Filter intakes

[dishmando]

Sorry for the minor postings........

But i was thinking of cutting the length of my filter intake tubes down so they only sit in the water just enough to pickup......WATER!!.... heheh

Just a safety precaution in case a hose were to blow off the filter exhaust port @ the filter itself. This way it would only suck up a minimal amount of water before starving itself thus possibly saving me alot of water damage, seeing as that my tank is on a carpeted 2nd floor. (living room)

Even my HOB penguin 350, i wanted to cut the tubing down to a shorter intake.

possible?

[Drumachine09]

Dont worry about posting too many questions. Thats what we are here for.


How short are you wanting to cut it down to?

[kimmers318]

I frequently cut my intakes shorter due to the fact that I like sand substrate, and have fish that will bury into the sand kicking it up, so I keep it at least 3" above the floor to have less sand sucked up if this happens. Just check your tubing to make sure if you cut it down everything will still stick together (some tubes have narrowed ends and if you cut them they will no longer seat into the next piece). Also, you might want to consider adding a powerhead near the bottom of the aquarium to keep the flow going since all of your water flow will now be much higher up and this could possibly create "dead" spots in the water as it won't get moved around.

[Lady Hobbs]

Like Kimmers, I cut 6 inches off my Emporer uplift tube (it was wayyyyy too long for my tank even) and cut about 2 inches off the Penguin uplift tube when switching to sand. A hack saw worked great.

However, you still want them long enough to suck stuff up from the bottom. Cutting them too short will do you no good at cleaning up debris and will pick up bubbles from the surface if cut too short making your filter make loud noises. Uptake tubes should be about 3 inches from the bottom of the tank.

[RobbieG]

If you cut them too short you'll also be taking a chance that you'll start sucking air when your water evaporates. Most of my tanks will lose an inch or even two depending on the weather in between weekly water changes if I don't keep them topped off.

[A340]

My filter is uncut .... :ezpi_wink1:

Seriosly though, none of my HOB filters make it past half way down to my substrate, the only real modification I do is to add a piece of foam around the intake valve to reduce any chance of sand getting into the filter.

[dishmando]

to answer drummachine, i was thinking a couple of inches below surface level. Possibly 2 max.
Im always on top of my water and make sure to make up for any evaporative loss asap, so im not worried about the "starvation" issue Robbie was talking about.

I would definitely take kimmers idea with the powerhead. I was looking at this model. (Zoo Med Power Sweep 228 Powerhead)

so? so?........!!!