thanks christy!
after the tank running for about a month, we noticed that the filter wasnt as wide as the water column so it wasnt filtering all the water.
here is what the flow looked like. notice how a fairly large amount is passing by the right side?
stock filter out.
so i cut 3 of these for "levels" for the new filter
then i used an 80 tooth saw blade on the table saw and cut some acrylic
here is the acrylic weld i used
so i built it 3 sided, so i can put the media in the open side, and the outside wall of the tank acts like the 4th side. here it is
and here it is with filter floss in the top, carbon in the middle (waiting on chemi-pure for 3rd chamber)
and here it is in action
notice how the whole water collumn is going into it now! it actually cleared up the water after a water change about twice as fast. let me know what you guys think