# Aquaclear Intake Redone



## AquaDean (Oct 29, 2009)

Aquaclear 20, 30, or 50 Intake Mod

This is an intake modification that will work for the Aquaclear 20, 30, or 50 HOB filters to make them shrimplet or fry safe and also makes cleaning the intake sponge really easy. Note this could work for other filters but I've only done this with an Aquaclear filter.

The premise is we need a sponge, screen, or something over the intake tube of our filters to keep shrimplets or fish fry from being sucked up the filter to their death. I'm sure this has been done before, perhaps many different ways, but as I was rummaging through my junk looking for a clean and functional way this is what I came up with.

This all came about because I picked up a couple 10 gallon tanks to hopefully set up to use for some shrimp grow out tanks. I had an Aquaclear 30 filter minus the intake pipe which I either cut up for something else or lost in the junk pile. So I went to my box of leftover pipes, fittings and what not so see if I had anything that would match up with the Aquaclear "U" tube without much jury rigging. I found a piece of 5/8" acrylic tube that just happened to slip perfectly into the "U" tube. Now for the sponge; and wait before everyone jumps in, I know that Aquaclear/Fluval makes an intake sponge marketed for the Fluval Edge it works great over the Aquaclear intake extension tubes. But remember I don't have one of those and being a DIY guy I was going in a different direction. Below are images of what I came up with very functional and easy to clean.

I started with the piece of 5/8" acrylic tubing (it was a little over a foot long), I taped one end up and filled it with table salt then taped the other end up. Then just like the bends in the DIY Lily pipes I heated it up over the stove about 4" from one end and then made a 90 degree bend as shown in the picture below.










Next I had one of these double sponge filters laying around, you can get them off of eBay for about $4.00 shipped and they have two sponges that are just the right size for an intake sponge. PM me if you need an eBay link.










You will only use a sponge and the tube that it slips on to. Save the other parts for some other DIY in the future.










You can see that I cut some of that 4" end of the acrylic tube off, but you need it there to make a good bend, and then cut the tube to the length I wanted it to come down in the tank. Remember that it is going to push up into the Aquaclears "U" tube so either test fit it or allow about 1 1/2" extra. It's a good idea to run a fine piece of sandpaper over the sharp cut edges. I have a band-aid on one finger because I didn't do this. Now the black piece of tube that came with the sponge filter is just a little bit too big in diameter to fit inside the 5/8" acrylic tube. It is close but will need a little help. So get yourself a cup of boiling water, I use a coffee cup in the microwave and make sure the water is at a rolling boil. Then dip just the end of the black tube into the water for about 30 seconds or so, it will become softer and you can then force it into the acrylic tube till it hits its own stop.










That's all there was too it except my reason for the 90 degree bend in the acrylic tube. This come to functionality; I like to be able to just reach into the take and pull the sponge off for cleaning without disturbing much. Having the bend lets me do that and it can be rotated in any direction that you want the sponge to face.










Sorry I don't have an in tank shot right now but you probably get the idea from the pictures.


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## Oscar17 (Mar 3, 2010)

AquaDean said:


> I started with the piece of 5/8" acrylic tubing (it was a little over a foot long), I taped one end up and filled it with table salt then taped the other end up. Then just like the bends in the DIY Lily pipes I heated it up over the stove about 4" from one end and then made a 90 degree bend as shown in the picture below.


That's a good idea, tanks for the tip. I suppose one could also use sand.


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## AquaDean (Oct 29, 2009)

I've tried sand before and in the heating process it will embed into the plastic tube and is just about impossible to get out. So I'd just use the normal everyday table salt, it works just fine.


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

I have done similar things with a slightly different end result.

Use the regular intake tube from any filter, but if it had a grid/mesh/basket then remove that. 
Or use whatever pipe fits your filter, the way the original poster found the vinyl tubing to fit. 
Make this long enough to reach the substrate. DIY folks have fun trying to test all sorts of pipe and tubing to find one that fits both their filter intake and the PVC that is the next step. 

Add a PVC Tee. The size will vary with the amount of water that you are moving and the pipe you are adapting it to. I have found that even a 1/2" PVC set up works OK, but 3/4" is better for higher flowing systems. Some filters just fit the one size or the other perfectly, it has nothing to do with water flow. Use what works. 

Out of the Tee add PVC pipe, 4" to 6" long. Then add some more Tees, with part sticking vertical. Add as many as will fit, about 4" -6" apart, across the back of the tank. 

Add a short piece of PVC into each of the Tees. This can be drilled with lots of holes about 1/4" diameter. 

Put a sponge over this piece of pipe. 
The sponges that come with the Aquaclear product line are about the finest that I use. Coarser seems better, but I do not have baby shrimp or fry in most of my tanks. 
A chunk of sponge about 1-1/2" x 1-1/2" x 3" will work for 1/2" pipe, or a bit larger (2" x 2" x 4") for larger pipe. Cut an X in one end of the sponge. No need to remove any material, just cut the X almost the full length of the sponge. 

Having more than one inlet for the filter slows the flow at each sponge so that baby fish can swim away. They are not stuck to the sponge by the pressure of the water flow. 

Using a coarse sponge works best for another reason: Inside the filter I usually have a somewhat coarse sponge, followed by medium and finer sponges and floss. If a finer sponge is over the intake then the coarse sponge in the filter is not getting to trap the debris. The sponge over the inlet is doing all this work, and plugs up pretty fast.


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