What Do You Guys Think About...

[Donya]

...one of these filled with live rubble instead of other media for use on a small tank?

http/www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...mp;pcatid=16742

I'm thinking in terms of my hermit tank specficially, which is such a weird specialized setup at this point that a lot of conventional equipment isn't an option. Powerheads are a space issue, a 1-foot space above the waterline is too much for most HOTBs, and the water volume doesn't really warrent a bigger canister (only around 8 gallons). I'm just looking for some way to have a small boost in filtration capacity that doesn't have to go directly in the tank. The Rapids Mini seems like it would be safe to the extent that the hermits wouldn't be able to use it as a ladder or pull it apart and risk injury (a problem with in-tank pumps). Any feedback on that particular canister, or similar things that might be better? I have never actually seen one of those canisters in a store, so I really don't know if the attractive price is because they're small or because they're completely useless lol.

 

[SkiFletch]

I too have never seen one of those before. Looks the part but who knows?

 

[Donya]

I went ahead and got it. Since I now have it sitting in front of me, although it's not operating yet, I can tell why it's so cheap. The canister part is ok - looks like it will suit and do well. I will have to ditch the entire intake/output tubing and connectors and all that stuff. It's bendy-straw type material, which means that if it gets roughed about it will spring a leak a lot easier than I'm comfortable with. The tubing as-is also is only suited for a tank about 8-12" deep, no more. My excessive wall above the waterline in the hermit tank is too much, since that's about 20" (if the waterline was higher, of course, this wouldn't be a problem). Will update once I get this thing up and running better with the needed mods. The clip-on feature to hang on the side of the tank is pretty nice.

 

[Donya]

Oooooook so much for my plan. It doesn't have enough pump strength to pull water up from a low waterline. It can't drag water more than a few inches above the waterline. So much for using it on my hermit tank...guess the swimming crab gets the new mini-canister (it needed something anyway...so not a complete waste) and its back to the drawing board for the hermit tank. The canister would probably work well for pico tanks to avoid putting a powerhead in, and once it gets going it pumps quite well. It just can't do the job for my weird tank setup and really should have the intake/outlet tubing replaced regardless of what kind of tank its being used on.