Need advice: Slowing the Flow on Aquaclear 110

[mclawrence]

I just put an AC110 on my 20 gallon reef tank thinking that all I had to do was change out the impeller with a smaller one. This is something that I've read on posts throughout the internet. (If it's on the internet, it must be true). Well, that doesn't work since the impeller from the AC30 and 70 is too small. So, I lifted the intake up a little which did slow it down somewhat. Are there any opinions about out there about doing that? Will that damage the pump? I really don't want to start hacking on the impeller unless you know specifically that it will work.

The reason for putting the AC110 on my tank was to have a place to put my Chemipure, rocks, chaeto, heater and especially my Aqualife protein skimmer. Also, I cut the large sponge that came with the filter and placed it in the intake chamber thinking that may help.

Any thoughts? Thanks in advance! :drama:

 

[Usctom]

You could cut a couple of the blades off of the impellar.

 

[AZDesertRat]

I found the best solution is to shave the height of the standard 110 impeller down. When you shorten the lengths of the blades or remove blades it sometimes throws it out of balance causing vibration and noise. I removed the impellet from the magnet, laid it on a piece of coarse sandpaper and rubbed it until it shortened the height to where I wanted it. I reinstalled it a couple times during the process and found it was still more than I want so sanded a little more off until I was happy with it. No noise at all and it reduced the flow where it is perfect for a HOB refugium on my 16G bowfront reef.

 

[mclawrence]

Thanks! I'll try sanding the impeller the next time I take it apart. I don't want to start cutting on it until I've exhausted my options.

 

[feh]

I swapped the impeller out on my AC70 with one from a smaller model to slow the flow down. You can buy replacement impellers for these filters.