# !NEW! Filter, 100%CO2 dissolved, clearer water--



## |GTO| (Oct 9, 2006)

Soooo the other day I was doing some more thread reading, as I usually do and I decided to check out the title stated canister. 

This filter was designed for use in terrariums and small aquariums up to 30 gal. Most usually for turtle tanks. For its small size, it sure does pack alot of cubic inch space of filtering.

Anyway, I decided to get one because I wanted to better filter my water, reduce tornado action from my Aqua Clear 20, and 100% diffuse my CO2 injections.

The most important thing I wanted to do was get 100% CO2 diffusion since this is a high-tech shabang nano I sprung a pretty penny for. I wasnt getting it with my crappy crappy crappy eheim diffusor so i figured i could use that in combination with putting CO2 in a filter.

turns out AC20 isnt good at destroying CO2 within the filter, plus it made alot fo noise. And on top of that its not sealed, so i lost alot to atmosphere.

This canister is awesome, especially since I swapped out the carbon bag and bio media it comes with (media is loose), with a bag of Purigen and a bag of AquaClear50 biomax. 

now i have supreme filtration for the tank, 100% CO2 use, and no vortex of doom.

puffer is happier and the plants are better off as well.

Heres the setup: (AC20 not removed yet until bacteria builds in 501)








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sorry bout crap quality, used my phone


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## fresh_lynny (Mar 9, 2006)

is this the Zoo med one?


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## |GTO| (Oct 9, 2006)

fresh_newby said:


> is this the Zoo med one?



wow i am dumb hahaha, i forgot to put in the name of the filter...

sorry lol---yea its the ZOOMED 501 Mini Canister Filter

cheers


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## Aquamanx (Sep 28, 2006)

Where are you injecting your CO2? Is that the thing under your intake? Forgive my stupidity, I'm totaly new to CO2... I'm thinking of using it on my 20 Gal tank. Seems my plants aren't growing as well As I would like them to. Even my Java moss seems to be getting really dark green. Unsure if that's supposed to do that...

Steve X.


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## |GTO| (Oct 9, 2006)

yea i inject it through an eheim diffusor (crappy lol) under the intake of the canister--works really well

i recommend CO2..it'll do wonders for your tank with the right combo or ferts and lighting


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## crazie.eddie (May 31, 2004)

Cool. What's the inner diameter of the tubing on the zoomed?


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## CAMBYSES (Sep 22, 2006)

This looks like it might work for my 10gal. I too have the AC20 and the "vortex of death" I am currently injecting c02 into the intake and it "burps" like crazy and I really think im wasting my c02. where did you find this filter? I am assuming thatpetplace considering your in west reading.


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## |GTO| (Oct 9, 2006)

CAMBYSES said:


> This looks like it might work for my 10gal. I too have the AC20 and the "vortex of death" I am currently injecting c02 into the intake and it "burps" like crazy and I really think im wasting my c02. where did you find this filter? I am assuming thatpetplace considering your in west reading.


I too had the vortex of death, and i hated it lol..

In regards to the AC20 wasting CO2, yea, its being wasted..with an educated guess id say about 60-70% of it. its not sealed so there is not way to get that CO2 to stay put in the AC20, and there isnt enough contact time for the impeller to breakdown the bubbles.

The mini canister is rated for up to 30 gallons so it would probobly work great for your 10gal. im getting 100% CO2 use so i know its working.

I got mine at petsmart because its closer than TFP (love that store) and i have some inside friends so i get a mega discount. its $40 at PetSmart, but prolly cheaper at TFp, like $35. a few places online have it for $29.99 bu add shipping.

im thrilled with it, especially since im using a Purigen pack inside. Clearer than crystal clear water.

cheers,


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## CAMBYSES (Sep 22, 2006)

I think im gonna have to go out TFP and buy myself one of these, plus my fiance has been wanting to go out there and see what all the excitement is about.

thanks for the info.


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## wantsome (Sep 3, 2006)

I came across that turtle filter a couple of weeks ago when doing some searches. Looks good I might have to try one. I'm not happy with my AC 20.


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## |GTO| (Oct 9, 2006)

i really do reccomend this filter--im not working for zoomed or anything lol. it just works vey well :icon_smil 

i would reccomend it to anyone using a nano who wants minimal stuff in the tank hehe

great circulation for a nano, 100% CO2 diffusin, like i said 500 times before. great clarity, etc.

i love it--

and i love planted tanks--it really is, and forever will be...a life long passion for me....and im sure for many others...

cheers,


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## chinaboy1021 (May 30, 2003)

i think i will like this filter a lot since i wont have to make my own now.

can you control the throttle on this thing? i want to use it on a 3-5gallon.


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## |GTO| (Oct 9, 2006)

no throttle ocntro lon this bad boy--just raw power--all 4 watts of it lol..

i have it on a 5 gallon nano and instead of using the included spraybar, I used the included outlet diverter instead. I have good water circulation, but not a huge amount of tornado. 

You wont need 'throttle control' with this--

btw, I did have to cut the inlet tube shorter to fit in the 5 gallon tank, 3 maybe 3.5 inches. may sound really short, but when you add the inlet strainer and the solid elbow at the top-it fits perfect.

another neat little feature is the inlet strainer, it has s 'snap close' design which lets you open it for cleaning or you can add a little sponge for even more prefiltering.

im really happy with it

cheers,


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## spdskr (Nov 14, 2005)

Glad to hear you are satisfied with yours also. I, too, cut down my intake and outlet tubes and also the hoses. It is more expensive than a HOB but there is nothing that needs replacing except for floss or whatever you choose to put in the prefilter compartment. Imagine how many of these filters Zoo-Med could sell if they marketed them to the planted tank community :icon_smil .


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## TINNGG (Mar 9, 2005)

spdskr said:


> Imagine how many of these filters Zoo-Med could sell if they marketed them to the planted tank community :icon_smil .


Good question. Depends I suppose on how much the would be user likes the "vortex of doom" effect. I hate it myself so tend to go for the upper limits of a filter's useful recommended tank size. 

Zoo-Med though was smart not to market these things for general aquarium use - the last time a company made a pricy canister for smaller tanks, they eventually dropped it due to lack of sales (and those of us who liked what we saw are forced to scrounge to find stuff to keep them functioning) Joe Schmo with his 10 gallon goldfish tank would rather replace dinky $10 aquateks every 4-6 months than get what he needs in the first place.


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## Justintoxicated (Oct 18, 2006)

I have had one of these things for the longest time and when I got it everyone told me how crappy they are. Now that someone more people are using them I feel a little better. It's been on my vivarium for about a year now with no problems. I wish it had an easier way to clean it than removing the lid with hoses attached. maybe something similar to fluval. Maybe they were saying it is crappy for a 30 gallon tank, that I would believe! but it keeps my Vivarium Nitrite and Amonia Free with 2 HUGE Newts and 2 California toads living in it. If you think Fish poo is bad these things lay some large Pods, and there is probably only 5-6 gallons of water in there!

I'm tempted to put the thing on my eclipse 3 gallon DP's tank, but that tank is not really getting enough light to bother injecting CO2 anyways. 

I'd consider getting one for my 10 gallon, but the Fluval 105/104 or eheim seems like it would be better suited for a 10 gallon tank.


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## Brilliant (Apr 11, 2006)

Crap I just bought an AC 20! DOH!

How loud is this filter? Does it vibrate? Can you give me the dimensions?

Please!

OK found one I was searching for zoomed and it didnt come up at first.
Size:
Filter is 3 1/2" x 5.9" x 6 1/2" high.




PS this is for my Eclipse 3 I cant believe how relevant this post is to my current situation.


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## trackhazard (Aug 24, 2006)

The ZooMed 501 is pretty darn quiet. I have one in my bedroom for my shrimp tank and another in my son's bedroom on his guppy tank (both 10 gal). No problems falling asleep. They make a bit of noise when you first start them up as they purge themselves of air but after a couple minutes, they are a quiet as a mouse.

Can anyone who has/had an AC20 tell me how loud those things are in comparison? I'm thinking about grabbing the one off my son's tank for a 5 gal setup I'm toying with and replacing it with a AC10 or 20 as his tank is pretty low maintenance/low tech.

-Charlie


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## spdskr (Nov 14, 2005)

> How loud is this filter?


By all but Eheim standards, I would consider the Zoo-Med to be quiet.


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## Justintoxicated (Oct 18, 2006)

AC 50 > Zoomed 501 > Fluval 204. Noise wise

it comes with rubber feet that fall off so I set mine on a terry cloth towel to quite it down (little rubber feet fell behind my dresser the first time I bumped one on the side of the dresser) I put the filter behind the tank. it is supposed to be at tank level.


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## |GTO| (Oct 9, 2006)

i have no complaints about this filter--its quiet, only loud at startup for less than a minute.

to solve that cleaning problem where you have to take the hoses and filter all to the sink--i did a little research and found that its easy to inline some small ballvalves to seal off the filter with a few quick-disconnect fittings to trot it off to cleaning-

might jsut do it--ill post pics when i get the chance

AC20 will be fine for your sons guppy aquarium--i like em, just not in a nano


cheers,


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

Justintoxicated said:


> I'd consider getting one for my 10 gallon, but the Fluval 105/104 or eheim seems like it would be better suited for a 10 gallon tank.


$75 for a Fluval 105! Whoa... I have a heavily planted 10 gallno tank...would the flow be enough? Or will I have to go with a Fluval 105 or XP1 too?


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## Justintoxicated (Oct 18, 2006)

epicfish said:


> $75 for a Fluval 105! Whoa... I have a heavily planted 10 gallno tank...would the flow be enough? Or will I have to go with a Fluval 105 or XP1 too?



I'm not sure I bought mine on sale when the 105's came out, it was like $50 for the 204 heh.


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## Blacksunshine (Oct 11, 2006)

Looks good. I was also considering getting one of those cans. But wound up modifying a HOT magnum instead to replace my AC30. 
One thing. why not just pipe the CO2 injection directly into the intake of the filter instead of having it go thru the diffuser? It would be a little more effecient and remove one more thing from inside the tank.then you can tuck that intake somewhere in the back of the tank and hide it.


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## |GTO| (Oct 9, 2006)

the problem with eliminating the diffusor and pumping the CO2 directly into the intake is that the filter does not have enought time to fully break up the bubbles and dissove the CO2 completely..

by sending much much much smaller bubbles into the intake, it wont take as much time or effort on the filters part to dissolve them.

another reason why direct pumping it wont work well is becuase the ZOOMED occasionally has to 'de-gas'. by that i mean it burbs a stream of bubbles every once in awhile to purge the gas in the canister...so basically tha twould be a big waste since it would have to do that alot more often if i was pumping large bubbles of gas in.

the method i have set up now works great--its jsut i wanna remove stuff from the the tank itself--im trying to design a miniature inline CO2 reactor that wont reduce the flow very much..

im finding thta is quite difficult a task to accomplish.

cheers,


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## aquaphish (Dec 20, 2002)

I have one of these for my 8 gal and it is the best filter I have tested in the 8 gal. I think I bought at least 2 other filters one beig the AC 20. 

As for ZOOMED advertizing this neat little filter for fish tanks, it does. Just read the box. But I really would not try it on a 30 gal.

There is someone here that used a DIY inline CO2 reactor on the 501.


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