_Eric_ Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 I have a Tidal 55 on a 29 gallon. Happy with the filter overall, but I haven't found a good way to put a sponge on the slot inlets that doesn't look janky. Obviously the inlet tube is normal, but the other inlets aren't obvious to me. Anyone out there have any tips for something that would look ok, keep out large particles, and be fairly easy to service? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 I would suggest starting here. Please let me know if you have any questions. You're talking about the skimmer intake? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Eric_ Posted July 23, 2022 Author Share Posted July 23, 2022 Tha On 7/22/2022 at 3:20 PM, nabokovfan87 said: I would suggest starting here. Thank you - that is very helpful. I’m talking about the skimmer intake as well as the one at the bottom of the body. I’d like to add some sponges here to 1) prevent large items from getting sucked in there - mainly plant leaves at this point and 2) to add some resistance to these intakes to pull more from the tube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 Skimmer I would seal, the others I would only open up the lower intake (it's not really a full opening) by cutting out the little half-moon piece and removing the mid-water blue dial. then you seal the hole where the dial is leaving the other mid-water intake slots open. That should alleviate pretty much all of the issues you're having with chunks getting stuck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Eric_ Posted July 23, 2022 Author Share Posted July 23, 2022 Removing the half moon is a good idea. I don’t mind the skimmer in general - just really like a prefilter for all the reasons I put one on my tube on other HOBs. leaves are getting sucked into the skimmer and then gumming up the filter as they rot. A prefilter would block it. I can rig up some 2” foam i have but wanted to see what others did as I thought that would look weird On 7/22/2022 at 3:20 PM, nabokovfan87 said: I would suggest starting here. Thank you - that is very helpful. I’m talking about the skimmer intake as well as the one at the bottom of the body. I’d like to add some sponges here to 1) prevent large items from getting sucked in there - mainly plant leaves at this point and 2) to add some resistance to these intakes to pull more from the tube. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 On 7/23/2022 at 7:16 AM, _Eric_ said: Removing the half moon is a good idea. I don’t mind the skimmer in general - just really like a prefilter for all the reasons I put one on my tube on other HOBs. leaves are getting sucked into the skimmer and then gumming up the filter as they rot. A prefilter would block it. I can rig up some 2” foam i have but wanted to see what others did as I thought that would look weird I totally understand. Let me know what prefilter you end up with. Because of the pump cover it's a bit weird but you can definitely have a prefilter once you block off the skimmer. Before that, I don't think it is viable and I don't think the pump actually inputs water from the bottom intake. Majority of it is from the mid-level and overwhelmingly from the skimmer. I tried the ACO large size, it didn't fit and was pushing on the glass / rim. I purchased it for the larger tidals, need to get a smaller one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huckleberry Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 On my tidal 55 I pulled out the motor and put a square of aquarium foam on the inside of the skimmer slots. For the bottom intake, I zip tied aquarium foam around it. It definitely pulls from the bottom intake. After doing mods to the removable basket, i was still dealing with bypass so I removed the basket altogether and did my own thing with foam, floss and the bio bag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 On 7/24/2022 at 8:06 AM, Huckleberry said: After doing mods to the removable basket, i was still dealing with bypass so I removed the basket altogether and did my own thing with foam, floss and the bio bag. If you can, please post some details here! Do you have any secret to getting the water to flow downward or did you set it up to flow left to right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Eric_ Posted July 25, 2022 Author Share Posted July 25, 2022 On 7/23/2022 at 3:12 PM, nabokovfan87 said: I totally understand. Let me know what prefilter you end up with. I just used some ACO coarse sponge and rubber bands for the upper inlets. Doesn’t look the best but could be worse. I’m leaving the tube uncovered as I don’t want to add any additional pressure drop to that path. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrencher_Scott Posted July 25, 2022 Share Posted July 25, 2022 On 7/22/2022 at 12:22 PM, _Eric_ said: I have a Tidal 55 on a 29 gallon. Happy with the filter overall, but I haven't found a good way to put a sponge on the slot inlets that doesn't look janky. Obviously the inlet tube is normal, but the other inlets aren't obvious to me. Anyone out there have any tips for something that would look ok, keep out large particles, and be fairly easy to service? I have used hot glue on these kind of projects a few times. I think I would block all of the slots for the skimmer part. I used a Tidal 110 for a while and it was very annoying and not really big enough for me so I just went to a canister. They also have a problem with the flow adjustment, the little blue arm that goes to it is off from the factory. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted July 26, 2022 Share Posted July 26, 2022 On 7/25/2022 at 11:20 AM, Wrencher_Scott said: Anyone out there have any tips for something that would look ok, keep out large particles, and be fairly easy to service? on all your grates and what not, use a toothbrush! It works wonders. Even if you take ever piece apart, it's an awesome tool to use when cleaning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrencher_Scott Posted July 28, 2022 Share Posted July 28, 2022 On 7/25/2022 at 5:57 PM, nabokovfan87 said: on all your grates and what not, use a toothbrush! It works wonders. Even if you take ever piece apart, it's an awesome tool to use when cleaning. oops, you relied to the wrong person 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Eric_ Posted August 30, 2022 Author Share Posted August 30, 2022 On 7/23/2022 at 3:12 PM, nabokovfan87 said: Just fyi, I tried the medium pre filter on the Tidal 55. I had to stretch it a little but it got on there fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted August 30, 2022 Share Posted August 30, 2022 On 8/29/2022 at 8:09 PM, _Eric_ said: Just fyi, I tried the medium pre filter on the Tidal 55. I had to stretch it a little but it got on there fine. Yep that's what I used on my 55 as well works great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted August 30, 2022 Share Posted August 30, 2022 That's what I used. I bored out the hole a little bit to try to give the glass some space. The inlet is 1" diameter on mine, the sponge is 1/2" hole. It definitely is the right size, but I had to cut out the hole a little. I'll have more photos and so forth on the experiments thread I have for the Tidals. I am still testing things out. Generally speaking, I'm not a fan of pre-filters. At this point, with the mods, it's pretty necessary, but we'll see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Eric_ Posted August 30, 2022 Author Share Posted August 30, 2022 On 8/29/2022 at 8:40 PM, nabokovfan87 said: That's what I used. I bored out the hole a little bit to try to give the glass some space. The inlet is 1" diameter on mine, the sponge is 1/2" hole. It definitely is the right size, but I had to cut out the hole a little. I'll have more photos and so forth on the experiments thread I have for the Tidals. I am still testing things out. Generally speaking, I'm not a fan of pre-filters. At this point, with the mods, it's pretty necessary, but we'll see. Happy you were able to get it to work as well 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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