DIY Filter Project

[tropicalfish]

Hello All!
I am new to this forum.
I decided to share my work-in-progress project to get some "improvement" ideas. I am working on a two chamber canister filter which will be for my 10 gallon hex. This AquaClear in my tank is rated for 30 gallons and I will soon move that to the empty 30 gallon.
The containers are plastic and glass. They both have plastic screw on caps.

The first chamber is the filter chamber, which also contains the pump. Water will come down into the filter and flow upwards into the chamber, then get pumped to the second chamber. The second chamber, the glass jar, contains the heater, and water will spiral around it from the top back to the top. At the bottom of the jar are round clear glass marbles for weights. These two containers are clear.
The heater is a VISI-Therm 50 Watt.
Since I am working on this with no additional purchase, I will try to fit in the penguin powerhead 550. The impeller broke a while back, and I found an unneeded Top Fin 60 impeller that works perfectly. pictures next:

Note: Sorry for bad pic quality, camera broke so using webcam
[img=http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/6149/picture86dx5.th.jpg] [img=http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/7158/picture85ux1.th.jpg] [img=http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/4409/picture84jj8.th.jpg] [img=http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/2603/picture82tt0.th.jpg] [img=http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/8753/picture80hm1.th.jpg] [img=http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/8451/picture79yc8.th.jpg] [img=http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/2125/picture78bm3.th.jpg] [img=http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/7862/picture77pm0.th.jpg]

Forget the hole labeled "AIR IN" on chamber 2.


oops sorry the images didn't come out right. Will try to fix it next time...
just click the link thingies

 

[DeFeKt]

looks good, 1 thing.
I would put the thermometre in the tank, that way it won't depend so much on great amounts of flow to get a correct reading.

 

[tropicalfish]

okay. Should I keep the marbles in there? they seem to touch the base of the heater when they are in there.

 

[DeFeKt]

if they are not bouncing around hitting the heater i don't think they would pose to great a problem.

What is the extra weight actually for ?

 

[tropicalfish]

Hopefully to prevent tipping over on accidental bumping. Also, it looks better, because my stand does not have a back, and my bookshelf is RIGHT NEXT to the fishtank, so I am putting the chambers on one of the shelves.

 

[tropicalfish]

I changed a few things...
First chamber container
Pump

The pump was too big, and secondly, I broke it :O
The container was too small, and the screw on lid was too hard to use.
I am using a rubbermaid container which is rectangular shape, and much taller. Also, it has a pop-on/pop-off lid. I will use 4 binder clips to secure it.

Sorry about the offtopic pictures. I copied the whole list so some pictures must have gotten in.

 

[tropicalfish]

I was thinking.. Is it possible that I can stick two small metal rods in each container, then hook it up to a LED lamp and electrical source? Is it safe? If it is, should I use the positive side or the negative side?

 

[zacusmaximus]

Wait, what are you trying to do with metal rods, leds, and an electrical source in regards to your filter? I'm consused as to what the end-use/purpose is for those particular parts.

 

[tropicalfish]

Oh, It is just a quick indication that water is inside both chambers.