Some of you have seen my post on how to improve the Hot & 350 Mag flow by using the large hole strainer instead of the eye slit strainer. Well I found a few more tricks worth mentioning:
The hot mag flow can be further be improved by opening the plastic slots in the back wall of the media basked with a thin paring knife. The slots come out of the factory almost closed due to the plastic film left over from the casting and are very easy to remove just by placing in a paring knife and cleaning them out some or wiggling the bland to open up the slot to its intended size as shown below.
NOTE closeup of before and after slot opening that really improves flow over the long haul.
After opening slots below.
On another note I have changed the way Im using my Hot mag after realizing that it makes not only a versatile HOB canister filter but uses very little power (11 Watts) from a UPS power supply and can act both as an emergency filter and power head aerator to keep O2 in solution during a power outage. Below photo shows the outflow tube elbows and diffuser removed with only the 1st elbow in place powering water strain down aerating and pulling surface area water strait down for replacement by lower water which is much more efficient then a strait out defuser making ripples. With the 500 amp hour UPS a Hot Mag should run for almost 24 hours, much better then those little battery powered bubbler's.
The hot mag flow can be further be improved by opening the plastic slots in the back wall of the media basked with a thin paring knife. The slots come out of the factory almost closed due to the plastic film left over from the casting and are very easy to remove just by placing in a paring knife and cleaning them out some or wiggling the bland to open up the slot to its intended size as shown below.

NOTE closeup of before and after slot opening that really improves flow over the long haul.

After opening slots below.

On another note I have changed the way Im using my Hot mag after realizing that it makes not only a versatile HOB canister filter but uses very little power (11 Watts) from a UPS power supply and can act both as an emergency filter and power head aerator to keep O2 in solution during a power outage. Below photo shows the outflow tube elbows and diffuser removed with only the 1st elbow in place powering water strain down aerating and pulling surface area water strait down for replacement by lower water which is much more efficient then a strait out defuser making ripples. With the 500 amp hour UPS a Hot Mag should run for almost 24 hours, much better then those little battery powered bubbler's.

