This is the way the top should actually look with the T on top with a bleed off valve. I actually had to put my T elsewhere because I forgot and glued it all together. The elbow on top of the ball valve goes no where, its just to divert any water that might come out down to a bucket but is not really needed. This by the way is the top off of a previous version. Keep the Ts facing up so they don't fill with media!

This is a look at the top with the rubber gasket on it with the bolts in it. The bolts are held in place by the rubber when you remove it so it makes sense to run the bolts from the top down. This gasket was bought at Lows as a toilet flang riser or extension. It came with 2 rubber gaskets and about a 1" plastic ring in the shape of a flange to raise the toilet another inch or so. They work really well. Don't over tighten this too much as it can crack.

This is just a simple floor drain made of plastic. I used one that was white but it is in the reactor and I forgot to get a picture of it before I put it in. It simple drops in the bottom of the reactor chamber. Then take the aquarium safe bio sponge and cut it to fit tightly in the reactor chamber and put it on top. When you drop media in this will keep it off the bottom and distribute the water evenly. Right now I have way too much water pressure to keep the sponge in so I used this stuff that is for needle point I found at Walmart in the arts and crafts section. You can cut it to fit or buy it already round. It is simply a plastic screen stuff that not too much media falls through. I will go back to the sponge as soon as I buy the smaller mag 5 pump. The 9.5 mag blew this out right away . The picture on the right shows the screen.

This is the way the reactor should look when done. These are unions at both sides of the pump so the pump can be removed by simply untwisting the unions by hand. They have rubber O rings in them to keep them sealed. You will have to decide which fittings you need to connect up to the pump. Don't glue anything to the pump find something that threads on and use teflon tape on the threads. The ball valve between the pump and the reactor chamber is so you can keep the water in the chamber when the pump is removed. To make it easier to add media I put a union next to the top cap too.

Operation

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