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RE: Reducing the noise of tricking outflow water

Hi Everyone,

In APD V3#263, Kudzu is wondering about the plastic spill-way additions that
Steve B. uses on his outside power filers (and illustrates on his website).
I saw these photos as well and thought it was an excellent idea, but not
necessarily for the same reasons that Steve came up with them in the first
place (I assume it is an attempt to keep CO2 in the water).

I love the Aquaclear line of external power filters for small tanks. They
are cheap and effective. But the constant "trickle" of water can be murder
on sensitive nerves and ears (especially if the tank is located in the
bedroom). I have made more midnight trips to the bathroom because of that
sound than I care to remember.

In a dealer's tank I saw Java Moss growing emersed around the outflow of an
external filter and it gave me an idea. Plastic needlepoint canvas is widely
available, cheap and suitable for use in an aquarium. I took a sheet of the
canvas, cut it to fit the Aquaclear outflow and used silicone to attach it
to the underside of the outflow spout, and hanging down into the water. Once
the silicone had cured, I took a small piece of Java Moss and using cotton
thread and a needle, I "sewed" the moss to the canvas. After a couple of
weeks, the Java Moss had attached itself to the canvas and the cotton thread
just rotted away. But now the outflow water runs through a thicket of
partially emersed Java Moss. It looks great and the noise of running water
is gone (my kidneys are thankful, especially at night!). For larger filters,
this should work equally as well with Java Fern.

James Purchase
Toronto, Ontario
jpurch at interlog_com