"Tom" wrote in message
news:TxD1d.191353You can
contact me at seaskate32043 at yahoo dot you-know-what.

Tom



Thanks Tom, my new media arrived the other day and I will attempt the
operation this weekend. The good news is that I have left a good amount of
water in the tube (now a festering bio experiment) so the sand is still
loose. BTW, when I originally bought the unit, the sand was indeed already
wet but was not at all solidified. I must have just lucked out with a
relatively "fresh" unit. It also had a small amount of coarse gravel in the
bottom as you described, I will set it up that way again.

As far as a check valve is concerned, I have the filter hanging off the back
of a 120 g tank with the end of the return hose positioned out of the
water - there can be no reverse siphon. The input is powered by a 401
powerhead with prefilter. I have never had startup or siphoning problems at
all.

Alas, if I do manage to botch the whole thing, I will definitely take you up
on your offer. Thanks for your generosity.

Cheers,

Phil