How do you setup a Perfect-A-Flo 44 Pentagon Undergravel Filter for a 44 gallon corner tank?
by Aquaboy on Thursday, April 22nd, 2010 | 2 Comments
I am trying to setup an undergravel filter for a pentagon shaped corner 44 gallon fish tank and the darn thing did not include any instructions. Could someone provide me with a copy of the instructions, a setup diagram, or some kind of information that will allow me to set this up and enjoying the beauty of clean tank and healthy fish as quickly as possible? I would greatly appreciate it!!!
Give this site a lookover…
http://www.foryourfish.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/FYF-F-PHUF3.htm
Well. I have one of these, but it’s been 10 years since I’ve seen it because it’s under the gravel! They are really no different than any other underwater gravel filter.
Start with a clean empty tank, already in place where you intend to display it. There should be one large plastic plate, slotted, wavy, and roughly the same size and shape as the bottom of the tank. Drop this into the bottom of the tank so that only the edges of the plate touch the bottom of the tank. If the ridges of the plate touch the bottom, it is upside-down.
Next, there should be holes for tubes along the back edges of the plate. They may have caps already on them, which you can remove, or the caps may be in a separate bag. Either way, don’t throw these away. Now you will use the long plastic uplift tubes, about1 inch in diameter, I recommend using three, one in each corner. Twist the tubes into the selected holes in the plate. Don’t worry if they are too long. Now cover any unused holes with the caps that you DIDN’T throwaway. You’re almost done.
The uplift tubes now may need to be trimmed. Decide how high you want them to be in your setup. They can be different heights or all the same. Remember the exhaust caps will add a little height to the uplift tubes.
Once you have trimmed the tubes and inserted them into the bottom plate, you are ready to assemble the exhaust caps. This is how you will attach an air pump and force bubbles into the filter. There should be long skinny straight plastic tubes. Tese are your rigid airline tubing. You should also have some airstones(small white cylinders with a hole in one end), flexible airline tubing, and possibly airstone inserts.
First assemble your airstones. Push an airstone insert into the plastice airstone. If your airstones already have an insert, disregard. Now attach the airstone to the end of a rigid airtube. This can be done either forcing the rigid into the airstone, instead of the airstone insert, or simply cut (with scissors) a short piece (1 inch) of flexible airline and force the flexible airline piece over one end of the rigid tubing and the other end over the airstone’s imbedded insert. The directional exhaust cap will have a small hole in its top center. This fits the rigid airline. Push the free end of the rigid airline through the hole, and the assembly of the exhaust cap is complete. Now you only have to insert the airstone at the end of the rigid tubing into the uplift tube, twist on the directional cap.
Now for trimming the rigid tube. When finished the airstone should suspend in the uplift tube 2 or 3 inches from the floor of the tank. So pull up on the rigid tubing until the airstone is in the appropriate positon, and cut the rigid tubing about 1-1 1/2 inches above the exhaust cap. I recommend cutting a very short pice of airline tubing (less than 1/4 inch) and sliding this over the rigid tubing above the exhaust cap. This will keep the rigid tubing in place when you are maintaining the tank and save you untold frustration. Now you can attach flexible airline tubing to the rigid tubing by simply sliding it over the end.
Repeat for the other two uplift tubes and you’re done! Add gravel to a depth of at least two inches, add water, and start pumping air into the uplift tubes. Add a couple of fish, and allow a couple of weeks for the beneficial bacteria to grow and cycle in the gravel. After two weeks you should be able add additional fish, according to recommended guidelines.
Constant water flow through the gravel bed is essential for the health of your aquarium. If your air pumps fails, you only have about a day before the bacteria in the gravel die off, and toxic ammonia levels will rise in your tank. If that happens, water changes and extra filtration will help. Also powerheads or canister filters can be attached to your uplift tubes to increase the water flow/filtration, but that is a more advanced technique you may choose to explore later
Hope this is descriptive enough to help. Good Luck!