Getting 5/8 hose connected to the 1/2 barbs on the AM 1000 was not difficult. Cut 2 small pieces of 1/2 hose, each piece being the length of the barbed end, and place them on the reactor barbs. Trim off any excess with a razerblade so that the ends are flush. These 1/2 pieces become adapters and effectively increase the diameter of the reactor ends by a little over 1/8 inch. The reactor is now ready to accept your 5/8 hose. Wet the ends of the reactor and slide the 5/8 hose all the way over the ends. This connection is tight and adding hose clamps should hold everything together nicely.
Having easily overcome this problem, I thought I was in the clear. I was soon frustrated to find out that a lack of materials would end up not only keeping me from installing the reactor, but also leave me with an unusable filtration system because I was left with 2 halves of hose, both too short to return my system to it's previous condition.
I think I've learned a few lessons the hard way, so let me share...
1. I think I really need to use elbows to make this work. Trying to make long curving loops with my hoses ends up using too much hose. There isn't enough hose in my system to use the long loop method without causing it to kink.
2. Even if I could get it to unkink, there isn't enough hose to hang the reactor off the back of the tank and I don't have room or a mounting method to mount the reactor any other way.
Based on these lessons, here is what I plan to do...
1. Buy a lot of clear 5/8 hose and totally replace all the Eheim hose with this clear hose, allowing myself plenty of hose to do the job.
2. Buy 3 x 5/8 hose-locking elbows.
3. Use the above materials to do this:
As for the UV sterilizer, I really don't want to make my filtration system any more complicated than this, and I don't want to splice pumps into my line, so I will make a stand-alone UV Sterilzer that can be shared, transported or stored.
Any comments or suggestions?
P.S. While I have everything apart, I'm also going to try to make my own clear intake/outflow tubes aka AMANO Lily Pipes. Anyone know where to get the clear pipe?
Having easily overcome this problem, I thought I was in the clear. I was soon frustrated to find out that a lack of materials would end up not only keeping me from installing the reactor, but also leave me with an unusable filtration system because I was left with 2 halves of hose, both too short to return my system to it's previous condition.
I think I've learned a few lessons the hard way, so let me share...
1. I think I really need to use elbows to make this work. Trying to make long curving loops with my hoses ends up using too much hose. There isn't enough hose in my system to use the long loop method without causing it to kink.
2. Even if I could get it to unkink, there isn't enough hose to hang the reactor off the back of the tank and I don't have room or a mounting method to mount the reactor any other way.
Based on these lessons, here is what I plan to do...
1. Buy a lot of clear 5/8 hose and totally replace all the Eheim hose with this clear hose, allowing myself plenty of hose to do the job.
2. Buy 3 x 5/8 hose-locking elbows.
3. Use the above materials to do this:
As for the UV sterilizer, I really don't want to make my filtration system any more complicated than this, and I don't want to splice pumps into my line, so I will make a stand-alone UV Sterilzer that can be shared, transported or stored.
Any comments or suggestions?
P.S. While I have everything apart, I'm also going to try to make my own clear intake/outflow tubes aka AMANO Lily Pipes. Anyone know where to get the clear pipe?
