Instructions
Insert the filter's intake stem, which is usually a U-shaped piece of plastic tubing, into the filter housing unit. The intake should slip easily into place, and fit snugly without the need to force the piece.
Connect the siphon tube to the bottom end of the filter intake, if your filter comes with one. The siphon tube should be a simple piece of tubing with narrow openings or slits on one end to allow water to enter the filter intake without sucking up large particles or fish. Some filters have a sponge attached to the end of the siphon tube.
Hang the filter over the back of the aquarium, with the intake tube submerged in the tank water.
Rinse both the filter sponge and the carbon filter in clean, running water to remove dust and debris. If you are cleaning the tank filter rather than installing it for the first time, be sure to rinse the filter sponge with used tank water rather than tap water. The filter sponge is the home of your tank's beneficial bacteria, and rinsing with tap water could effectively kill your biological filtration.
Place the filter sponge and the carbon filter in the housing unit, with the carbon filter located behind the filter sponge so that the flow of water passes through the carbon filter before it enters the filter sponge.
Fill the filter housing three-quarters full with tank water, and plug the unit in.
Turn the tank filter on, and make sure that water begins flowing through the intake and over the lip of the filter within a few seconds. The filter may make some gurgling sounds for a few moments, but as long as water flow begins shortly, this is normal.
Adjust the output of your filter as needed if the filter comes equipped with an adjustment knob.
Setting Up a Fish Tank Filter
Setting up a fish tank filter is an important step in maintaining the health of your aquarium and fish. Filters do far more than just circulate water through the aquarium--they remove debris and solid particles which enter the tank, and through the beneficial bacteria which come to live in the filter sponge, act to remove harmful ammonia and nitrites from the water. Setting up your filter is quick and easy, whether doing so for the first time or after a cleaning.