# External canister for Planted bowl



## ndrj1 (4 Dec 2015)

Hello all,

I have recently bought a beautiful 45 litre glass bowl which I intend to use as a planted aquarium. I don't intend to keep any fish in it, perhaps a few shrimp eventually, so, please, no need for a lecture on cruelty 

I'm having a few difficulties with finding an external filter suitable for a tank of this size... and I absolutely want nothing inside the aquarium except for the filter inlet and outlet which I'll be making myself using heated acrylic pipe.

I would also like to add CO2 and an inline heater to the filter outlet pipe, and I'm aware that this will affect flow rate, but I'm just not sure to what extent... I'd like a flow rate relative to the size of the tank, no crazy currents!!

If anyone has any ideas, or experience with suitable filters then please let me know.

Look forward to hearing from you 

John


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## Chris Jackson (4 Dec 2015)

As I see it there should be no problem running almost any size of filter bcause you can adjust the flow to suit. If budget permits then a Ehiem thermofilter or similar would be ideal.


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## ndrj1 (4 Dec 2015)

Thanks... I was somehow under the impression that adjusting the flow put pressure on the mechanics of the filter reducing it's lifespan though... maybe I'm wrong.. :/


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## Chris Jackson (4 Dec 2015)

Well I suppose it's possible it might but the mechanics are really simple with just an impeller moving in a magnetic field so no stress of moving parts involved.


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## BruceF (4 Dec 2015)

How about making a small sump out of a small aquarium?  

Or just use the co2 to move the water.


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## foxfish (4 Dec 2015)

Hi john, sounds interesting, how do you intend to illuminate the bowl?
I have installed a two similar bowls, no photos though as it was probably  25 years ago!
One was made to look like a giant lamp & had a lamp shade fitted over the top, I used an air driven under gravel filter.
The other one had a sump!!
I drilled (or had a hole drilled) in the bottom & fitted a central 2" pipe for an overflow.


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## ndrj1 (4 Dec 2015)

Hi Bruce.. my knowledge of sumps and the like is really very limited... I'd rather stick to what I know at the stage (That said , I'm not especially knowledgable about external filtration either :/) 

How do you mean when you mention C02 moving the water?

Hi Foxfish, I have a TMC mini led aqua tile which will be suspended over the tank. I used it before over a 30L modified biorb with C02 and managed to create a fairly decent looking carpet of Riccia.... in fact, I ended up over run with the stuff... but then I also had hair algae issues, so it wasn't all joyful 

I daren't drill anything into the bowl for fear it will crack... It's not that I'm heavy handed, but just that if I ruined the bowl, I'd never know where to find another (I live in Madrid and randomly found it in a huge Chinese supermarket). 

In an ideal world, I'd have all the filtration entering through the bottom of the tank through drilled holes... but until I find another bowl of the same size I'll leave it intact.

I think that if I manage to manipulate the acrylic tubing well enough, they shouldn't be too much of an eyesore.

Here's a link to what I'd like to attempt:



and this is the filter I'm considering... just have to figure out a way of changing those ugly ugly tubes 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fluval-Exte..._UL160_SR124,160_&refRID=10J89W1CAS8S7FV5394J


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## Greenfinger2 (4 Dec 2015)

Hi Nerj1, Just some ideas from a great thread 

http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/biosphere.19911/


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## BruceF (4 Dec 2015)

A simple sump is just a pump and some filter foam. The advantage is that you can do the heat and the co2 in it.  

But if you aren't going to have fish you really don't need a heater and you don't really need a lot of water movement. You can control a lot by just doing large water changes once a week. If you want to add a co2 you can use a diffuser and use it to circulate the water. Doing that all you have going into the tank is a small 1/4 inch tube.


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## ndrj1 (5 Dec 2015)

Green finger 2, thanks for the info. That bowl is exactly the kind that I love. I'll take a longer look at the article 

Bruce, thanks for your reply. I'd probably like some shrimp at some point, which is why I'd like some heat.. I'm not sure room temperature water would be warm enough, especially where the tank will be placed, which gets very cold in Winter. Also, don't some plants need higher temperatures to flourish?


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## zozo (5 Dec 2015)

Why not make the filter yourself??  It's simple. I did it with PVC pipe and a smal 240l/h DC 12 volt mini water pump.




 

You can make it in any size you like..  Only size and pump needs to be taken in consideration.



 

less tha € 20 and works as efficient as any other cannister filter, runs like a charm.. Use PVC tube clamp to mount it verticaly to the cabinet so it doesn't trap air.


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## ndrj1 (5 Dec 2015)

hahaha Zozo....!!! IMPOSSIBLE!


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## BruceF (5 Dec 2015)

Shrimp don't need heaters.


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## ndrj1 (5 Dec 2015)

BruceF said:


> Shrimp don't need heaters.



Hi Bruce, I don't know if I'd necessarily agree.. I think most freshwater shrimp seem happier in water which has a constant temperature, and is not prone to daily fluctuations.


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## zozo (5 Dec 2015)

ndrj1 said:


> Hi Bruce, I don't know if I'd necessarily agree.. I think most freshwater shrimp seem happier in water which has a constant temperature, and is not prone to daily fluctuations.



Well that's how we perceive it, we aim for ballance, in this and that, over all ballance. Naturaly, shrimps and fish are more active in a constant ballanced temperature and be less active as temperatur lowers. In which temperatur they are most happy is for them to deside, i don't realy believe we can read hapiness from their overall behaivor.

But when it comes to real nature, she's rather whimsical when it comes to the ballance we aim for. Actualy naturaly and this goes for all kinds of lifeforms a constantly perfect ballanced invironment makes us rather weaker than stronger. And if this constant ballanced invironment suddenly changes, everything gets into a shock and is prone to get sick. And this is excactly what happens when our electrically ballanced tanks get out of order all of a sudden.

I rather believe the fish in our tanks are weaker then their cousins in nature..


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## ndrj1 (5 Dec 2015)

So No heater then? I'd actually prefer not to use one if possible....


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## zozo (5 Dec 2015)

ndrj1 said:


> So No heater then?



It depends..  Where you live and how you do when you are not at home. If you live in UK and in winter time go out and turn the central heating down to only freeze prevention say 5 C and your internal room temp plumits to 13 c or less it wont take that long till the water in the tank takes the room temp. Say a shrimp can easily do in 18 c than make sure the room the tank is in doesn't plummit lower than 18 c. And than if you come home and turn the heating up again to 25 c because you don't feel comfy any lower. It wont take long and the tank is room temp again.

So these are things you need to take in consideration when you are keeping critters in a tank. 

If you live like above discription, it better to take a heating and turn it up to 23 c so it stays that way and the fluctuation isn't much more than 2 c which is fairly neglectable.
But 10 to 15 c difference every day for longer periode isn't realy what you call mimicking a natural invironment.


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## foxfish (5 Dec 2015)

I would fit some method of external heater myself, if the bowl has a flattish bottom then possibly a simple heat mat ... nice little external power filter & acrylic pipes


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## ndrj1 (5 Dec 2015)

zozo said:


> It depends..  Where you live and how you do when you are not at home. If you live in UK and in winter time go out and turn the central heating down to only freeze prevention say 5 C and your internal room temp plumits to 13 c or less it wont take that long till the water in the tank takes the room temp. Say a shrimp can easily do in 18 c than make sure the room the tank is in doesn't plummit lower than 18 c. And than if you come home and turn the heating up again to 25 c because you don't feel comfy any lower. It wont take long and the tank is room temp again.
> 
> So these are things you need to take in consideration when you are keeping critters in a tank.
> 
> ...



Yeah, I live in Madrid, so the temperature here is really variable. We can have very chilly winters, and summers with temperatures which I can imagine are only matched in hell 

As heating is SUPER expensive in Spain, I tend to only heat my flat in the evenings when I'm home. But I'll run the tank for a while and see what the temperature does before adding any shrimp. 

Thanks for chipping in


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## ndrj1 (5 Dec 2015)

foxfish said:


> I would fit some method of external heater myself, if the bowl has a flattish bottom then possibly a simple heat mat ... nice little external power filter & acrylic pipes



Hmmm, heat mat is not something I'd considered... then again, the round bowl is to be positioned on a round table (small), so it might not fit with the super clean look I'd like to achieve.... but maybe I'm kidding myself...(I know that once all the pipes and electrics and random fish stuff and cO2 is added, the minimal look becomes extremely annoying to upkeep).

Foxfish, not sure how much you know about acrylic pipes, but I need a bit of advice about forming them into the right shape... I'll do a quick design tomorrow and maybe you could let me know... basically, I need to figure out a way of bending them to the exact curve of the bowl... but I was thinking, if the acrylic is really hot, I'd probably end up shattering it if I were to use it as a 'former' shape fr the pipe??


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## zozo (5 Dec 2015)

Yeah..  I've been to Madrid, it was in December, Asturias smack dab in the middle.. I was walking around in my (t-) shirt and i saw all Madrilenians running around in thick winter coats and woolen hats etc. They all looked at me like i was wako, especialy when i asked somebody in the street for directions.. Someting like it's cold you fool, why do you  keep me standing here in your T- shirt.  Now that was a funny contrast. And i just loved the madrilenian weather in december, Navidad in a T-shirt . But i understand if you have regular 40 + c summers that 18 c in winter is verry chilly.

Delicious Paella and the Rabo del Torro was finger licking good..  Madrid i'll never forget. Olé!! 

Sorry for the off topic..


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