Ariel
New member
After messing with my filter in various ways trying to reduce the flow I have discovered something.
I have a filter that is built into the tank hood and the outflow was pretty powerful, enough to dig a hole in sand at the bottom. I tried to restrict the intake by partially blocking the valve but the power of the suction would eventually unblock it, I tried to block some of the outflow with sponges, or by placing other obstacles for the water. Nothing worked. Today while cleaning the tank I pulled out the magnetic propellor. This thing:
This isn't the specific one I have, just an example, but many have similar enough technology.
I found that by shaving the blades, the green propellor part of the picture, to make them shorter, you reduce the suctioning power of the filter which causes less water to be sucked in and a weaker outflow.
Be careful, however to not shave them too much, a single mm can make a noticeable difference. Unfortunately, overzealous in my discovery, I made the blades to short. The filter did not have enough power now to pull the water all the way up into the filter. I remedied this by cutting the intake cylinder in half. (Imagine how sucking air through half a straw takes less effort than a full length straw.) Now less power is needed to pull water through the filter.
If you are brave enough to try, and something breaks, my apologies. Luckily the little magnetic propellors can be bought as replacement parts, just don't screw up without a back up, because without one, your filter will be completely useless.
I have a filter that is built into the tank hood and the outflow was pretty powerful, enough to dig a hole in sand at the bottom. I tried to restrict the intake by partially blocking the valve but the power of the suction would eventually unblock it, I tried to block some of the outflow with sponges, or by placing other obstacles for the water. Nothing worked. Today while cleaning the tank I pulled out the magnetic propellor. This thing:
This isn't the specific one I have, just an example, but many have similar enough technology.
I found that by shaving the blades, the green propellor part of the picture, to make them shorter, you reduce the suctioning power of the filter which causes less water to be sucked in and a weaker outflow.
Be careful, however to not shave them too much, a single mm can make a noticeable difference. Unfortunately, overzealous in my discovery, I made the blades to short. The filter did not have enough power now to pull the water all the way up into the filter. I remedied this by cutting the intake cylinder in half. (Imagine how sucking air through half a straw takes less effort than a full length straw.) Now less power is needed to pull water through the filter.
If you are brave enough to try, and something breaks, my apologies. Luckily the little magnetic propellors can be bought as replacement parts, just don't screw up without a back up, because without one, your filter will be completely useless.