Gideyon Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 (edited) This hobby has encouraged a DIY imagination for me, but I've never really had to do anything with my one and only tank, other than a modest mod on my HOB. But today, while I'm in the midst of rebuilding that one tank, I found myself making my own box filter to help me get out the cloudiness produced by my substrate. I used one of the soup containers from Chinese take out (although I think this was Vietnamese take out). Used a blade and cut a hole on the lid. Then used a drill to drill holes around the lid, and then around the top of the container. Then stuck in the aquarium co-op sponge filter inner components. It was a prefect fit. Anymore perfect, the weighted portion would also fit, but it doesn't. Judging by the color of the polyfill, I'd say it's working well alongside my HOB (also stuffed with polyfill). Although I messed up and accidentally squeezed the polyfill in the HOB and l the dirty water came out. First time working with this stuff..... D'oh Edited August 12, 2021 by Gideyon 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted August 13, 2021 Share Posted August 13, 2021 There's something so satisfying about trying DIY. Even if later on you realize there's a lot of better or easier ways to do something, the healthy pride of doing things yourself is part of the joy in this hobby. Keep going! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted August 13, 2021 Share Posted August 13, 2021 I really like this idea it seems very handy. You said the base did not fit in. Did you cut a hole in the bottom and attach to the base outside or just remove the base and leave it off? I would like to try this for a plant grow out I’m setting up with some guppy fry. I have the sponge and poly pad (not the Chinese takeout though🤣) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideyon Posted August 13, 2021 Author Share Posted August 13, 2021 On 8/13/2021 at 6:36 AM, Guppysnail said: I really like this idea it seems very handy. You said the base did not fit in. Did you cut a hole in the bottom and attach to the base outside or just remove the base and leave it off? I would like to try this for a plant grow out I’m setting up with some guppy fry. I have the sponge and poly pad (not the Chinese takeout though🤣) I just didn't include the bass. I wasn't sure how a hole in the bottom would affect the pull. I used gravel to weigh it down, but it wasn't enough. So what I did was slightly open the lid in the tank, let water get inside, and then close it. It rested on the substrate fine after that. Finally I'm at a point I can disturb the substrate and not have too much dust kick up. I prefer the polypad (co'op) for polishing. But I didn't want to waste it on this. Polyfill was sufficient for this temporary purpose. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GardenStateGoldfish Posted August 13, 2021 Share Posted August 13, 2021 Pretty cool! I was just getting ready to DIY my own box filter full of crushed coral to add buffering capacity to my water, the plant load is so heavy now nitrates stay between 5 and 10 but KH will drop to 0 and then ph swings, so I’m doing water changes for KH and not nitrate reduction, if I can add in a large box filter I think it would be pretty cool, although aesthetically it may be prettier to have like 4 small clear ones rather then one large black one so I haven’t fully decided yet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick_G Posted August 13, 2021 Share Posted August 13, 2021 Great idea! I have a diy box filter in my goldfish pond. It’s just a box with some gravel and a Scrubbing pad for a pre filter. I’m amazed how well it works! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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