All Fluval Spec Mods

[MABJ]

Thanks, pepper. I agree. I blocked mine off with plastic now as well. I like it a lot. . But I did a lot of changes to my spec.

[tekkguy]

Okay, so I had originally intended to house a betta in this tank, but it has become a shrimp-only tank. While preparing to house the betta, I did two things to reduce the flow of the pump.

My first mod to the pump was described on page 2 - I cut a small hole in the outflow line so the water level in my pump chamber would rise and circulate since there's a heater in there.

The second was to put a Fluval Edge prefilter sponge over the outflow nozzle.

Now that I've decided on shrimp only, I don't even need the heater, and will probably remove it at some point, although I haven't yet.

I explained all of that to ask this question:

The filter sponge I put on the outflow is apparently full of mulm that made it through the crummy mechanical filtration of this tank. My shrimp are constantly feeding on it, and so are my pond snails. I can even hold a shrimp net in front of it and poke it with my finger to dislodge a whole bunch of nematodes, catch them, and feed them to the betta in the other room.

If I remove the filter sponge, I have nice flow in the tank and lots of surface movement. Currently, there is none and my floaters, although gathered at the filter overflow, seem to enjoy the lack of current. If I remove the sponge, will the shrimp care about the increased flow? Will the little random floaters (not even sure what species they are) care about having flow and movement on top of the tank? I am not injecting anything except liquid ferts, this is a very low-tech setup.

[MABJ]

Hey man, I never even thought that cutting the rubber tube would increase the water level in the chamber.


I'm not sure I could call mine low tech anymore but I hear you. So I always thought that mulm was dissolving and being converted into nitrate spikes, so I wanted to get rid of it. My solution was adding a filter in the back. This could also easily be attempted with a HOB, but I used a small canister.

I said that because the canister outflow is pretty strong. I get decent surface agitation, but I also get a lot of movement in the column.

Long story short, my shrimp are used to it. They enjoy it as long as it isn't disturbing the bottom where they rest. In my opinion it almost makes it feel like a bigger tank to them lol. Swimming against the current.

---

With your floaters.. It depends. When I had only a few, yes they didn't multiply.

When I covered 1/3 the tank with them, they thrived. It depends on if you can set it up so they're not disturbed too much.

[tekkguy]

I think I'm going to give it a try. I can always put th sponge back on. I just hate feeling like I'm breeding nematodes even if it is a good buffet for the shrimp.

And yeah, cutting that hole circulates the water in the pump chamber and keeps it a bit higher. Safer for the heater and better heating in general.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[second]

What about carefully drilling a small hole in the bottom side of the plastic outflow nozzle to reduce the outward pressure? I haven't set my tank up yet but I thought of doing this just in case the flow was too strong.

[MABJ]

The flow is controllable out of the box, so before you do that, double check that the flow is stronger than you like.

In an update, I have recently decided to disconnect the tubing to the pump outflow all together.

The pump will still pull water up, but I suspect it was pulling mulm straight through the tube and shooting it out..

This will also decrease the water flow a little, thankfully.

I just need a way to plug the hole. Hmm.

[second]

Keep us posted.

Originally Posted by MABJ

The flow is controllable out of the box, so before you do that, double check that the flow is stronger than you like.

In an update, I have recently decided to disconnect the tubing to the pump outflow all together.

The pump will still pull water up, but I suspect it was pulling mulm straight through the tube and shooting it out..

This will also decrease the water flow a little, thankfully.

I just need a way to plug the hole. Hmm.

[nwr2339]

The only mod I have done is with the lighting. I left the stock led light exactly where it is but attached a Fluval Mini CF to one of the sides and more or less created a higher intensity area for different plants that need a bit more light. I plan on cutting the led after there is proof to me that those plants I have directed the light at actually start to thrive.

[Rilly10]

Has anyone else replaced the stock light? I want to but not sure which I could get that would still be useable with the lid. I have a Betta in mine and don't want him jumping out :/ I was thinking of the Finnex FugeRay 16" but not sure how to attach it.

[tekkguy]

Originally Posted by Rilly10

Has anyone else replaced the stock light? I want to but not sure which I could get that would still be useable with the lid. I have a Betta in mine and don't want him jumping out :/ I was thinking of the Finnex FugeRay 16" but not sure how to attach it.

I responded to your question on the "other" forum along with pictures! The 16" sits on the lid over the tank section with no cutting of the lid necessary. It just sits up there.

[MABJ]

Originally Posted by Rilly10

Has anyone else replaced the stock light? I want to but not sure which I could get that would still be useable with the lid. I have a Betta in mine and don't want him jumping out :/ I was thinking of the Finnex FugeRay 16" but not sure how to attach it.

Look for LEDs/CFLs that clamp on glass one way. You can always post a link and I can tell you.

[MABJ]

Originally Posted by nwr2339

The only mod I have done is with the lighting. I left the stock led light exactly where it is but attached a Fluval Mini CF to one of the sides and more or less created a higher intensity area for different plants that need a bit more light. I plan on cutting the led after there is proof to me that those plants I have directed the light at actually start to thrive.

Hmm it looks a little awkward because of the tanks size. I think if you tanked the long led you wouldn't have enough light.

[Mumford]

Originally Posted by Rilly10

Has anyone else replaced the stock light? I want to but not sure which I could get that would still be useable with the lid. I have a Betta in mine and don't want him jumping out :/ I was thinking of the Finnex FugeRay 16" but not sure how to attach it.

I too can vouch for the 16"

It is just placed on the edges of the tank. The clear screws are extended out a tiny bit and it's a near perfect fit


- Mumford

[blink]

I don't really have any mods to the tank but I've been using a Marineland 18" doublebright for the light and it's been pretty good.
I've been using the tank primarily as a quarantine tank and just have some nasty hornwort and duckweed floating around on the surface and I've got to yank a handful of hornwort out every 2-3 weeks so the light is obviously doing some good.

[MABJ]

That's too bad! You should set it up with a nice scape.