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Thread: Mag 5 Educator Powerhead DIY MOD!

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Posts
    81

    Mag 5 Educator Powerhead DIY MOD!

    My closed loop pump died, so I had to come up with a temporary solution for water movement in my tank that I thought I would share. I already had the th Mag 5 lying around (which I used for water changes) I had an Eductor connected to some locline in my tank from the CL, so I came up with the idea to attach that to the OUTPUT side of a Mag5 pump and turn it into a POWERHEAD!

    I am very happy with the flow rates I am getting out of this thing, it REALLY moves some water in my 100GA tank! The fish seem to like it too, I noticed they are darting all over the place swimming against the current etc..and food really circulates now.. The Eductor really helps as it moves MORE water in a WIDER pattern than the pump would move on its own. I really moves things around in the tank quite a bit, not too much flow though, seems just enough for my 100Ga.

    I do plan on getting another pump for my CL shortly.. but for now I am pretty impressed with this does for my tank. For those of you who DONT have a CL system already and dont want to lay out 300$ for a Tunze Stream, consider this mod. Its pretty easy and works great... The pump is not so large, and it can be hidden in LR fairly easy too. (see pic below) so all you see is the Eductor. This can be even closer to the back of your tank but cutting the fittings down a bit so the Eductor is closer to the pump. Right now its further out than I would like it to be, but its only temporary for me.

    Here is the pump from the side.. In it's Typical Use position as a pump.. Strainer on RT, Eductor facing up.


    Here is the pump as its used in the tank.. Strainer DOWN.. Educator going out to RT.



    Here is the pump installed in my tank, live rock is covering pump

  2. #2

    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Posts
    81

    Re: Mag 5 Educator Powerhead DIY MOD! HOW TO...

    To do this modd and to make this work you simply need some ABS glue, PVC clear glue, 3/4" Locline, 3/4" Locline FEMALE/MALE fitting, Eductor, and finally some PVC fittings..

    1. I had to mod the intake side of the pump since it was only 1/2" Stock and my strainer was 3/4", so I increased it from 1/2" to 3/4" by simply gluing (abs,pvc glue combo) a 3/4" SLIP/SLIP Female AROUND the threaded 1/2" Male portion of the intake side of the pump. IMHO Larger intakes are a good thing anyways. Using the female slip/slip it fit pretty good over the threads, I just blobbed on some extra ABS/PVC glue (I use combo to insure bond) to hold the slip slip in place, then on the other slip side I inserted an old strainer from an old Via Aqua Skimmer pump, and glued that using ABS/PVC glue slipped into the the female slip side. This covered the intake side of the Mod.

    2. Then on the output side I did the same thing as the intake, but this time, I inserted a 1/2 slip to NPT 3/4" female PVC coupling AROUND the output side of the Mag5 (it's 1/2" as well). Using some extra ABS/PVC glue again, It bonded nicely around the threads. This is NOT a simple 3/4" Female Slip/Slip coupling, this part is a bit different, I think its a 3/4" NPT reduced down to 1/2" slip Female which went over the intake. Its a strange bird, I found this lying around, not sure of the PVC Part #. But if you can find a slip 1/2" that increased to 3/4" THREADED your good to go!

    A better way would be to see if you can get a FEMALE 3/4" Locline adaptor, or if not, then TAP OUT the inside of the 3/4" Locline MALE fitting with a 1/2" NPT Tap, this would allow you to screw the 3/4" MALE locline fitting (which as 3/4" NPT outside) OVER/INTO the 1/2" Male on the output side of the pump. This would bring the Eductor very close to the pump for an even more compact setup.

    Here is one link to Eductor's iM sure you can google to find more. This one looks a bit shorter than mine, might be great for the job to keep pump BACK near back/side of tank!
    http://anythingsaltwater.com/pump-educt ... -1196.html

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Posts
    81

    Re: Mag 5 Educator Powerhead DIY MOD!

    I finally got my 1334 Firewire Card from New Egg, Once I get that installed, I can connect up my HD Vid cam and UPload some vids to the NeT. I will shoot and upload a Vid of the thing in action so you can see how she works.

    Its pretty impressive...

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