Quarantine Tank Options

[BlueWorldJeff]

I'm looking to make a quarantine tank out of one of my 36"x12"x12" acrylic tanks

This one has a 1" drain with two 3/4"returns on top. I dont want to use a sump and the sponge filter with air pump I got is too loud.

I was looking at canister filters where I could just run a sponge in the canister and run a line from drain to return, but it got me thinking.

Can I use a MJ1200 pump and TLF150 reactor the same way?

I dont know a ton about canister filters, but dont they just have a pump and separate sections for media where the pump pulls the water from the drain (Submerged) and then out into the return?

Can the Cobalt MJ1200 be used in line (out of the water) with 1/2 tubing? I was thinking of going from drain to mj12oo to reactor to return. I'd put a reducer hose barb on the drain and run 1/2 tubing the whole way, maybe something to lessen the flow on the return?

Would this work for a quick and dirty (and cheap) quarantine? I would just use the sponges provided in the TLF150 for filtration, or fill it with filter floss or similar media

 

[Larry L]

Can the Cobalt MJ1200 be used in line (out of the water) with 1/2 tubing?

Not sure about the necessary tubing size, but yes you can run the MJ1200 externally in the way you are thinking of.

Would this work for a quick and dirty (and cheap) quarantine?

I think it would work. Dedicated canister filters usually have some engineering in them to help with things like avoiding channeling through the filter media, dealing with excessive back-pressure, etc., but some something quick and dirty for short-term use I don't see why this would not work.

 

[BlueWorldJeff]

Only issue I could see is that the MJ1200 doesnt have a barb fitting on end, so keeping hose on outside of tank might be risky.

I could go with the sponge filter with air pump, but the pump is so loud...and its got "quiet" in the name.

I had an AquaClear HOB filter, but the tank I want to use has a rim on it and I would have to notch out the section for the HOB filter. Not sure that is worth it, although the HOBs look the easiest to install.

A traditional canister filter like Fluval or Eheim classic might be best bet, since i can plumb it to the drain and return. If this is a 22g tank (3 cubic feet), which canister filter would be best for a quarantine implementation? Maybe i can find a used one for like $25.