Aquaria Central

[Prometheus]

not really a 'DIY' but the regent 30-60 ez-change cartridge #3 is exactly the same as the penguin 330 'C' filter.

And you can buy 6-packs of the regents at wally world for between 8 and 10 bucks depending on the week.

At the prices I see for filters for penguins, it's like buying 3 and getting 3 free.

[Prometheus]

I just noticed big al's sells the penguin 6packs for 9 bucks... some good deals over there, if you buy enuff to make up for shipping

there went my idea... :sad

[blitzen25bm]

you can cut a hole on top to refill the carbon if you use it them just whenever you do maintenece throw out the old carbon and rinse the cartridge and then add more carbon

[ewok]

i have the emperors...... i am assuming the cartridges are the same.......

i just keep washing the filters until they basically fall apart.

why buy new ones when you really don't need them? because of the bio-wheels and having 2 filters i just wash them with the sink sprayer to clean them out. you don't need the carbon unless you're removing meds or something, and leaving the old carbon in them isn't going to hurt anything. it just gives you a little more biological area after it becomes inert. in theory, unless the new cartridges come in sealed packages the carbon might already be inert, it can absorb things from the air too.

a couple of the other members actually cut the blue stuff off the black backing and replace it. sewing a new piece on with fishing line.........

[ROLLIN]

I just use floss in my penguin (and emperors).

[JSchmidt]

I have outfitted all my Penguin and Emperor filters with Aquaclear filter foam blocks, cut to the size of the filter well on my Penguin/Emp filters. I get the superior reliability (IME) of the Marineland filters with the near-perpetual re-usability of foam. The foam works at least as well as the Marineland cartridges.

Jim

[Grandmastr]

i just rinse my filter pads

being doin it for the past 18 months

and never had a problem wit my tank or anything

saves alot of money not buyin new filters pads

[bobalston]

JSchmidt - Would you please elaborate? what sizes of penguins/emperors do you have and what specific sizes of Aquaclear foam blocks did you cut down for each? Also how/where do you put the foam blocks - filling the entire compartment? in front of an empty media holder? other?

I have a couple of old emperors (I think) in my fish closet and have hated the cost of media. I also rinsed the media until it was too clogged to work - then toss and buy another. Your approach sounds great!

Bob

[JSchmidt]

I've experimented with a couple arrangements... some of my Penguins and Emperors have only a 'wall' of foam' that fills the front half of the filter well. I was trying to recreate the flow you get when you use the blue bonded cartridges: the water flows into the back of the well, thru the media and out over the spillway. This seems to work OK. For the Penguins, I cut an AC 300 foam lenthwise, then cut to length to fit snugly in the filter well; I lay two pieces in, horizontally, one atop the other. For Emps, I did the same thing with an AC 500 foam.

I've since tried simply filling the media well with a foam block or two. For example, in the media well of an Emp, I'll cut an AC500 block so it's long enough to fit into the well snugly on both ends. (I've stopped cutting the blocks in half lengthwise.) I'll stack two blocks in the well. They pretty much fill it up and do a great job. For Penguins, I'll do the same thing, but with an AC300 foam.

The latter method is easier -- I don't have to cut the blocks in half lengthwise, and they tend to fit in the media well more snugly. They capture quite a lot of crud, so I know they're doing the job.

I hope this makes sense... if not, let me know and I'll give it another try.

Jim

[bobalston]

Great. Thank you so much!

Bob