The Eheim mates to the reservoir by slipping the EHEIM's intake port into the reservoir's side; the reservoir is fitted with two "O" rings

which effectively seals the EHEIM to the tank:

Assembly is a snap - just push the pump into the tank as far as it goes, and that's it. I did use some 600 grit sandpaper on the leading edge of the EHEIM's intake port - I felt it was a little too sharp and might cut the "O" rings (this is just me - I don't think it's necessary).

The instructions suggest that you place a piece of the foam strainer that comes with the EHEIM into the tank as a filter and to break up bubbles. I tried it both ways and adding the filter does clear up bubbles faster. I don't think you have to worry too much about filtering any debris.

One other thing I did was to zip-tie the pump and radiator together - it's plenty secure as is, but in extended use, I don't want to have a lingering concern that somehow it could disengage (VERY unlikely).

The reservoir does make filling and bleeding the system a snap - it took all of 5 minutes. I would suggest that you first fill up the radiator with water, however, to minimize filling time. Priming the pump from both directions does not hurt either - just make sure there is some fluid in the EHEIM's impeller chamber.

As you fill, it's a quick pump-on-off routine until the system is fully charged. I know this will sound a little screwy, but you can keep the yellow tank cover off while doing this. Follow the instructions carefully and run the system overnight to check for leaks.

The radiator is quite compact - if you can fit a 120mm fan in the case, odds are very high you can get this radiator into that space. It is marketed by Maxxxpert Ltd¹ - a Korean company - model MXL-MONO. The kit comes with small fan screws - I did not use them, electing instead to use bolts:

You have to secure the fan to the case, so you most likely are going to use bolts anyway. The fan is a Sunon Model #KD1212PTB3-6A, 120mm rated 69 cfm @ 2400 RPM, 2.4 watts. Noise will vary depending on how it's installed in a case, but the fan itself is not very loud. Blowing in or out makes no difference.

The directions indicate that slipping the tubing over the radiator's intake/exit tubes is enough to hold the tubes in place. I did this and they do, but I would NOT do this longer term - buy two small hose clamps for safety's sake.

The EHEIM ships with the fitting shown on top:

The Innovatek kit uses the fitting shown below it. This particular fitting screws into the top of the EHEIM 1046/1048 pumps. The tubing is easily secured to the nipple:

You cut the tubing to size, slip it over the nipple, and then screw the retaining cap onto the nipple (make sure you slip the cap over the tubing before you fit it onto the nipple!). Screwed down properly, I can't conceive of any situation where the tubing could come loose.

I do have one concern, however; about half the time, as I screwed down the retaining cap (wrench required), the tubing rotated as I screwed down the cap, so be aware that this might happen when you assemble it.

¹I am testing their watercooling kit and should report on it within the week.

Email Joe