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As true fish rooms go, mine is pretty tame. Rather, what I should probably say is that it’s not a real “fish room,” in the conventional hobbyist sense. It’s more of a finished basement with some tanks in it. Anyway, I now have two of the custom tanks up and running.
What’s your thoughts on internal filters? Following up on my earlier post about anthropogenic noise in tanks and post on choosing filtration for your tank, internal canister filters might be a better alternative to sponge or box filters.
Trying to decide what type of filtration for your tank? I have touched on this subject many times here on the blog. How should you decide? That is a tough question, and the easiest answer is “it depends.”
In January of this year, I posted about a couple of custom tanks I had made. Those two tanks were part of a larger custom tank order that my friend Ralph Cabage (owner of Aquarium Life Support Systems) and I placed.
Aquarium filters come in all shapes and sizes. So how do you know what filter is the best for your tank? Answer this question first – best for what? Not everyone has the same objective when selecting a filter. Sure, everyone wants well-filtered water, but nearly all commercial, off the shelf filters will accomplish that. Some hobbyists even build their own filters.
A few days ago, a school teacher in Pennsylvania reached out to me. Mike Krautzel teaches an elective Horticulture and Aquaculture class at Garnet Valley Middle School. It’s as much a year-round project as it is a single course, which focuses on various flora and fauna around the world. It is such a popular course that hundreds of students sign up for it each year. Mike contacted me thinking I might have some cichlid caves that I would be willing to donate for part of their project.
Back in October, I posted about having the opportunity to review the new OASE BioMaster Thermo 350 external canister filter. I finally got around to getting that completed.
Let me start by thanking OASE Living Water for donating this canister! What follows is my honest and unbiased review of the filter components and setting it up. If I didn’t like something, I’ll say so. Likewise, if I liked something, I’ll say so.
This is not a review of the canister following extensive usage. In fact, I only ran it about 25 minutes total. If you want a review of this canister after it’s been in use, on a populated tank for an extended period, check out Zenzo’s review at Tazawa Tanks.
All components were neatly boxed. Opening the filter box and removing the top cardboard support insert revealed the canister body and a separate box of canister parts (Figure 1). This separate box contains all of the printed material and attachable filter components not already attached to the canister, which consists of the following (see Figure 2):
Last month, I posted about the OASE company. I mentioned in that post that I would be receiving a BioMaster Thermo canister filter for review. It arrived!
As you can see in the photo above, OASE sent me the 350. The 350 is one of three in their external canister line. Designed for 90g tanks, the 350 is the middle size of the three. The 250 is the smallest and designed for 70g tanks. The 600 is the largest of the three and makes a big jump from the 350, specifically designed for 160g tanks.
Stay tuned!
If you’re a pond person, then you’ve probably heard of OASE. They’re noted for their pond and water feature pumps, which drive many of the hotel water gardens and fountains around the world. In fact, founded in 1949, the German company claims to be the world market leader in water gardening products. For the past several years, the company has been busy expanding via the acquisition of several competitors, including the Italian pump company Eden as well as Atlantic Water Gardens.