Hamburger mattenfilter

Materials
Filter foam	Aquaristic.net	9,90€
Silicone	Extra	0,00€
Hydor Seltz L30	Used	20,00€
PVC-hose	Teollisuus-Etola	1,70€
Stump	From nature	0,00€

Technical information:

Hydor Seltz L 30 was chosen to be the circulation pump in this project. The capacity of this pump is approximately 1200 liters per hour. With 320 liter aquarium and this pump the filter should be about 2500-3000 square centimeters wide. As my mattenfilter doesnät really assemble the normally used shapes, I was forced to estimate the actual size of the filter. The surface area hits the mark of 2500-3000 square centimeters in a construct of about 30 cm high.

Construction:

First of all several pieces of filter foam was cutted. The foam thickness was 5 cm. Each piece was designed so that when stacked on top of each other they produce a shape that follows the shape of the stump. Each piece has its insight cut out as well. This leaves enough space in the filter so that the circulation pump can be fitted in. When cutting the pieces you should remember that there should be about 5 cm of foam left between the inside and outside of the filter. Otherwise the filter may not work as planned. After cutting the pieces they are clued on top of a piece of acrylic. Silicone is used for attaching the pieces and the acrylic together. As a result of this a closed cavity is created. Only one side is open. The cisculation pump is inserted in the cavity and the whole strucuture will be attached to the aquarium with a silicone. A PVC-hose is connected to the pumps outlet and this insures that the water will be pumped out of the cavity. The water slowly flows back through the foam and all the bacteria do their job. Then Hydor Seltz pumps the water back to the aquaria. The final touch is the stump that cover most of the filter and it appears that the filter is actually a rock that has been covered with flora and stump.

Filter in action:

The hamburger mattenfilter has worked superb right from the beginning. The water parameters have remained perfect and the bacteria is doing well in the filter and in the other parts of the aquarium as well. During the first week the PVC-hose came off. I made a slice to the top of the filter and pulled out the whole pump. Now I'm able to maintain the pump as necessary. The foam is quite elastic so it will stay in the original shape even if a large pump is pulled through a cut. Plenty of anubias barteri has been planted on the filter and the plant is growing quite rapidly. Every now and then I cut of some branches and plant them around the filter. Soon the anubias covers the whole filter and my goal of totally camouflaged filter is achieved.

Maintanance:

As the pump lays at the bottom of the filter I have feared that it may suck the sludge that piles up in the filter. As a result I would have quite a surprise as the whole aquariua would be clouded. Every now and then I have insterted a hose through the cut and sucked all the sludge out of the filter. I am not sure if this is necessary as there has never been any problems. The pump has been working perfectly after I reattached the PVC-hose. The filter has been running over a year at the moment of writing and everythig seems to working well. No maintanance needed.