24g Aqua Pod owers. need some Info

i bought a 24g aqua pod last year. and have had no problems YET! Till NOW. my fan has stop working and the screws that hold the plastic sheild over the lights has rusted and filled in the screws. thus making it impossible to remove..
My question is, the filter on this aqua pod is not the best. i was wondering if i just deleted the filter completey and filed the compartment up with LR rubble and added 32#'s of LR to the main Display. would that work better then say having my filter on the back?
inside my tank i have little less then 2 inchs of sand and 2 maxi-jet 900 powerheads with rotating heads. a 250watt heater. and my lights that came with the pod are 2x36watt PC bulbs. i m replacing the whole hood dew to the fact that the hood is no good now in a month for the sunpod 150watt HQ from dr.fostersmith.com.
Do u think the LR idea would be better?

[Ziggy953]

I dont know much about how the Aqua pods are set up or how the filter works on them as I have neve really looked at one too closely....with that said I think that LR rubbe is a great idea because it employs natural filtration. 2 other things...1. If you upgrade your lighting like that you will need to acclimate your tank to the new light. A few hours a day to start and increase it over about a week or so. 2. If you put new LR your tank (especially because it's only 24g) you will need to make sure that it is fully cured so as not to cause an ammonia spike due to die-off. That is all I can think of, I'm sure that many other people will lend their knowledge!!!! HTH and good luck!

thanks this will be my first HQI light.i will def. do .