Supplies needed;
Fishing line.
Scissors.
Sewing needle.
Plastic Canvas. (Craft store, Walmart, Dollar stores, etc.)
Poly Fill, Quilt Batting. (DO NOT USE COTTON! Nylon, Rayon, Dacron is OK.)

Bought this at Walmart for $2.49 for 12 sheets.
(Man, I hate going in there... :mad: )



Cut canvas to match your filter inserts.

This is the pattern for the WHISPER 40/60.
It is 30 holes wide by 45 holes high.
Cutting this way you get two cartridges per sheet of canvas.

Now use fishing line (30lb should work fine) to sew short ends
together.


Cut Poly Fill, Quilt Batting, Whatever to the right size.



Now just fold over and install.


When pulling out the old cartridge, loose debris is kicked into the tank
as I do not shut off filter to change cartridges. Tank gets very "foggy".
This cleared up in 15 mins. after installing cartridge, and now water is
crystal clear. If you want to use carbon, zeolite, phosban, peat moss,
whatever, just add a little to the middle of the poly fill before closing it up.
The posibilities are endless.

And for $.02 1/2, it makes it a whole lot cheaper. :D

Side note: At local fish store 8 pack of filters is $15.00, Walmart is $9.75. :$:

Wow! Great article. I would have never thought about using things like that to make your own DIY cartridges. I know I've used the polyfill, but it's always turned into a nasty ball of gunk when I finally change it out. That's an easy way to change it out. With the polyfill and some loose carbon, you could essentially make your own triple filtration cartridges! You are right, the possibilities are endless.

What do the cartridges look like when you pull them out? Is the canvas 'cartridge' still reusable? Can you change out the 'guts' and reuse the cartridge? May be even cheaper if you don't have to buy more canvas! Then again, you've got MONTHS AND MONTHS worth, so it's cheap either way, lol. For those of us who want to pinch those EXTRA pennies, haha! :lol:

Good article! Two thumbs up! :up: :up:

Hi MAZZA_402,

The Holder is completely reuseable. You just pull it out of the filter,
Let go of one side OVER THE TRASH, and refill. If you do it quick enough
you won't lose the bacteria on the mesh. (no spike)
I also noticed that I am using 4 times the thickness, with better water
flow. This mornig the tank is crystal clear.
The cartridge looks better than the original ones as the poly is inside
and you don't drop GUNK all over the top of your tank when changing it.

And as far as pinching PENNIES, It will pinch DOLLARS.

follow my math...

Three of my tanks use these filters. (total of 5 cartrigdes)

We change 10 cartridges a month.

We are now saving about $12.00 a month.

$12.00 x 12 months...

Hey I can afford another tank! :D

:o Awesome. Just awesome. I'm glad you wrote that article.

Great article! Thanks.

Good job EZ!