Air pump water filtering bottle aquarium

We can use a tube built in at the bottom of the aquarium for cleaning the aquarium, adding water and air (oxygen) to the water.

 I showed it in previous videos in detail, but here is an example where I use a DIY inline straight air tube connector.

Pumping air through the water has many benefits.
 But it creates chaos in a small aquarium.
 We can avoid the chaos by reducing air pressure or by enclosing air bubbles in a tube!

 Let's build a telescopic tube. 
I use 2 plastic straws of different sizes (ask for them at a local "Starbucks") with a 6 and 7 mm diameter.

The thin straw slides freely inside the thick straw.

 5 mm diameter air tube fits freely inside of both straws.

 Wrap a couple layers of cotton sewing thread around the thin straw, making about 1 cm wide ring closer to one end of the straw. 

The thin straw should fit firmly inside of the thick straw.
 Cut off the rest of the thread.

 This telescopic tube is long enough to fit in my plastic bottle aquariums.
 We can adjust the length of the tube.

Put the wide end of the telescopic tube on the protruding end of the air tube at the bottom of the aquarium.
 Make sure the air tube is not blocked by a rock or any other object.

 Turn the air pump on.
 Adjust the air pressure to low.

 It creates air pockets inside of the telescopic tube.
 Water trapped above an air pocket moves up as the air pushes it to the top end of the telescopic tube.
 It creates a suction effect at the bottom of the telescopic tube.
 Regulate the water flow by adjusting the air pressure. 
It pumps water above the planter on the top of the aquarium and then water drops back into aquarium.

 I am going to use a planter with 3 funnels in this example.

Take a small plastic bottle with a cap.

 Cut off the top of the plastic bottle.

 Trim off the edges. 

Cut off the bottom part of the plastic bottle. 

Trim off the edges.

 Cut out a strip from the edge to the center of the bottom part.

 The bottom part should fit inside of the top part of the bottle.
 I made the cut wide enough for the air tube to pass through it - I will explain this part in the next video ;)

 Make a hole in the cap using a hot soldering iron.

 The telescopic tube should go freely through the hole in the cap. 

The narrow straw goes in the bottle.

Use a needle, a nail, or a hot iron to make little holes about 1-2 cm above the cap. 
Holes prevent water overflow.

Loop a rubber band on the narrow straw to make a stopper.

The stopper prevents the bottle from sliding down.

 I use padding polyester to filter fish poop. 

Wrap a strip of filtering fabric around the straw. 

Push the roll in the cap.

Move the rubber band stopper to adjust the height - the straw should protrude above the roll. 

Insert the straw in a funnel and put one end of the air tube in the aquarium. 

Adjust the height of the telescopic tube. 
The cap should be inside of the funnel for the water to drop in the funnel.

 Turn on the air pump.

 Place the bottom part of the bottle on top as a type of lid.

 It is possible to use many commercial filters instead of padding polyester to remove unwanted chemicals.

 Rinse the filtering fabric under running water once a day.
 And then you can use it again.

 I use this slow flow cycle filtering system on rare occasions, mostly to increase oxygen level.
 It works for guppies.
 It could be useful for other fish.
 Have fun and happy fish :)