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Ulli Bauer
Crustaforum-Team
Age: 34
Joined: 04 Mar 2008
Posts: 290
Location: Weinstadt
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Hi everyone,
in Germany this filter is taking fish and shrimp tanks by storm, it's highly efficient, quite easy and inexpensive to build and safe for shrimps and shrimplets.
The pictures are courtesy of rzeller of garnelenforum.de, thanks Ronny!
You need:
PVC cable ducts (20 x 40 mm) for interior use from a hardware store (the amount depends, of course, on the height of your tank),
a fine-pored filter mat (45 ppi) with a 50 mm thickness,
aquarium silicone,
an adjustable fountain pump, a powerhead or an air-operated foam filter (without the foam, though),
a hose that fits the pump outlet
a sharp knife,
an empty aquarium
Cut the cable ducts to the height of your tank. Clean the tank meticulously so the silicone adheres properly, then siliconize the cable ducts to your tank sides as shown in picture 1.
When doing so, avoid all gaps and holes. Water will always go the way of least resistance, if there are gaps between glass and cable duct the filter won't work properly.
Then you siliconize a leftover cable duct cover in front of the already-installed side ducts as shown in pictures 2 and 3. This serves as a gravel barrier and will make taking out and reinstalling the filter mat easier.
After that you cut the filter mat a little larger than necessary so it forms a curved bow when put into place; then insert it into the cable ducts. (See picture 4).
Slit the filter mat with a sharp knife in the upper section so you can put the hose through and position the fountain pump or the air-operated filter behind the mat filter. You can also install your heater there, your thermometer, your CO2 and whatever else you'd like to hide, as shown in pictures 5 and 6.
If you use a fountain pump it is highly recommendable to close the mat filter by inserting a filter mat top. This will prevent your shrimps from entering the filter and being chopped up by the pump.
If you don't like the sight of the mat filter in your tank you can sew moss onto its surface - this will not inhibit its function but improves the looks greatly.
Mat maintenance is very infrequent, you only have to clean the mat when there's a significant difference in the water levels in front of and behind the mat.
More on the theory behind mat filters, calculations and sizing: http://www.janrigter.nl/mattenfilter/
Cheers,
Ulli |
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Ulli Bauer
Crustaforum-Team
Age: 34
Joined: 04 Mar 2008
Posts: 290
Location: Weinstadt
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