# home made filter for small tanks



## pj1218 (Jun 11, 2011)

hey everyone 
so i decided to try and make a home made filter for my betta gill whos now in a 1/2 gallon ( very temporary ). what i did was took a piece of tubing from one of my old water pumps and put a airline tubing inside of it but a little above the bottom. then i cut a hole to put the string through to hold the airline tubing in. now before i put any media in it i wanted to see if it works and it does so now ill have to get media for it and try it out. what kind of media would you suggest for this? i was going to do a sponge filter but i might get foam to catch poop and food. what do you guys think? and also if you have a air valve to put multiple air things on and adjust the air flow , the filters flow rate is also adjustable


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## AquariumTech (Oct 12, 2010)

Personally, I would just get a little tiny internal filter. I got one of those Betta bowls from my friend (1/2 gallon) and it came with a little undergravel filters. Of course undergravels suck so I looked around to see what I could use. I found this, I think its call Tom Dive Mini Clean, or something like that, and it made the water and the tank look good. It also came with a tiny spray bar so there wasnt too much water blowing around for the Betta. Even after I moved him out of there, I just used it on another tank, it comes in handy for other smaller tanks. 

Anyways if you are going to do that filter, I would suggest using sponge material, its good biologically and mechanically. Of course how good it actually is will vary on the effectiveness of design. If you can just to accomadate chemical filtration maybe get like a tiny cartridge or make a porous bag for some carbon to throw down in middle, I know some people dont care about chemical filtration, thats something I do. 

You know though you can pick up a tiny sponge filter though for like 3-8 bucks, plus its going to look better, last longer and have better use for other tanks. Not to mention you dont even have to mess around with this.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Either a hunk of sponge or a wad of 'filter floss'. I know a killie guy who uses homemade, air-driven floss filters in plastic show boxes. I think sponges are easier to clean, but floss is easier to find. You will have squeeze it out and rinse off the gunk periodically. If you really want carbon, there are little cartridges sold for the upright tubes on a UG filter. Personally, I wouldn't bother.

IMO any filter is better than none. Even in a betta bowl that gets 100% clean water everyday. No reason to expose fish to any ammonia if you can help it.

Lee's has a small, round, affordable sponge filter. They fit in most containers if you cut down the rigid upright tube (take the white thing off, attach it lower down). IMO, the issue with these is that the narrowest part of the small tube will fill with scale and require cleaning with lime-a-way and a nail or paper-clip. http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/group/10987/product.web

If you make your own, that is what the tube should look like. A wide, vertical tube, with the air going into the side of it near the bottom. If you only need one, buying is usually cheaper, but you can make a lot of little filters from lengths of rigid tubing. http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/204214/product.web


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

AT.....i love undergravel filters..lol...they are one of the most efficient filters around...and they will help cycle a tank faster than other types....


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## AquariumTech (Oct 12, 2010)

lohachata said:


> AT.....i love undergravel filters..lol...they are one of the most efficient filters around...and they will help cycle a tank faster than other types....


Dont get me started on this, I could seriously write 5 novels on why they are the worst filters, you will probably ever find.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Lets not get into that again. Use the advanced search to find the old threads.


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## pj1218 (Jun 11, 2011)

AquariumTech i was gonna try putting carbon in it by taking a shrimp net and cutting that for it. and i think im gonna put different materials in there for multiple purposes. when i move gill to a bigger tank i think ill keep the 1/2 then put ghost shrimp or something in it. oh and i did have a undergravel filter before but i also had a HOB filter with it.


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## wannalearn (Oct 2, 2011)

one of those in tank whisper 10's would probibly be nice,, and aint nothing wronge with a undergravel filter, most ppl have trouble becouse they dont vac the gravel.. and if you still have trouble with it clogging, just reverse the flow..


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

Those sponge filters work pretty well


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