- Hey, it's Thomas here.
Today, we're going to be setting up
a SICCE Whale canister filter.
It's really easy to do.
I'm going to walk you through it,
step-by-step and by the end of the video,
yours should be filtering and flowing.
But first things first,
we're going to need to unbox the Whale
and lay out all the components
so we can see what we're working with.
That includes opening up the canister
by undoing all four of its two-stage clips.
So we can take the lid off and remove the media trays.
With the trays out, we can go through each tray, one by one,
remove the media and install the basket clips
into the baskets.
While also making sure any media still in a plastic bag,
it can be set free and put back into the tray.
For bio media and chemical media,
I do prefer to give it a quick rinse
to remove any dusty finds
before loading it back into the trays.
And before we put the trays back into the canister body,
while that body is still light as a feather,
we're going to flip it upside down and install
the four rubber feet into the holes on the bottom.
Then flip it back over,
slide those trays back in, one at a time,
get the lid back on top and then walk it down.
Next, we're going to piece together those intake
and output assemblies that will hang on
the back of the tank.
For the intake,
you'll need the assembly with the flat tab on top,
the 12 inch clear rigid tube and the strainer,
as well as a pair of suction cups.
The clear tube slides into the assembly,
and then the strainer slides onto
the other end of that clear tube.
You can also cut down the clear tube as necessary
to fit in your tank, if you find that it's too long.
For that job, I like to use a hacksaw.
Then you can attach the suction cups
to the two slots on the assembly.
If you'd like to use them to help hold
the assembly in place on your tank.
For the output assembly,
that will be the one with the round knob on the top.
First take the non slotted end of the 90 degree elbow
and slide it up into the output assembly.
Then take the deflector and slide that over top
of the slotted end of the 90 degree elbow,
then you can attach the suction cups.
The next step is to attach the intake and output assemblies
to the canister using the gray tubing.
You'll notice right away, the tubing is all one length,
which gives you some flexibility with how you'd like to
position the canister in the stand and where the intake
and output will be on the tank.
So for example, if you can't put the canister
directly under the middle of the tank in the stand
and it has to sit to the left or to the right,
but you still want your intake
and output evenly spaced on the tank.
As far apart as possible,
you can have one line that's going to be shorter
and one line that's going to be longer.
In this video,
I'll be making them even the lengths
and to start things off, I like to unroll the tubing,
find that natural bend in the tubing and then attach
both ends of the tubing to the canister.
Just before I attach those tubes to the barbs,
I'm going to slip on the tubing clamps,
with the slotted ends facing away from the tubing.
Then I'll slide the tubing onto the barb on the valve block,
and then slide those clamps down towards
the valve block until they click.
Pro tip, if you're having any trouble
getting the tubing to slide over top of the barb.
A really easy way to get around that
is to get a cup of hot water and soak
the tip of the tubing in that hot water
for somewhere between 15 to 30 seconds.
It's going to make it a little bit more pliable,
a little bit squishier,
a little bit easier to get over those barbs.
So you don't have to use as much elbow grease.
When the tubing cools down,
it's going to shrink right back down to its normal size
and snug up tightly.
Next, take the canister filter with the tubing on it,
to the front of the aquarium and set it down on the floor,
roughly where you're going to be placing it,
inside of the stand and hold up the tubing
to the rim of the aquarium,
to get a feel for where you'll want the intake
and output to go.
And then cut the tubing accordingly.
Like I mentioned,
I do prefer to center the filter in the stand
whenever possible and cut the tubing in half.
So I have equal lengths that allow me to spread the intake
and output, as far apart as possible.
Just make sure when you're cutting those lengths,
that they're not really tight.
You want there to be just a little bit of slack or droop
in the lines so that you can move
the canister around in a small circle,
without it pulling on the lines.
That way, you know there's no pressure
being exerted on the valve block.
Once you've cut the tubing, slide a hose clamp
on the end of each line.
Again, with the slots facing away from the tubing.
Then you can attach the intake assembly to the intake hose,
which is going to be marked down on the valve block.
So you can't miss it.
Then attach the output to the opposite side.
Once they're both on, snug up those hose clamps
so they click and then place the assemblies
on the side of the tank.
With the tank full of water,
you can now get ahold of that priming rod
on the intake assembly and pump it up and down
to start a siphon from the tank into the canister filter.
Do make sure that the output assembly's flow control knob
is set to maximum while you're priming
to make sure that there is no flow restriction.
Once the water is draining down into the canister
and bubbles or air is rushing out of the output,
you can push the rod back in and wait
for the canister to finish filling.
Once the bubbles or air stops,
you're ready to plug it in.
After you've plugged it in and it's running,
there may be some trapped air that will flush out
in a few bursts of bubbles over the next few minutes.
And then you are smooth sailing.
You can now adjust the flow control knob if needed
and top up the tank to make up for the water
that is now inside of the canister filter and you're done.
You now have a Whale canister filter all set up
and running on your tank.
You may need to do some maintenance at some point
and replace a few of those filter media components.
If you need to pick some up,
you can get ahold of some by clicking right here.
(upbeat music)