Aquaclear Mini HOB fuge

[FishFolk]

I just turned my aquaclear mini into a nice little HOB fuge for my 15 gal tank. A quick few questions; will the flow rate of the filter be suitable, or is there any way to adjust it, and since my fuge is HOB will it be alright to run a small light over it at night even though the light is right over my aquarium. Lastly, is sand/mud necessary? Thanks for the help guys.

[CoRPS]

Is the back of your tank painted/covered? If so you can just use a little clip on pointed right at the back of the fuge rather than over it. Would be better set up like that anyway. Don't put sand/mud in there as it's not big enough and really wouldn't make a difference, all it'd do is collect detritus.

[FishFolk]

It isn't painted or covered, but I'm sure i could slide some black paper between the fuge and tank.

[CoRPS]

Nah....

If you're going to put something, get the plastic black stuff they sell at most fish stores. The paper will get ruined very quickly.

[tat2shawn]

Hey, FishFolk
I would like to see some pics of what you have done. Did you do any mods to it?

[FishFolk]

Nope, all i did was run it and put the Chaeto in the "box" area. i put eggcrate over top so that it is kept from flowing into the tank.

[CoRPS]

Be sure to clean out the chaeto every week when you do your water change.

What to do:
1- Pull out old water
2- Pull out chaeto and slosh around in old water
3- Fill tank back up

A problem people are having with their fuges now is that they're collecting a bunch of detritus. If your goal is nutrient exportation then this detritus will be counterproductive. If your goal is pod population, it won't be done in a HOB filter.

[FishFolk]

Well my goal was help with nutrients...Its completely counter productive?

[CoRPS]

Not at all, just be sure to pull your chaeto out and swish it around in your old WC water to get the gunk out of it. Takes 10 seconds.

[FishFolk]

Oh okay thanks for the help!