Turtle Clean 15 External Canister Filter

**WHY DID I WRITE THIS REVIEW?** I believe the "Zoo Med 501 Turtle Canister Filter" is an excellent, under-rated product. I don't sell them or have anything to gain by writing a positive review, but felt compelled after reading a few negative reviews which clearly described unrealistic expectations or misunderstandings common to this hobby. The aquarium hobby, in my opinion, is a never-ending process of learning... like golf, maybe, or trying to understand the female mind (LOL). We all make mistakes and keep learning. Most of what I've learned so far is through some painful, expensive mistakes, and lots of fiddling. Maybe this review will help someone avoid some of my mistakes. **MY BACKGROUND/PERSPECTIVE** I have had many fishtanks over many years, ranging from Betta cups (I feel bad for those conditions now, but I was a kid) to a 50-gallon high-tech (pressurized co2 injection) freshwater flora/fauna. I have no experience with saltwater. I have no experience keeping turtles. I've used undergravel filters, various in-tank filters & HOB's, and canisters to include Fluval, Eheim, TOM Rapids Mini, and now the Zoo Med 501. **APPLICATION OF THIS ZOO MED 501** I purchased this filter, after a nearly accidental discovery (it's rarely mentioned, and not categorized under "fish filters"), for use on my daughter's new glass 10-gallon freshwater aquarium with fish, shrimp, snails, plants, and DIY co2. This filter provides her 10-gallon tank with gentle-but-ample flow, along with biological and mechanical filtration. While it's capable of chemical filtration, I never use carbon unless it's related to RARE instances involving aquarium medications; not that activated carbon is bad, but it's mostly unnecessary in a healthy, cycled, balanced aquarium environment. Also, this filter's lack of surface agitation partners well with co2 injection. **INITIAL SET-UP** This wasn't hard. If you have some experience with filters, you won't need the directions. Please consider that I'm no MacGyver (i.e. NOT extraordinarily handy), and I quickly figured it out. I always do internet searches for set-up videos. If you're reading this, so do you...LOL. However, if you are new to filters and/or don't like the internet videos, the provided directions alone might suffice. Most children will need a parent's help. You may need to trim (*) the plastic pipes to fit your tank, so a PVC-cutter or hacksaw will help. I had to shorten pipes and rubber hose a few inches for our standard 10-gallon tank application. *REMEMBER: Measure twice, cut once! We plumbed the tubes so the intake strainer is maybe 1/2" off the bottom right side, and the spray bar is near the top (maybe 1" below surface) moving water from right to left. They also include a spray nozzle, which can be used in place of the spray bar...nice option! I prefer the spray bar for wider, more even, gentler outflow circulation, but one may prefer the nozzle for another reason, such as its smaller size and less cluttered appearance. **MEDIA** As for media, the inside of the canister has a removable divider, making it very customizable. One side has a plastic tube (which is where water is sucked from your media basket and into your pump motor, on its way to your tank) covered by a removable, round sponge filter, the other side is intended for the ceramic rings and carbon. In ours, I rinsed the ceramic rings and put them in the empty side (opposite the sponge), which filled that side about halfway. You can top that with their carbon bag (rinse it first, always rinse in dechlorinated water). You could just leave it alone at that point. However, I added some bio-balls on the rings until that side was full. On the other side, I left the round sponge in place over the tube, and will re-use this sponge until worn out. Note: Many newer hobbyists throw away "dirty" sponges. DON'T...that's the good stuff! Instead, rinse them in dechorinated water and keep using them until the are just worn out (torn, fragmenting, too clogged to rinse, etc.) Exact, factory replacement sponges are about $5 now, but I will opt for some cheap filter floss or plastic scrubbies/sponges if I wear-out the factory sponge. One could opt to remove the divider and fill the entire basket with bio-media, or even a bag of activated carbon for chemical situations, or combinations thereof. The only precaution is assuring media is not sucked into the tube leading to your pump motor. **PRIMING/STARTING THE FIRST TIME** Also not difficult. I filled the canister with water during assembly, hooked up the hoses, and it instantly worked when plugged in. However, there is also a round cover (maybe 1" diameter) on the top of the canister, which can be twisted/removed to fill the media basket with water BEFORE plugging in. Some purging (air bubbles pumping into your aquarium) is normal, as your canister media and hoses will initially have some air pockets. I carefully/gently shake the canister to help dislodge the air. If you have continuous air bubbles exiting your spray bar or nozzle (output), then you may need to assure your hoses are secure/tight, nothing is cracked, and the top (motor) of the canister is properly secured to the bottom (media basket). Assembled and working properly, this should pump NO air into your tank. **CLEANING** Note: "Cleaning" filters usually means just rinsing the media in dechlorinated water, and never rinse media in hot water (kills the good stuff). I recommend cleaning canister filters when you notice a decrease in flow. Regular schedules for cleaning can be good, too, but I think inexperienced hobbyists sometimes overclean filters and thereby remove beneficial bacteria, which lives in your media and in the unsightly, brown/gray "gunk." After removing all the good stuff, they remain confused about the "cloudy water," high ammonia levels, and dying fish. The easiest way to clean this system is to unplug it, place it in a clean 5-gal bucket or a plastic bin/tub, and go rinse in dechlorinated water. Re-assemble, re-attach, and start as described in the previous section. Many larger canisters have shut-off valves (usually ball valves) to allow the intake and outflow tubes to remain in the aquarium as the canister is detached for cleaning. These could be added to this system, but I think it's small enough to make removing everything simple enough for me. **OTHER APPLICATIONS** As I mentioned, this item is listed primarily under turtle filters, which I find unfortunate. I think most fishkeepers can enjoy this filter, which seems wonderful for fishtanks from 2.5 to maybe 20 gallons. As turtles produce more waste, I can't imagine expecting this to function properly on anything above 10 gallons, unless you plan to rinse/clean every day. I also believe this canister would work beatifully for shrimp or fry tanks (just place a sponge over the intake tube/strainer), as the flow is a pleasant and not overpowering. Hope this helps! :)

I have this filter hooked up to a a 20g tank with my two turtles in it. Up until I got this filter, I was changing filters at least once a week. My boys are messy eaters and even messier when it comes to potty use, so their tank dirties pretty quickly. I also had new rocks in my tank which still had alot of dust on them, the take cleared the tank beautifully, although it took a good two days. That being said, This filter is awesome! Its noisy if there is air in it when you first start it up, but it works itself out eventually and runs real quietly. I just cleaned the filter out yesterday and it ran for two weeks straight with no odor from the tank. There was no way my boys could ever go two weeks without a filter change and stinking up the house. This filter keeps the water really clean and keeps the odors at bay. My charcoal bag will need to be replaced in another week or so, but I got a good month out of one filter. Filter cleans easily but has lots of parts to take apart to clean. My intake and return tubes were junked up with biological debris, but a wire hanger and a twisted paper towel cleaned them out and they look brand new. My only complaint (if you can even call it that) is the filter is a little cumbersome to set up initially and I needed to revert back to the instruction manual after I took it apart to clean it. While this filter works amazing, it does take a day or two to really get the water nice and clear. The intake casing which gathers the debris from the tank has very small slats in it so some larger particles do not get collected. All in all, its well worth the $29 I spent on it and will be getting this filter for my other turtle tank as well as our fish tanks.

The packaging was damaged, so I had to take the advice of others & use a different carbon bag right from the start. This filter worked well for about four weeks, but fails to move water effectively after that. I used the 501 in a 35-gallon long aquarium with less than 12 gallons in it. I clean the tank and pump thoroughly each week, so I know that the issue is not that it's clogged. I've got a trickle of water still, even after cleaning the sponge, filter, hoses and pump. My 2" (RES) baby turtle loved the waterfall while it lasted, but I will be buying a replacement just 2.5 months after initial purchase. I'm kicking myself for not keeping the packaging materials, because I would have definately sent it back- turtle gunk & all. There are many other filters with better reviews and results for less than the price of this one. I gave it one star because I didn't see an option for zero stars. It's a WASTE (of time & money), no pun intended!

Works perfectly for my 5gal aquarium. Cleaner looking and quieter than a hang on back filter.

Great item thanks

Followed product instructions and the filter did not work

can't say much about this as it turned out to be too small for our Terrapin tank & we had to return it. It is meant to hang on the out side of the tank or at least stand on a shelf beside the tank ( there was no hanger with it & we don't have anywhere to stand it) Besides which it wasn't big enough for our tank anyway. Unfortunately my son had miss read the size. It would have been fine probably when we first got the terrapin 20 yrs ago when she was only tiny & in a small tank.

To small for my turtle tank I thought it was bigger