ostrow
It's Dr. Goodluck Himself
Ok, so I had a thread before asking for Tunze brackets. Thank you to all who responded.
What I wanted to do was to create a Tunze Swirl without spending $200+. I had an extra Sea-Swirl that I got used at a great price. I thought I could mount the Stream on the swirl. After asking around there was some disagreement about whether that could or could not be done.
So, first I tested the weight issue, by attaching a Spears 1.5" True Union Ball Valve to the Swirl output, using elbows, couplers and pvc. It was a good 18" extended out and down from the swirl. A good test, heavier by far than the pump and much more extension in all directions. I ran it in a tub of water for a couple hours, no problems at all.
So then I had to figure how to mount my stream to the swirl. I took 2 1" pvc couplings, and smashed them together by cutting a piece of 1" pvc pipe so that the couplings would exactly fit. This provided a nice reinforced length of pvc.
I then drilled a 3/16" hole and used one of the long Tunze nylon screws to attach the mounting rail. Nice and solid. Then I slid on the hinge thingy onto which the pump hangs. Below that I drilled a second hole and screwed in another nylon screw. The hinge was sandwished between the two screws, with the latch mechanism pressed into place.
I pressed this onto the swirl output. I was planning to glue after testing but never had to.
I put the swirl with tunze attached into a 30gal rubbermaid tub and let it run (with pump off) for 2hrs. No problems. So I plugged the pump in. It ran fine for 6hrs, quiet, no heat, all seemed like it would be fine.
General consensus I got was if it was going to strip or break the gears it would have happened within a couple hours.
So then I took it out of the tub and hooked it onto the tank. Unfortunately, while it worked great, the pump mounted this way brings it just a tad too close to the front glass when it swirls. So it was kicking up too much sand. As I looked at it, I concluded that this would not settle down, it was going to kick up the sand at every pass until it was down to the glass.
This was unfortunate as 1) it looked very, very cool and 2) would have been a great source of circulation in the tank. If only one could control the rotation angle of the swirl.
But I post this because if anyone has an extra swirl, or can get one used for a good price, this works. For those with shallow beds, deeper tanks than 2', or BB setups, it should work well.
Thanks again for all who contributed. I am going to hang onto this in case I decide to try it again. It looked that good, I'm gonna ponder whether there's a way to prevent the sand disturbance.
What I wanted to do was to create a Tunze Swirl without spending $200+. I had an extra Sea-Swirl that I got used at a great price. I thought I could mount the Stream on the swirl. After asking around there was some disagreement about whether that could or could not be done.
So, first I tested the weight issue, by attaching a Spears 1.5" True Union Ball Valve to the Swirl output, using elbows, couplers and pvc. It was a good 18" extended out and down from the swirl. A good test, heavier by far than the pump and much more extension in all directions. I ran it in a tub of water for a couple hours, no problems at all.
So then I had to figure how to mount my stream to the swirl. I took 2 1" pvc couplings, and smashed them together by cutting a piece of 1" pvc pipe so that the couplings would exactly fit. This provided a nice reinforced length of pvc.
I then drilled a 3/16" hole and used one of the long Tunze nylon screws to attach the mounting rail. Nice and solid. Then I slid on the hinge thingy onto which the pump hangs. Below that I drilled a second hole and screwed in another nylon screw. The hinge was sandwished between the two screws, with the latch mechanism pressed into place.
I pressed this onto the swirl output. I was planning to glue after testing but never had to.
I put the swirl with tunze attached into a 30gal rubbermaid tub and let it run (with pump off) for 2hrs. No problems. So I plugged the pump in. It ran fine for 6hrs, quiet, no heat, all seemed like it would be fine.
General consensus I got was if it was going to strip or break the gears it would have happened within a couple hours.
So then I took it out of the tub and hooked it onto the tank. Unfortunately, while it worked great, the pump mounted this way brings it just a tad too close to the front glass when it swirls. So it was kicking up too much sand. As I looked at it, I concluded that this would not settle down, it was going to kick up the sand at every pass until it was down to the glass.
This was unfortunate as 1) it looked very, very cool and 2) would have been a great source of circulation in the tank. If only one could control the rotation angle of the swirl.
But I post this because if anyone has an extra swirl, or can get one used for a good price, this works. For those with shallow beds, deeper tanks than 2', or BB setups, it should work well.
Thanks again for all who contributed. I am going to hang onto this in case I decide to try it again. It looked that good, I'm gonna ponder whether there's a way to prevent the sand disturbance.
