is my baffle does not go all the way to the bottom. Theres abour a 1cm gao due to the narrowing of the filter. I have a sand bed in the filter too. Should i be worried about this??

You're welcome!

The sand will be bad if it gets in the impeller chamber. It'll be noisy and could lock up.

For my baffle, I used the side off of the basket that came with it and just stuck it in the slot on that side of the filter. I'm only using chaeto, though. No sand or rock.

I had a reduction in nitrate from ~20 to 0 in a few days. It's amazing.

--Colin

 

[ZooZ]

oh yea...if your getting such good results with just the cheato i might take out the sand when i do some maintenance work on the filter...Do you use some type of floss to get the big debris out of the water? Oh yea and should the cheato be rolling or moving at all because i dont seem to have much circulation where the cheato is.

 

[Colin]

The chaeto is pretty good at catching the big stuff. Pods and worms will colonize it and eat the debris.

I think the water flow comes from the bottom to the top, so it flows through the chaeto. Mine doesn't move at all.

--Colin

 

[vegasaquaria]

What do you use to cut the extension tube?

Thanks!

 

[Colin]

I used a dremel. You could probably use a hacksaw too.

--Colin

 

[ZooZ]

How does the flow come from the bottom if the baffle is siliconed to the base of the filter? Sorry i just want to make sure my refugium is running probably.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10290472#post10290472 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Colin
The chaeto is pretty good at catching the big stuff. Pods and worms will colonize it and eat the debris.

I think the water flow comes from the bottom to the top, so it flows through the chaeto. Mine doesn't move at all.

--Colin

 

[dynaschm0e]

I use a dremel also to cut plastics and PVC, but used a coping saw prior: it works well because there are many small teeth. -Trey

 

[Colin]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10296087#post10296087 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ZooZ
How does the flow come from the bottom if the baffle is siliconed to the base of the filter? Sorry i just want to make sure my refugium is running probably.

The baffle should either have holes in it, or an opening at the bottom.

--Colin

 

[ZooZ]

oh ok...im all good then..going to test nitrates tomorrow and see if it went down from 20ppm prior to installing the fuge.

 

[SherryCobySam]

would pods survive if you left the flow a little high? I'm thinking I'd like to use something like this as the only waterflow, filtration on the tank.

 

[Doc Hammer]

Just curious, but could these mods be used on a AC 20? Because I recently picked up one for the hell of it, it being on sale of course, and haven't found a legitimate reason to use it!

 

[nynex]

Im currently converting an AC 20 into one for my 3 gallon deco. I thought about an AC 30. But the AC 20 was on sale and I think that will be fine for a 3 gallon.

 

[bteagle93]

im in the progress of a 10 gallon reef, and i have a whisper 60 HOB filter....could i use this mod on that?

 

[Colin]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10634264#post10634264 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bteagle93
im in the progress of a 10 gallon reef, and i have a whisper 60 HOB filter....could i use this mod on that?

I imagine it would work on just about any HOB. The aquaclears work so well because they're HUGE. Size matters in this case.

--Colin

 

[Morn]

Sorry to drag this back out of the archives.

A quick question on the filter media, is it a purely carbon insert? In the UK I am having trouble getting something similar, so I am having to improvise here.

Is the insert in this project so act as a physical filter, or is it solely as a water buffer?

Cheers

 

[imrinkrat]

The filter for this truly acts as a physical filter, its a pad with floss on the outside and carbon on the inside... This will accomplish two things. 1. the floss will trap any larger particles and 2. the carbon will keep your water clear.... Using this on most nano tanks means that you have to remove whatever existing filtration you are currently using (especially with AIO's which exclusively use these filter pads as their only source of filtration after you remove the bio wheel). So technically you can use any sort of filter media that would fit or none at all just as long as you have other sources of filtration for biological, chemical, and mechanical.

 

[bristle]

I'm wondering about those that have modded their AC110/500s. I want to keep this in my bedroom. If I were to trim the impeller, would it be out of balance and rattle and make a lot of noise? Or is it very quiet the way it is?

How many blades were modified on the impeller. Anyone have any pictures to show how they did it and their results?

Thanks.

 

[Chuck-e]

ok, Quick questions here...

1) how well does putting a heater in this fuge work, is the fuge chamber big enough for say an average 110watt heater and does it effectivly heat your tank?

2)i'm setting up a 20cube and i'm not sure what size impeller to use? i need flow but i don't want my cube looking like a toilet flushing
anyone use this mod on a 20-24 cube

Thanks for any help!

 

[bpoore89]

That fish place runs an aquapod 12 with this very mod. They just swap out the impeller with one from one of the much small ac filters. The flow through the filter is only a trickle