I'm delighted you're back with this terrific series! You taught me how to hot rod my aquaclear 110's and I'm forever grateful, I learned so much by watching your videos. Keep up the great work and Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. I'll look forward to more!

This was brilliant! I am planning an aquascape and this is one of the only filters that will work for the tank and tank location. The tank will be heavily planted so that will mitigate some of the filtration misses...but this really gives me much more confidence that my first adult aquarium will not be a complete failure!

I LOVE your Videos. It’s so easy to listen to you explain everything. You have loads of knowledge. Me and the family are about to start a 40-50 gallon aquarium. Also. I really miss your shooting videos. Keep doing what your doing. Look forward to seeing your videos on the playlist

Nice to see u back to aquarium guides Sir. Please educate us more. You’re the reason why I am into aquarium hobby. loved bio media. Your office looks awesome by the way. Cheers from Buckinghamshire

Excellent video Richard as usual, very informative keep up the good work from Australia.

Nice to see you back on the tools! "Studio is looking great" and that filter is now supercharged! 👍😀

I don't have this type of filter but totally enjoyed it. Great to see you back.

Excellent video buddy looking forward to seeing the rest of the series

awesome upgrade & new studio looking great man!!!

Good day to you Richard !! 👍👍😁😁 Thanks for sharing your thoughts, knowledge and experiences with us all today !! i'm going to really like this series as i'm making my own filter for my fish pond in all the info i can get the better 😁😁👍👍

My new Oase Bioplus was a slow runner. I have not drilled any holes. What I have done is changed the filter pads and added filter media to two canisters. Runs really well now and does not block like before. Thanks

LIKED after 30 seconds. I'v e been waiting for this since it was announced - I bet this will go semi viral being such a specific pound/fish stuff.

Hi Richard, just an update on my 'Pimped Filter'. Working an absolute treat. By far working 100 times better than the sponges. Looking like will be less maintenance intervals also having the bio gravel in aswell compared to the sponges. Water clarity is gin clear, cant ask for more than that really. Many thanks again for everything, Ian :-)

Hi Richard. I see you got your studio finished, very nice! I wish you all the best on your new series!

so happy to see you back at the filtration explanations. great idea showing us how to make better use out of the filters we have rather than reinventing the wheel. most of the filters are really good but are usually not fitted for our needs. Recycle reuse and remake.

As ever, a richly informative and educational vid, Richard. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with hobbyists like myself. I’d very much like to hear / view your thoughts and comments and ideas on upgrading an anoxic filter basket for greater efficiency. Thank you again. Warm regards, Paul

Cheers, it's improved the flow

Richard great video , we have missed you

Oase BioPlus Thermo 200: geni.us/Vx6L Biohome products: www.filterpro.co.uk Dremmel 3000: geni.us/4uMl This series is all about trying to squeeze more efficiency out of internal and external aquarium filters which generally have a limited filtering capacity - If you have a filter you'd like me to feature in a video then please contact me on: sales@filterpro.co.uk 07772848730 (Richard) Anyone who sends a filter will have it upgraded and returned to them for free and the only cost you will pay is how much it costs to ship it to me - I'm helping to boost your filter and the resulting videos will hopefully be useful to viewers all over the world so it's a win/win. *Please do not send any filters without contacting me first as I want to try and cover every type of filter, not 20 of the same make and model* Oase video for Bioplus: goo.gl/gzSiYJ Due to the high international shipping cost I am currently only taking filters from the UK but I'm hoping that as this series progresses a useful database of knowledge will be built up which will help viewers understand how their filters work, the limitations and the steps you could take to improve filtering capacity and efficiency. The goal with any filter is to try and achieve FULL CYCLE filtration which is the reduction in ammonia, nitrite AND nitrate - if you look anywhere online you'll see people tell you that the nitrogen cycle in an aquarium ends with the production of nitrate which is removed by regular (often large) water changes. That is HALF the cycle and is done by AEROBIC bacteria which favors highly oxygenated conditions and is very easy to grow on any surface. The last part of the cycle (reduction in nitrate) is completed by ANAEROBIC bacteria which favors an environment which is very low or devoid of oxygen. It takes filter media with a very specific internal structure to support both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria to allow for full cycle filtration but a suitably sized, well set up filter, will allow the full cycle to complete which results in more stable water conditions and less water changes (typically 10% every 1-2 weeks). Canister filters will generally offer the best provision for filter media but even internals can be significantly improved to boost water quality and fish health. The following videos will be useful to anyone interested in learning more about filtration, bacteria and making the conditions for your fish as good as possible: Sizing a canister properly and filter set up: goo.gl/om19un Looking INSIDE different filter media: goo.gl/hZWS6c Bacteria and filter media: goo.gl/123gAF How to clean an aquarium: goo.gl/bPMhvh Aquarium tips / filtration playlist: goo.gl/pXgqVj Check out my channel for hundreds of videos on a wide range of my hobbies - many of the videos have educational content so if you have enjoyed any give them the thumbs up and share anywhere you think others may benefit from viewing. This channel is purely a hobby for me so I will never ask viewers to donate money for any of my projects or charge anyone for information - information should be shared freely and I certainly don't consider myself an 'expert' in anything I pursue as a hobby so please do your own research, never accept anything as 'fact', reject anyone claiming to be some sort of authority or 'expert' and make your own minds up about anything you wish to study. We all are on a long path of learning......... RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS ON AMAZON: goo.gl/jMaBWy INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/pondguru_outdoors/ FILMING EQUIPMENT: Panasonic HC-VX870 HD camcorder geni.us/3UwE +Rode stereo microphone: geni.us/4OL +Rode 'deadcat' mic cover: geni.us/1pmn JVC Everio quad proof HD camcorder: geni.us/e09e +Rode 'deadcat' mic cover (opened up and held between tripod and camera base) geni.us/dee24 Zomei Z666 tripod: geni.us/1a1af3 Manfrotto MTPIXI-B PIXI mini tripod: geni.us/87f7 See you next time. Pondguru

Nicely explained, got my mind racing over possibilities. Although I don't have this filter available here and don't need a heater as I live in temperate climate (actually need a fan for the aquarium) but still will try to apply these concepts to something else like a sponge power filter.

many thanks buddy since i changed my set up with the new filters and bio water seems so clear now and the cleaning process has been cut in half amazing product many thanks

Missed ya man :). Loving my biohome,. Just ordered 10 more lbs. Don't stay away so much

Hi there Richard, Good work mate, thanks for it and best regards from Down Under, Tony.

Biohome... the best purchase I made for my tank. Cheers fella.

Nice one Richard. Couple of ideas for filters to upgrade from me. The fluval hob that came with those Edge tanks. I've got one on a planted 5 gallon with biohome in the media basket with a fairly coarse intake sponge (medium just ruins flow!) I've also got one of those allpondsolutions cannisters. Got it packed with alfagrog e25 with sponges in the bottom and one on the intake but I'd be interested to see what you can do with that one, I know it's fairly popular here in the UK.

Hello and Thank You--I'm glad your back-I looked through my past video's that you've done and I could not find your phone number - i could swear you put it on one of your vids - anyway I bought a pond boss pump and low and behold you do this vid--Oh Well----My Best to You and Yours'

Great video well done.

Thanks for the video, dude! I got this filter today, and it leaves me confused as i disassembled it. The first i thought was "why the fxxx is the foam stuff in "dead" chambers???" I drilled the holes like you, to get more water flowing through the foam. i think now they do the job good like my beloved (but noisy) JBL i80.

Brilliant and very clever.

the new studio is looking nice

Hi Pondguru. Thanks for the videos. My first DIY filter I made was an invisible filter with a decoration rock inspired on a old video of yours. It would be interesting to see upgrades on small filters for nano tanks, like the Dennerle nano corner filter or the JP series of SunSun. Thaks in advance. Looking foward for more videos like this one.

Thank you so much for this video! I will definitely be making these adjustments to my filter. Any chance you would do this kind of video on one of the stringray internal filters? They're pretty small and crappy 😂 so will probably never make a full cycle but I bet you can do something to improve them. Paula

Hi Richard, awesome info as usual, fluval 206 upgrade would be great to see please!

I'm glad your back on the filters.. Please pimp the fluval 206.. And if u can fluval u3

Nice video :-) I would love to see you upgrade the internal Juwel filters, many people have them. I set mine up with coarse-medium-fine sponges, like you showed us, and only that small upgrade was a massive improvement :-)

Another great informative video!

Richard, love this sort of video on how to maximise the performance of what area are often quite expensive filters. I don't have this filter but the concept as you say can be applied to many similar ones. My only ( minor ) question is with the increased weight how well would the original suckers hold it on the glass post modification? Also and I might be wrong with the additional holes has this increased the volume of water per hour the filter will process. Guess would be good to see a before and after with each filter running that you are planning to do 😊

Great video! These are great tips! Thank you!

Cheers for the Vid. Done mine and it has made a noticeable difference.

Channel is growing nicely 👀

hello, how do you go about cleaning it all? replace foam and gravel? or just clean the gravel, foam and media and put it back in? how often should this be done?

Brilliant Sir 👏

I tuned the 50 version of this kind of Filter without drilling a single hole and using Biohome Plus (ca. 200 g) . Update on how it runs hopefully this weekend on my channel, but in german. Will you do updates on how the filter is running after some weeks?

Great video.

Great new series pondy like it 👍

Hi Richard, great video as always. Any chance you could do a video on upgrading a Fluval 406? It'd would be great if you then sold the 'kit' for viewers that wanted to follow your advice. Cheers, John.

Thanks man. Intresting video.

I use my oase as it comes and it works like a charm:)

Thank you very much. I will be carrying out this mod (eyes open) at the weekend. Any ideas on modifying the eheim 200 pickup?

Would love to see one on Laguna Pressure Flo pond filter - particularly the 6000 model. I've recently set up my very first tank approx 4.4x2.5x1.5, and I've gone really heavy duty on filtration, as the water needs to be good for both fish, and the lizards in the vivarium the aquarium is inside of - as it's the lizard's primary drinking water. I'm using 2200L Laguna pond pump, and the 6000L filter, which has 4 coarse foams, and 2L of matrix I've added. I'm wondering if it's a good idea to put some filter wool, below the bottom coarse foam.... Would have to squeeze it in, but would then be between the coarse foam and the matrix media.

Brilliant Sir Danke sehr.

Hello, thank you for this great video. I just ordered Oase Bioplus 50 for my 35 liters. How to put the filter media since there is only one box. I'm going to use Matrix Seachem and probably buy the ceramic noodles and the foam plate. thank you for your reply. Excuse the mistakes but I made with the translator

Oase is the most well done filter i had come across and i think you should leave it as it comes, but of course you can put for example eheim substrat pro or bio home in one or two containers!

Bio gravel looks interesting. Useful for small internals. Can it be used in trickle filters, or in air fed moving bed home made bottle filters.. but not actually moving around if you get my meaning. Cheers and looking forward to the series.

Awesome 👏 now you are back and more educational in sink with your title pondguru is back

hi i did everything but the dirt is concentrated in the small top filter. The 2 input slots at the top and rear of segment 2 and 3 do not need to be covered? So the flow go from bodem to top and passed to all the filter substances

Are there any openings at all on the internal sides of a compartment? Before you drilled in the side slots with the round bit in the bottom compartment, how did the water get in? (I dont quite understand how the water is sucked in with the original design because the internal sides of a compartment do not seem to have any holes for the water to come through to the sponge).

Does the water still flow past the heating element after this modification? Can the filter unit be removed after the modification without the dirt getting into the aquarium?

I know this one was done a while ago but just seen this video and I have the smaller model of this one with the two trays and the top small space so would I just put bio home gravel in the one tray and the top small space and use the ceramic rings in the bottom and sponges, this is in a 50ltr tank with shrimp in, thank you

Hi Richard. Thanks for sharing. Was just wondering about the mechanics of this filter. If the water enters the holes on the tops of each container from the back and exits from the holes on the top of the container on the other side and the containers are closed on the bottom, won't the water simply flow over the media or sponge or whatever is in the container without actually being forced through the media?

Great vid. I'm looking to upgrade my aquarium over time so will be watching these video's closely. It's currently running an under gravel filter. I'm.also looking to change over to better lighting as the fluorescent tubes are ready to be replaced. How about a diy LED lighting video. I'm sure with the availability of various LED units you could come up with a cost effective alternative to some of the over priced aquarium lights on the market. ATB Steve.

Seachem makes a HOB Tidal.. If you can get those filters there that would be a good one to upgrade.

Great video. I'm currently putting together a list for an aquascaped tank and was considering the Oase biomaster themo 600 but tbh I'm not convinced the pre-filtration stage is up to it as all the sponges look the same and not graded from course to fine. My tank will only be 108 Litres but as I'll be using a C02 setup it'll need a good 1000lph turnover to circulate the co2, So I'm thinking of going for the Eheim Prof 4 600 now instead and a Hydor 300w external heater.

great info as always guru... I'd like to see what you would do to upgrade a fluvial 70 HOB..

Hi Richard, I like this filter, but I have 2 small tanks, one is a 10 gallon betta tank and the other is a 5 gallon betta tank. I would need to use the smallest oase corner filter available with only 1 compartment. Would it be worthwhile to section the single compartment with maybe biohome and a filter pad, or is there a better alternative for a sleek hidden corner filter with build in heater. Also, what are your thoughts on the very old economy corner filters with the clear plastic made by Jardin? Maybe a future pimp my filter? Thanks for all the great content!

Hi Richard, Great DIY! Im wondering, does this filter has an oxygen/air "extrution" ? Or its just a direct pump filtration. (I cant see any tube for air flow) All the best! Nick

Nice !

Hi there. I just subscribed to your channel it is very neat. This is a great video, I gave it a like. Thank you for sharing.

Awesome video

Hi, given the cost of all the other bits you have to buy to make this filter work effectivly, would you reccomend getting a differnt filter? I have a 90L tropical tank, with Mollys and tertra with a few plants. Thank tank came with a Interpet internal cartridge filter, wich seems next to useless, so I'm looking to upgrade to the best filter. thanks!

Hi, I've made these modifications to my filter. Though I have found smaller MINI ceramic bio gravel (2mm balls), Would these be better as I could potentially fit more in?

Would be great if you would show us how to upgrade a matten filter. Love that you think outside the box! Where can one get bio gravel in Canada?

I have the exact same filter and I have to say I am so disappointed in the lack of filtration. So sad. I would love to get what you did with this one done with mine.

Hi guru, any chance of doing a pimp my filter on the fluval flex tanks please? Cheers

Hi, what a great video. I'm looking at buying two of these filters for my Malawi tank which is around 100 gallons. I want to get away from the two canister filters I have because I worry about them leaking, not that they have yet. Do you think that two of these modified as in this video would be sufficient. I guess I could put more internal filtration in the tank if required. The tank has 14 fish in it and is 6ft long and 30" deep and 1ft from front to back. Many thanks.

I want to mention to whoever has this filter, to make sure to also add coarse sponges to the sides and the base plate (you can see it at 4:30, in this video). I found 1 ember tetra and 2 green neons, dead in the filter. There was also a live green neon stuck inside the base plate. I used a 2cm thick coarse sponge foam and cut it to shape for the base plate, then cut it again on the middle to make a 1cm thick pad. For the sides, just cut a 2x2.5 cm strip and cut 2 of the corners to make a prism.

Great vid and would love to try these out in my tank, but unfortunately, they are not sold in the US !! :(

If I send a filter from the US, will it be a lot of money? and when you put the media inside, do I keep that media that you used to pimp it out? I have the Fluval 207

Hi does this work well?

This is the filter I was going to buy today (now not at all sure about that). thank you very much. I wonder if a JBL Cristalprofi or Fluval U filter would be a better buy..

Very informative. How would this apply to the Oase Thermo 50?

Have you noticed any change since these mods

Richard , can you do a video on the Oase filtosmart 200 please , be interesting to see just how this filter works and how it could be upgraded if it can . Thanks .

Another great video.. How about the fluval u4??

Can you pimp a Juwel BioFlow One 80Ltr internal filter please i'd be interested to see how you would setup carbon, fine, coarse and media in this one

Pondguru I´ve watched almost all of your videos which I totally loved by the way (cleared every doubt I had from previous not so good information). My question is, does the type of pump matters? in your "why your filter is too small and not cycled" you mentioned the importance of biological filtration and the ratio between kgs of media per liters of water. If I were to build a DIY filter just how much power would I need to suck that much water through all the layers of media to properly clean a 50 liter turtle tank with 4 little turtles in it?

I have the 100 version of this filter would it work with exact same set up minus the top section? So rings-course then medium-media-fine then media in little tray at top

Greetings, Richard! Glad to see you back in the fishkeeping world! Lol. Is this the studio that was built ino your new shop? Very nice with great acoustics. Well done!

Hey ponguru I was thinking of getting the oase external with the heater inside to hide it or should I stick with a APS and add one of the external heaters to the pipe which heats it as it runs back in? Malawi cichilds tank 5x2x2. You can upgrade a juwel internal filter on my rio180 if you fancy it? I even have a spare if you bugger it up 😂

Hi mate could you please tell me the best reasonable priced filter

Which would you recommend, this or Fluval u?

Why would they make it so the water only goes through those small slits to the front of the canister. Much of the water will bypass most of the filter media. I don't get it.

What about the very bottom tray? You didn’t mention that part.

Still alive 😉 ? How should this filter be maintained / cleaned with this medias in?

Hi Richard, i'm please you have getting your cabin finished, i was wondering if you got it finished with all this horrible cold weather we've had, it looks fab..nice & bright :) i will give u a ring on Monday if that's ok, as i don't like to ring u on a weekend as it's family time :) as i want to upgrade my trickle filter on a aqua one AR 980 to which i have not set up yet, in if u want to use it in a video u can ? i don't know if u going to do trickle filters or not specially on big ones lol, in if so i will bring the filter up to yours as we don't live far from u, good video as per :)

The original design of the sponge chambers are such that when you take the chambers out for cleaning the gunk doesn't fall down in the aquarium

Cool vide Rich, and are those the Edifier W830BT headphones I see ;)

What filter biological media do you recommend for a Platy tank?

hi any chance of doing a juwel internal filter for a rio 180. or a quick list of a decent setupas these are fixed in the corner of the tank. i have one of these oase 200!corner filter which i will be upgrading also. great vids. very informative. thanks

Can I use biohome media in this filter( oase bioplus 200)?