There are much better alternatives than this filter available at a fraction of the price - check out some of the recommendations and associated videos below: Oase Filtosmart 60 (Amazon): https://geni.us/BGo2O It is now a ridiculous price on Amazon and still has no cradle to hold it on the back of the tank.... All Pond Solutions HOB-500 (Amazon): https://geni.us/Q4AI37t All Pond Solutions HOB-500 upgrade video: https://bit.ly/3gUXlWb Seachem Tidal 55 HOB filter (Amazon): https://geni.us/9fEuQ Seachem Tidal 55 upgrade video: https://bit.ly/3I36ism The good Oase range of external filters is the Biomaster / Biomaster Thermo filters - if you want a great filter for a medium to large tank then I would recommend those. Avoid the Filtosmart range. Oase Biomaster 600 canister filter (Amazon): https://geni.us/TBBKDhz Oase Biomaster 600 upgrade video: https://bit.ly/3sORlnE Oase Biomaster 850 canister filter (Amazon): https://geni.us/Yzrg3UG Oase Biomaster 850 upgrade video: https://bit.ly/3oXvKYQ The Biomaster filters are in very short supply due to their popularity - if they're sold out it is still worth checking out the reviews for them on Amazon from people who have bought and used them. Foams, Biohome Ultimate, Biogravel etc: http://www.filterpro.co.uk (FilterPro site has links to Biohome suppliers in other countries) Follow me on Odysee: https://odysee.com/$/invite/@PondGuru:0 Contact me on 07772848730 / [email protected] (I don't do texts)
A full cycle is completed by bacteria - the aerobic part of biological filtration which processes ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate followed by an anaerobic part which processes nitrate into soluble nitrogen which bubbles off to the atmosphere. Therefore it requires a suitable amount of excellent quality filter media to be able to provide the environment for both aerobic AND anaerobic bacteria - that is what Biohome filter media does perfectly but even with such good media there are limitations and we recommend the following amounts for different stocking scenarios: (1 US Gallon = 3.8 litres) (1kg = 2.2 lbs) Average community tropical aquarium = 1kg per 100 litres Average coldwater aquarium = 1kg - 1.5kg per 100 litres Predator aquarium = 1.5kg - 2kg per 100 litres Large cichlid aquarium = 1.5kg - 2kg per 100 litres Malawi / Tanganyikan aquarium = 1.5kg - 2kg per 100 litres Marine aquarium = 1.5kg - 2kg per 100 litres Average mixed fish pond = 1kg per 200 litres Average koi pond = 1kg per 150 litres
You may be disagreeing with the above figures but remember that they are for a FULL CYCLE not half a job - achieving 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite is quite easy since aerobic bacteria grows freely on any surface but the anaerobic bacteria responsible for COMPLETING the cycle needs more a specialized habitat. Remember to use a water conditioner which does not bind / detoxify ammonia, nitrite or nitrate as that type of conditioner will severely limit bacteria numbers by starving the bacteria of 'food'. Size a filter properly, set it up sensibly and you will have perfect water - it's that simple....and your filter won't be the dreaded 'Nitrate factory'.....you'll spend less money on treatments too......basically the filter is the foundation of a successful aquarium.
This series of videos is all about trying to squeeze more efficiency out of internal and external aquarium filters which generally have a limited filtering capacity - If you have a filter you'd like me to feature in a video then please contact me on: [email protected] 07772848730 (Richard) Anyone who sends a filter (UK only at present) will have it upgraded and returned to them for free and the only cost you will pay is how much it costs to ship it to me - I'm helping to boost your filter and the resulting videos will hopefully be useful to viewers all over the world so it's a win/win.
Some of the links above may be to my affiliate programs on Amazon and Ebay so they will throw a few pennies my way if you make a purchase - it costs you nothing extra and helps towards keeping the lights on in my bunker.
Hello there welcome to another edition of Pimp My Filter
and in this one we're going to take a look
at a very small canister filter which mounts on the back of a tank.
So it's kind of a hybrid
of a canister filter and a hang
on the back filter. This one
Now a while back I did take a look
at the biggest version of this range which was the 300
is the Oase FiltroSmart 60.
and whilst I wasn't super impressed with it, it was okay.
I think we managed to get a reasonable
amount of media inside it and it would function
as a canister filter. This one is just too small,
Too expensive.
Uhhh, too messy really, it's just, oh god.
I don't know I was reluctant to take this one
because I'd already looked it up online
and I knew it was pretty small and Matthew
who sent me this said well you know just take a look
at it and see what you think
so I did just in the interest of getting it into this series
but as soon as I had a look at it it's well let's take a look.
That is how this thing is
meant to be mounted on the back of a tank
and as you can see from the picture
Even in Oase's own picture, the pipes are an absolute mess.
Now before I get to cursing this thing to within an inch of its life,
I will say that
the BioMaster range that Oase have produced
is amongst my favourite range of filters.
That is the one that they designed from the ground up.
This is the one that they took from Eden.
and basically just tweaked a little bit
to make it look like an Oase filter.
It's not one of their own designs and it is,
well you can tell that it just hasn't been thought about
very much. They should drop this range of filters
as far as I'm concerned. Oase are a premium brand
and this is just not a premium filter
although £47.50 for this tiny little filter which hangs
That's a premium price for something
that just simply isn't a premium filter.
Because it's so damn small, I'll bring the camera right in
so we can take a look at how Oase think you should set this up.
Or maybe it's how Eden think you should set this up.
Right, not to be all negative,
things I do like about this is the easy remove cap
to fill it up with water.
for when you set this thing away so that it's it's full before you
actually plug it in and set the pump away.
The in and out are fixed again that's
well I don't know whether that's a plus or a minus.
The release for the head is quite easy
you slide that one that way that way
and then you can take the head off to point out that that
is the in and that is the out
and the pump head sits in here.
Right so in there
We've basically got two compartments,
this one would be filled with a very small hard ceramic ring
which is where the intake comes in.
Now generally ceramic rings would be used where
the biological side of things was expected to happen
but in this case it's more just to trap
the muck before it goes underneath
this removable plate to this side where the foam
would act kind of as your biological side of things before the pump
which sits under here
would draw the water out and spit it back to your tank.
Now this little pipe here is to draw any air
into the pump so you don't get any air locks or anything.
Now that's quite a good feature because
you'd be amazed at the amount of canister filters
that don't have that and they get a problem with
air locks and you know pumps farting air out back into the tank.
Okay, so that's what's supplied with the filter.
Two little bags of ceramic filter media which is
very similar to this stuff that Eheim
do which is the Eheim mech
which are often used in the bottom
of standard canister filters to trap the heavy muck.
This does the same job but you would be expected
to fill the whole of this side of the container.
With this media which is a bit
of a waste you would get biological activity there but
not much so I'm not even going to take that out of the bag.
Where the foam draws water out
you've got a big intake tube
which is perforated which is good that means
that when it draws water in through
the foam it draws it in from everywhere.
So that's good but normally you would only care about
that if there was a lot of muck here and
most of the muck is going to be caught in here.
So what we're going to do with this is take the
foam off, get rid of that, take that intake pipe off,
get rid of that. See that's where the pump
draws in. As long as there's no bits of media sticking
in here that get stuck in the impeller
But we're going to be good.
And in this side where the water tips into we're going
to basically put a big coarse foam and then
in the other side we're going to put some filter media.
That's pretty much all you can do with this
sort of setup because it is very limited.
Now I had a big lump of foam from some
random filter that somebody sent me so I've cut that.
Ideally you know it wouldn't have a hole
in there going all the way through but it'll still be okay
that goes flat to the bottom
so when the water tips into here you've got a reasonably big surface
to contact against and quite a coarse foam
to catch all the muck before it goes underneath
and into the media chamber so that just sits
in there. The intake from your tank tips it into here
So you've got a bit of a space here for the water to collect
and trap the muck before it
goes through down to the bottom and up through your media.
This is very similar to what they've
done with the bigger versions of this filter range
and I'm not quite sure why they haven't
done it with this one. It just makes no sense whatsoever.
And then in this chamber where the
water flows up from the bottom we've got a 300 gram bag of bio gravel
which fits into there.
perfectly. That's about all we can get in there in a bag
and have it easily removable for cleaning
and then our top just goes back on like so.
Now 300 grams of filter media in
something that costs you know close
to 50 English pounds is pretty poor.
Especially
when you've got the likes of the All Pond Solutions HOB-500
which we took a look at in a previous video
and I'll put the link to that in
the video description and pinned comment.
That one held over a kilo of the bio
gravel. It fit perfectly on the back of a tank.
You didn't have tubes all over the
place. The fittings were great on it
and the flow rate was more than this thing
And I think it was only...
23, 24 English pounds, so it was roughly half the price of this.
If I was going to recommend a small
hang on the back filter it would 100% be the All Pond Solutions HOB-500.
Check out the link in the
video description, that is the one you want
if you want something that is basically a canister filter
that hangs on the back.
If you want something bigger than that, then the Tidal range from Seachem
or Seachem is a very good range of filters.
They're really well made.
I'll put the links to the various videos I've done
on them in the video description as well,
because they hold plenty of media
and are much more easily accessible compared to this.
It's going to sound harsh,
especially for the people who are Oase fans, but this to me...
It's just a total waste of time.
I would not recommend this filter at all.
I just don't know why Oase have persisted with this,
especially at the price.
I mean, they're literally just trading off their name.
They do always run a premium range of products,
which in this case would be the BioMaster,
and a not-so-premium range of products,
which in this case would be the FilterSmart filters.
which this one is the smallest of the range,
I'll just avoid the cheaper range altogether.
Go with the BioMaster range of canister filters
if you want something from Oase that sits outside the
tank. They will cost more than this but they've got
an easy clean function, they shift plenty of water
And they're just excellent filters you know.
I mean I've had a look at the 600 and the 850. Again
I'll put the links to those in the video description.
Now this one only produces 300
liters an hour and even like a small competitor's hang
on the back filter which would be roughly the
same size would be doing 400 500 liters an hour.
I didn't really want to take a look at this filter.
I mean I'm glad I did and I'm glad that I'm kind of warning you off it
but it's not going to endear
me to the fanboys. Not many of my videos actually
do endear me to fanboys because I've got no
allegiances as far as manufacturers go.
You know I just go with whatever is best
and this is not good at all.
Now we've managed to get 300 grams of media in that would
Well it would make it suitable for a tank 30 to 40 litres
and in US gallons that is now displayed
along the bottom there.
In that picture I showed you before of it hanging on the back
apparently the little cradle that holds
the filter to enable it to hang on the back is
sold separately. So by the time you sit this down underneath your tank
or even at the side
The side of your tank, it's going to be pumping absolutely bugger all.
I cannot believe that's sold separately. I thought Matt had just
forgot to put it in the box.
You know everything else is in the box and I
won't even get the fittings out because they're crap.
That makes this thing even more disappointing.
You can't even use it as a hang
on the back filter unless you buy something
else separately. So this is probably going to cost you
the best part of 60 quid.
The way it comes set up from the manufacturer and then you've got to,
you know, do something
similar to what I've done in this video to get it
to actually function properly as a filter.
BioMaster filters, a big hit from Oase.
Excellent. The Pond Gear, excellent.
FilterSmart range of filters from Oase are crap.
They're not good at all. Avoid. And
You know I said before I don't have any allegiances to companies
but I dealt with Oase for close to 25 years so I do have a little bit
of a soft spot for them because I know that they are capable
of making excellent products but because this one isn't really one
of their products I cannot get behind it at all. It's just not,
this may have an Oase box, this is not an Oase product.
If you have any filters that you would like me to take a look at,
by all means get in touch, phone is best,
my details are in the video description, or email, if you're scared
of using the phone, again, that is in the video description.
I'll put the link in the description.
There's not many filters now that I haven't taken a look at, and...
Please don't ask me to take a look at any more
in the FilterSmart range from Oase because it isn't
good. I will say no. Now in the course
of this series I have taken a look at more than a few
filters which have just been made in China
and sold under various names and they've actually
impressed me. This one comes from a German company
that has a really really good reputation for
For quality and value as well.
This is neither quality nor value, so it's a big no.
I think I've said that before.
I'll see you in the next video.
