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Pumps & Filters |
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Zoo Med 501 Turtle Canister Filter
Studio : Royal Pet Supplies Inc
by Royal Pet Supplies Inc
Brand : ZooMed
Model : TC30
Publisher : Royal Pet Supplies Inc
Availability : Usually ships in 2-3 business days
Size : Filter is 3 1/2" x 5.9" x 6 1/2" high.
EAN : 0097612023206
UPC : 097612023206
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 24 reviews)
List Price : $71.08
Our Price : $29.99
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Easy to clean
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Small and convenient
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Good to 30 gallons
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Product Description |
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Small, convenient outside-the-tank canister filter for turtle tanks up to 30 gallons. Contains biological, chemical, and mechanical filtration. Clear viewing case allows you to see when filter media needs replacing. |
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Mechanically sound, but flawed execution |
As others have mentioned, the instructions for the filtration media placement are at odds with the images displayed on the box- follow the box (ceramic on bottom, carbon on top). More importantly, the carbon media that the filter comes with is much too full. In other words, if you put all of the ceramic media on the bottom, and then attempt to shove the carbon bag on top of it, you will end up with an overly packed filter, leading to difficult priming, low flow rate, and general frustration. As a test, try running the filter without the carbon bag, and see how much more readily the filter primes, as well as the drastic increase in flow rate.
My solution was to cut open the carbon bag and transfer some of its contents to a clean, thin sock. This would probably be an easy issue to troubleshoot for an experienced owner/user, but I imagine that most people looking to buy a small, low-cost unit like this do not fall into that category- so hopefully, this saves some other novice owners a half-hour or so of frustration.
One additional note: the "activated" carbon that comes with this filter is worthless. I noticed no difference in water clarity, or in the time needed between changes, with the stock carbon (vs. no filter at all). With real activated carbon (the finely granulated kind you can buy from any pet store), performance improved dramatically (stock carbon = needed to change water once every 1-2 days, new/activated carbon = water still clear after 5-6 days). It may help to get a couple of different size filter bags to optimize the quantity of carbon you place in the filter body.
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Cleaner, Clearer, and Quieter! |
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We have a 75 gallon tank that is just under half full. This tank houses two African Side-Necked turtles, in addition to various feeder minnows. When we bought the tank, it came with a TetraMin filter. After only 3 days of aquatic life and feeding, our tank was so nasty you couldn't see the turtles at the bottom. I decided to get a supplemental filter and was going to purchase another TetraMin. I stumbled across this filer at a local store, but was about $20.00 more expensive. I came home and researched and decided to try it out. That was probably the best investment we made in our turtle tank! The water was clear within 24 hours. After setting it up, the filter is all but silent, with the exception of the spray bar. At night, I just rotate the bar toward the glass and all you hear is the faintest trickling noise - it's soothing, rather than irritating like some other filters. When I tested the water quality, the ammonia levels had dropped significantly, and the nitrates and nitrites were also in a good range again. Our turtles like to pop up under the spray bar, and I haven't seen any other filter system with that feature. I DO wish the hoses were a bit longer because we were limited to where we could put the filter, but all in all, I love this filter. The replacement cartridges are readily available, or you can make your own using a nylon mesh bag and coarse carbon chips. I like the ease with which it comes clean, too. This was a worthy investment and I am sure our turtles think so, too! |
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Great filter for turtles |
I've had this filter for 3 months and it has been working great. I've had two hatchling map turtles in a 10 gallon tank with this filter and they are in great health and growing well (Don't forget heat/UVA and UVB lights). There is absolutely no smell in the tank if I change the water every 2-3 weeks. Here a summary of the pros and cons of this filter:
Pros:
1- Very quiet
2- Very low vibrations
3- No odor in tank and crystal clear water
4- OK to clean
Cons:
1- Weak suction cups fall constantly (would have 5-stars if it wasn't for this)
2- Activated carbon re-fill is $5 bucks
Tips:
1- When you fill it to use it for the first time, remember to let it run a few minutes for noisy bubbles to flush out of it, then it will get very quiet.
2- Algae will form on the tubes if exposed to UV or natural light, you will need to clean them.
3- You can buy cheaper activated carbon for fish at pet store, put in a mesh bag and use instead of Zoo Med replacement. |
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waste of money |
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first of all i bought this thinking it wold work for biger tanks 40 and above it only works for under 30 second i have used lots of fliters and have have had beter it does a ok job at cleaing the water with the help of another filter on the down side the filter is extreamly hard to get the flow going and this is many because it has at the most litel to no suction i mean it uses 4wats? wtf my clock uses more than that and it only displays the time where this needs to be abel to suck in water and 4 wats will not do it there is alos lots of litel problem like all the hard thing dont all fit and its hard to close the lid other than that if u want a cheep canaster filter than will barly do the job and be a pain get this if not spend the 150 or 250 and get a real canaster filter that will do the job right |
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Good but you have to customize. A little secret; |
I am using this only for a 15 gallon aquarium with tropical fish and live plants so I can't speak for turtles. However, if you are considering using this for an aquarium similar to mine read on.
Get rid of the mesh bag of charcoal. Cut the top, clean the charcoal and set it aside.
Put traditional filter wool in the very bottom of the chamber, add some charcoal on top and then add the noodles on top of that. The bag of charcoal isn't designed well. The water just goes around it instead of through it. Fill the bag with water and watch, the water doesn't leak out much. I suppose you could make your own nylon bag and use that for charcoal but I don't.
Since I did this the filter has more power and cleans better. Good luck.
Aside from the bag of charcoal I like this filter a lot and so do the fish. |
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