Equipment Review and Discussion :: New Canister FIlter Questions??

[Listen97]

I recently replaced my little Zoomed 501 Turtle filter from Petsmart with a Cascade 500 Canister filter. From what I have read everyone loves it. My issue is that it doesn't seem to even come close to my old tiny filter.

Most of the reviews said the water in their tank went from yellow to clear in about an hour, I have had mine running for a few weeks and still not clearing up. I cleaned the filter cartridges, charcoal, etc tonight and don't think its changed.

The Zoomed 501 used a simple coarse sponge, carbon & ceramic ring
The Cascade uses a Two-layer system, one with a floss bad & course sponge the other with floss bad and carbon.

Any Ideas or suggestions welcome.

[Raphulk]

how big is your tank?
im not a canister filter expert (i dont even have one)

but my question is a start i guess! haha

[Listen97]

the tank is about 40gal. the Zoomed says it should do about 25-30gal, and the Cascade says it should do 30-50g

[Fuzzy Hamster]

Listen97, the aquarium size ratings on cannister filters typically are for reference when you have fish in your tank. With a turtle tank, the rule of thumb is a flow rate of 5x the size of tank. So, for a 40 gallon tank you should have a filter that has a flow rate of about 200 gph (gallons per hour). The Cascade 500 has an advertised flow rate of "115 G.P.H." which is low.

Having said that, usually carbon filters will clarify tank water. You should still be using the ceramic rings for biological filtration, and I would suggest you check the water quality (at least pH & ammonia) as a baseline for comparison.

[Listen97]

will look into that. was just really confused when a cheap $50 turtle filter that was rated at a lower gph was doing better than this one. might pack it up and get the next size up. this one only has two media baskets and to add the rings i think would require a third.

[fishyfingers]

Rings or any other bio media should be your first priority.

[Bascomb]

L-97 -- Most pet shops and filter manufactures use fish husbandry to relate to filters and aquarium set-ups. Turtles need a lot more biological filtration to work. I would go to a 300 to 350 gph canister filter for your 40-gallon tank. Turtles need at least 5 times the water volume in your tank. More would be better to a point. I have a 350 gph in a 29-gallon tank and it does just fine.