Thinking about changing up media positioning

In my Fluval 404 I currently have this media arrangement(from top to bottom):

• Filter floss pads
• Biomax
• Biomax
• Prefilter blocks

But I'm thinking of changing it up to add some carbon because I don't need the prefilter blocks at all since they are useless after the main water flows in onto the foam pads. There is no large particles for the prefilter to catch. However I'm still thinking of leaving in a little bit of prefilter media in the bottom.

So it would then be(from top to bottom):

• Biomax
• Biomax
• Filter floss pads
• Carbon packs/Chem-zorb?/Purigen?
  

Python syphon

Well I finally broke down and just bought one of these things. I havent used it yet, it just came in today. It only hooks up to the hose fitting outside.. so that sucks big time. 

I'm gonna go to osh tomorrow with the part that connects to the sink and see if I can find a 1"-3/4 female threaded piece of PVC.. Hopefully I can find that easily. 

Then I can hook it up in the shower and all will be well. 

Got a new filter

I bought a Fluval 404 the other day on Ebay.. $85 brand new, shipped w/ media. Very good deal I think. So it came on the 19th and when I got home from school I set it up. It was a bit tricky to get everything right, and it ended up taking a couple hours. I had to cut the intake and extend the outflow to get it where I wanted it, but in the end it worked great.

For my media I have this; top to bottom order. 

1. pantyhose filtration(polishing)/carbon pack
2. biomedia
3. biomedia
4. fluval prefilter blocks

It was a bit tough to prime, but I searched on the cichlid forum when I was trying to prime it and it said to fill up the canister with water to help with priming... so I did that.. pushed the priming level, then plugged it in and it started right up. 

I like this filter a lot so far. does a fantastic job. 

I'll report again later on this filter and update it as I go. 

Fine filtration

I got this Idea from a member on the redearslider forum, so I have to give credit where it is due.
http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17756&start=0
Anyway, the filter is made of a piece of stocking stretched over the second seperator grid in my xp1. It's the last stage of filtration and has done wonders for my water clarity.





























And the last picture shows it sitting in the basket before putting the basket lid on.

Adjusted the timer today

Well you know summer is starting to come to a close when you feel the need to adjust the timer to turn off an hour or so earlier.

Thats what I did today, went from 10:15AM-10:30PM, to 10:15AM-9:45PM.

If you don't have a timer for your lights, I would highly recommend one. They are worth every penny. I have a digital one and it was only about 13 bucks.

Sand rake update

yeah, if you make the sand rake, I would recommend making the handle 3 squares wide or doubling the 2 square handle.

I was using the small sand rake, moving a lot of sand, and the handle snapped in 2 pieces in my hand. oops.

DIY Sand Rake

Well I came up with this idea for a sand rake, and it works great!
Materials needed:
Hot glue gun
eggcrate
angled pliers

1. cut out the handle and the rake grill

























2. glue on at an angle














3. so that it'll work like this.














And heres a short video I made of it in use.

Updated photo of Squirts tank!

heres a recent photo of squirts tank:what do you think??

Where'd the photos go!

Sorry all, I moved all my photos around in photobucket, so most of the pictures got all screwed up!

If you need/want to see a specific photo, leave me a comment.

thanks

Squirt is a boy!

Yep, he was standing all funky the other day, I looked over and saw turtle junk.

Gross, but I am pretty damn happy that I have a boy turtle!

I got an Ornate Boxie.

I got an ornate boxie yesterday! She's so awesome. She's about 3 1/4" long.

She is in good health, and ate 6 waxworms!! and a strawberry and lettuce.

she came with her own habitat, for only $45!