10g filter - canister-style setup possible?

T

tortugac

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Nov 24, 2009
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I'm enjoying my first aquarium setup, a small 10gal setup with a goldfish, female betta, and an oto catfish. Eventually I realize the goldfish will outgrow this tank, so they are telling me. But for now, the 10g is fine and I'm learning through this setup. I bought the Tetra EX20 filter, which works OK, but I'd like to run something more similar to a canister, where I can choose what types of filter media go into it, rather than the prefab filter cartridges that seem to come with most hang-on filters like the one I have. The canister filters and better setups I've seen have flow rates that would be too high for this small tank. Are there any 10g friendly setups or filters that would allow me to choose and change the filtration media? There are times I've added various additives that say to remove the carbon filter (such as water clear stuff), but to take out the carbon in the filter I have, I also lose the mechanical filtering, which defeats the purpose of the whole exercise.

Is there a filter system that will allow me to choose/change media, that will also not create tidal waves within the confines of this smaller tank? If not, does it really matter if I use the filter cartridges made for this filter or can I just use bio-bags and stuff filled with whatever I want and have it work fine?

Thanks, first post/question here, looking forward to advice for this newbie!
 
I use a hot magnum 250 ( without the bio wheels) and put a inlet strainer on the outlet tube to control the outflow .Works great on my 10's.
You can use any bio filter media and the blue filter sleeve is actually pretty good compared to the ones you get with the 220 or 350. This sleeve is re-useable for a long time .

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You could use the fluval 105. It has the typical canister filter styling in a smaller package.
 
I have 3 of the tom canisters, and they are ok. They take plenty of abuse, but I personally think they need modification out of the box... I prefer to remove the flow indicator, and run it with ceramic media in the intake compartment, and a pot scrubber in the second one. I also add a small piece of the thin blue filter mat over the ceramic as a prefilter, but that requires frequent rinsing. There are other threads here on AC about the tom filters if you search. I think I've always found the cheapest price on bigal's.

I've been thinking of trying the hot magnums... they seem cool too.

also, the eheim eccos look sweet as well. and an eheim 2211 might be a good choice too, if you have a little more money to spend.
 
idd go with the fluval 105 i have a 405 on my 55gal and its great
 
mellow's right, the Tom canister needs to modified right out of the box to be effective. A similar hang-on style canister is the Zoomed 501. Eheim Classics is also worth looking into.
 
personly i think if you want to go with a canister filter go with ether a hot magnum, ehiem 2211 or ecco. i have a 2211 and love the little bugger best filter ive bought in a while for smaller tank. not to sure about the fluval never used them but if might be worth looking into.

if you don't mind the HOB filters and just want to be able to chose your own media and not deal with the cartridges i would look into an aquaclear.
 
Get a canister suited for a larger tank and install a valve on the output to slow it down to where it won't wear your fish out.
 
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