Reddit reviews KollerCraft TOM Rapids Mini Canister Filter, 80 GPH
We found 11 Reddit comments about KollerCraft TOM Rapids Mini Canister Filter, 80 GPH. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Hang-on-the-tank filter ideal for nano, mini-reef, and other small aquariums (up to 20 gallons)Purifies aquarium's water while extracting unwanted fish waste and other debrisSelf-priming, top mounted motor that delivers optimum flow rate (80 GPH)Integrated spray bar creates an even distribution of waterThree-stage filtration (mechanical, chemical, and biological)
Forgot to add some specs.
its a 10 gallon
Filter
50w heater
no co2, diy tabs, 2-13w daylight CFLs in home depot clamp on work lights,
Plants
Cork Screw from a redditor here started with 10 plants and it has spread very well
2 Amazon Swords
a few Mint Charlie, i pulled a ton out since it was going crazy and looked bad,
some Dwarf Hair Grass that is not doing the best i may pull that out and go with micro swords to carpet it.
Stock
1 male beta that we got from a weddign that used them as center pieces
1 common pleco
1 Royal pleco forgot the type but he is pictured
1 bamboo shrimp
3 ghost shrimp
corrected from Fiancee
You're probably not going to find real quantifiable data like that because there are so many factors including growth media and I'm not sure it scales up and down linearly.
I have:
Imgur (left side)
Imgur (middle)
imgur
These are all stable systems that have lasted about two years a piece
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Issues of any cruelty aside- this is fine as a starter/intro and you'll find that you'll likely want to upgrade as things work out- mostly because small systems are a lot harder to take care of.
The thing with goldfish is that they put out a lot of ammonia (so in a small tank ammonia poisoning might be a thing) and the size of the container tends to cap their growth. But I wouldn't sweat the fish thing too much because a few of them might die due to the tank being new (although goldfish are extremely hearty) sketchy source: http://www.firsttankguide.net/newtanksyndrome.php
It's hard to tell you straight away about how many fish etc because this aquarium system looks fresh and not yet cycled- ie. your aquarium probably doesn't have it's fill of microscopic plant life living in it and in the growth bed material you are using. Be aware you'll likely need to treat the new water you add into the tank. (chlorine remover etc) and that adding new water will have a relatively large effect on your tank due to it being compact. sketchy source: http://nippyfish.net/2009/05/27/cycling-a-small-aquarium/
This means that you'll need to watch the amount of food you feed your fish carefully.
100 grams of fish food will generally support about one square meter of plant life.
sketchy source: http://www.doityourself.com/stry/aquaponics-knowing-the-fish-to-plant-ratio
The great thing about what you are doing (cycling, establishing your grow bed as a bio filter) is that if you start a new tank, you'll be able to use this water and material to start out a larger tank faster (largely what you did by getting some of their gravel).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nice tips/ways to scale up or automate things to make your life easier:
ie. http://www.amazon.com/Automatic-Fish-Feeder-AquaChef-Batteries/dp/B004249KFG
or
Note: most of these links are sketchy- just conveying ideas in an easy to read/digestible format.
For small display tanks, my favorite is to use a small canister filter.
I personally have a Zoomed 511 but there are starting to be more and more options on the market:
Even the smaller Eheim Classics (I think the 2211 or the 2213) would work.
For your water, make sure you use something to make it aquarium safe before adding it into your tank. My favorite is Seachem Prime, and the general consensus is that it's the best there is.
Your little RCS should breed as long as you give them stable water conditions. The babies are also extremely small. One day you'll look over and notice that you have tons of shrimp out of nowhere. It's also a possibility that you have all males or all females (it happens!).
As far as water changes, with that low of a bioload a good schedule would be to change something like 2 gallons once every two weeks.
Cheap crappy heater behind the rocks, plus a tom rapids mini canister filter
The light is a finnex ray 2
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000YJ0M1E/ref=mp_s_a_1_7?qid=1451700263&sr=8-7&pi=SL75_QL70&keywords=kollercraft
Buddy of mine had good luck with this, and I couldn't hear it at all. And since it is a canister the water level issue won't be there as with a hang-on-back
Check out /r/plantedtank and ask them what are the easiest low-maintenance plants to grow.
If he's hovering near the surface, it might mean the tank water doesn't have enough oxygen for him. Do you have a water filter? I got this one for my 10-gallon betta tank and it's working great.
Sun Suns are great for their price as an entry level canister. You get what you pay for, but in a good way I feel. I've never had an issue with mine, but for anything larger than a 40 gallon tank I'd look at getting a more robust and reliable filter.
Since you're running a 20g, you have a few other choices. If you have the cash to spare, Fluvals are great. If you're looking to do this more on a budget, and are OK with stocking fish that don't need/want as much water flow, you could probably even go as low as a TOM Aqurium filter. I picked one up to try out on a 10 gallon build since it was cheap, and it honestly may be a bit too strong for the 10g, but should fit right in with a low/moderately stocked 20g.
I will say with the TOM's you get no frills. You have to manually prime it, and there is no cut offs to make things easy with it. The only really "nice" part about it is that all of the tubing is clear, hard plastic that feels really sturdy.
Check out This one of my buddies has his on a nano 8g planted and it works great!
I've had good luck with this guy for my 15 tall, customized with whatever inserts you prefer.
My configuration is floss -> carbon -> floss -> Matrix stone -> ceramic cylinders on one side, then more ceramic cylinders-> Purigen on the other side. It may be overkill/redundant, but it works well in my semi-Walstad setup (I've done 2-3 water changes in 15 months). At first I thought that it would strip too many trace minerals from my tank, but it's done an admirable job so far.
The ceramic cylinders come with the kit, and I just use it as spacers at the bottom of the filter. It keeps any settled detritus from clogging up the more important stuff. The carbon is cut from a leftover pad that I have for my HEPA filter.
hob - aquaclear 20 is really quiet
----
hybrid: KollerCraft TOM Rapids Mini Canister Filter
link:
http://www.amazon.com/KollerCraft-Rapids-Mini-Canister-Filter/dp/B000YJ0M1E/ref=sr_1_50?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1463721894&sr=1-50&keywords=sunsun+canister+filter
-----
Canister: Eheim: http://www.amazon.com/EHEIM-Classic-External-Canister-Filter/dp/B0002AQXTA/ref=sr_1_14?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1463722046&sr=1-14&keywords=canister+filter
or if you need to save a few bucks:
SUNSUN HW-602B
suggest putting foam around the pump portion of this one, as it is known to vibrate a little...
I've got a 20 long that I keep this filter on. Since my tank is purely planted with no animals it works well enough for filtration. It would most likely work with the livestock you're interested in. I need more flow to disperse my CO2 so I supplement with this powerhead. I personally like this setup and feel like it does a very good job keeping my tank clean and filtered.