My DIY surface filter

[perpetual98]

So I was looking for a way to get rid of some surface scum from my 20L that doesn't have a sump. My sister gave me some stuff that she had laying around for her betta tanks, and I decided to play with some of it.

One of the items that she gave me was a little Whisper filter. There's a small powerhead that was attached to the bottom and pumped water into the filter and up and through the filter material.

http://www.ericfeige.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/surface_filter1.jpg

I decided to reverse the flow and pull water DOWN through the filter and through the bottom. I had some goofy pump parts laying around and I rigged it so that instead of the little pump pushing water in the bottom and through the filter and out the top, a spare maxi-jet draws water in through the top and then out the bottom of the filter housing.

http://www.ericfeige.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/surface_filter2.jpg

Here's a shot from the back...

http://www.ericfeige.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/surface_filter3.jpg

Seems to be doing a pretty good job so far!

Later,
Eric

[Reptoreef]

hmmmm... very nifty.

[davejnz]

good DIY Eric,Alot of people with nano's could makes use of something like that.BTW,what are u useing to filter/remove the scum(carbon?)

[dakar]

Neat idea! We have 3 or 4 of those silly little filters arond here somewhere.
BTW what did you use to mate the MJ to the filter?

[perpetual98]

I had some weird fitting laying around in my garage. I was going to just use some flexible tubing (which would work fine) but I found something that appeared to be from one of my old pumps which worked.

Right now it's just the filter cartridge in there that has some carbon in it. The surface of the water is a lot better now. I'm hoping that in a couple days it will be crystal clear. :)