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Post by parker002 on Oct 11, 2011 18:59:31 GMT -5
Anybody have one? My daughter has a 14G tank and ever since I got my AquaTop, she's wanted a canister filter. Obviously, pretty much everything is oversized or impractical given her setup (on top of her dresser). A couple of weeks ago, she saw the Zoo Med 501 "nano" canister somewhere and immediately began asking for it. My wife and I discussed it and after some research, my wife decided to buy her a 511 for her birthday (alot of reports that the 501 was ideal for under 10G but was too weak for over 10G). They sell them in two forms - " aquarium nano" and " TurtleClean" but as far as I can tell it's just packaging/marketing. Technically, they appear to be identical. Anyway, my daughter's 511 "TurtleClean" filter arrived today. I will post up a review soon since there may be people looking for tiny canister filters (I hope that's ok Carl).
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Post by goldenpuon on Oct 11, 2011 22:52:55 GMT -5
I don't have any canister filters (I have HOB's and sponge filters running at the moment only). Though this is an educated guess, I think that turtle filters can work well for fish tanks (depending on water depth, design, etc of course). Turtles are also (from what I have heard) very dirty so provided the tank is at maximum or below maximum stocking levels, I think it will probably be effective. I have however, heard some bad things about ZooMed, but don't know if that would applies to this particular situation or not. I found some Zoo Med Turtle 501 Canister Filter Reviews. They an be found at wize.com/pet-supplies/p1193303-zoo-med-turtle-501-canister-filterI hope that helps. Renee
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Post by Carl on Oct 12, 2011 10:07:49 GMT -5
Even though I go down to the distributor that sells ZooMed once every 6-7 weeks, I have never seen this filter. It seems to be a good idea and my experience with ZooMed has been that they often come with good ideas/products (but for maybe the ZooMed Power Sweep). Every Turtle tank I maintained had a canister filter, but I did not have one under 40 gallons either (a couple were over 150 gallons). My question would be if this ZooMed has any head pressure as one aspect about Turtle care I was adamant about (meaning I would NOT accept a contract or build a turtle tank without) was UV Sterilizer to prevent Salmonella of which UV Sterilization is 100% effective in containing. In these tanks I added a basking shelf with UVB heat lamps and plumbed the Canister filter directly below the tank along with the UV Sterilizer & usually a Fluidized Filter since these are unbeatable for bio filtration for dirty turtle tanks In fact looking at this ZooMed Filter, it appears to be basically a bio only set up with Ceramic media, which brings me to my one reservation in that with a filter of this design being used for dirty fish or turtles, a Fluidized Filter run with a small power head would supply vastly more bio capacity in the same space taken. Otherwise it seems to be a good idea. Thanks for sharing the links to interesting new ideas/products! Carl
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Post by parker002 on Oct 12, 2011 13:38:38 GMT -5
I've read several forum reviews of the 501 that said it was perfect for planted fish tanks around 5G in size and 10G was the absolute max. ZooMed's marketing material now clearly states that the 501 is for tanks 2-10G. One of the recurring comments was that it HAD to be placed next to the tank, not below it, because it lacked the head pressure needed to be placed in a cabinet or such. In fact, ZooMed sells a mounting bracket so that you can mount it ON the tank. I would guess if the 501 is this way, the 511 is probably similar. As for your other filtration concerns, read on!
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Post by parker002 on Oct 24, 2011 14:27:06 GMT -5
Here's my review, reformatted and updated. I still don't think it's particularly easy to read but the formatting options are somewhat limited so if anybody has any suggestions, let me know.
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Post by Carl on Oct 24, 2011 15:52:02 GMT -5
This is an excellent and informative thread; Thanks for posting this information.
I would like to post this on the EA Blog as well?
Carl
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Post by parker002 on Oct 26, 2011 13:15:53 GMT -5
Sure, if you want to put it in there, I'm good with that.
The formatting is just awful though...
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Post by Carl on Oct 26, 2011 15:38:48 GMT -5
Formatting makes the point, as this is good information that may help educate someone looking to get this filter or who already owns one.
BTW, thanks for helping Suzie Q with her very difficult to diagnose problem.
Carl
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Post by parker002 on Oct 27, 2011 9:40:24 GMT -5
Here's some pics... A full view of the tank showing how much space is being saved. I love the look, especially the fact that the spray bar is clear. Here is the canister sitting next to a half-gallon pitcher so you can get an idea of the canister's size. Here's a pic of the modification I made to the intake. Finally, here's a close-up of the inline flow limiter in one of the elbows - very nice feature in my opinion.
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Post by babygeige on Oct 27, 2011 20:24:20 GMT -5
Thanks for this info. I've never seen either of these before. Zoomed makes some interesting things, don't they? I like the clear spray bar as well. I see you mounted it vertically. I never thought to do that. Is there a reason, or just a preference? Very nice review. It will definitely be a help to people. I've often wondered if there was a canister filter for smaller tanks. I've been considering replacing the HOB filter in my 10 gallon, but haven't decided what to replace it with. This has given me something to think about. If I can make a small comment about the review...Updates 1 & 2 of the Installation part are the same.
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Post by parker002 on Oct 27, 2011 21:01:35 GMT -5
I mounted it vertically because it was too long to fit on the left side and I'm not a fan of putting it in the back and having all of the current hit the front glass and dissipate...
Thanks for pointing out the error! Should be fixed now.
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Post by Carl on Oct 30, 2011 18:10:36 GMT -5
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Post by parker002 on Oct 30, 2011 20:58:19 GMT -5
Awesome.
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Post by goldenpuon on Oct 30, 2011 22:17:58 GMT -5
Very well-done and informative review Parker! Thanks for taking the time to write this Parker and Carl for posting this in the EA blogs! Excellent job!
Renee
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Post by parker002 on Oct 31, 2011 8:43:12 GMT -5
Thanks. I'm hoping people find it useful. I know I'm happy I found it. I won't ever use a HOB filter again.
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Post by parker002 on Nov 1, 2011 19:35:28 GMT -5
I would like to add some additional commentary to my review..
I've decided I want additional water clarity so I was going to add some 100micron fabric to the filter. As I mentioned previously, it wasn't readily apparent how to do this, so I just emailed Zoo Med.
To my surprise, they emailed me back about 12 hours later and provided a FLOW DIAGRAM of the filter.
And now for the bad news - it appears that the way the filter is designed would allow for considerable flow-by in the bio-media chamber. In fact, I'm not sure how water would be forced into through the bio-media at all. I'm awaiting further clarification from them.
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Post by Carl on Nov 2, 2011 11:13:11 GMT -5
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Post by parker002 on Nov 2, 2011 13:16:41 GMT -5
Carl, can you check your PMs? Thanks.
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Post by babygeige on Apr 14, 2012 10:45:12 GMT -5
Now that you've had this filter for a while, do you still like it? I've been thinking about replacing my 10 gallon's HOB filter. The little filter bags that they use have really cheapened in quality of late. I used to get a couple of months out of them, but now I'm lucky to get a month and I haven't really come up with any alternatives given the small size of the filter.
I would probably look at the Nano 511.
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Post by Carl on Apr 14, 2012 12:58:57 GMT -5
Stephanie; While a bit outside the box, the Fluidized Sand Bed Filters really perform a top notch job for bio filtration, better than any canister filter. The down side is less mechanical and generally little option for chemical filtration (although in most established aquariums, especially planted this is not all that necessary) For mechanical filtration utilizing a small power head to power the FB Filter with a sponge pre-filter ( Filter Max) can equal most canister filters for this aspect of filtration. See also: Aquarium Fluidized Filter ReviewCarl
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