# rcs & malayan shrimp build/conversion



## SuckMyCichlids (Nov 5, 2011)

So I've stumbled across a set of products yet again and has sparked another idea, I'm thinking of converting my 10g into a low tech planted red cherry and malayn or red claw macro shrimp tank, the products in question are the Zoo Med 501 and the Tom Rapids mini canister filters, both seem to have the same amount of good bad reviews from what I've seen and its not too much of money to give one a shot and I have a backup if either of them do fail, so, anybody have any experience with them or have any better ideas? I really like the idea of a mini canister filter


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## SuckMyCichlids (Nov 5, 2011)

So nobody has used either of those filters or doesn't have a better suggestion or any advice at all on keeping those shrimps?


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

I have never tried one of the mini canister filters. I looked into them but what put me off is that they are usually not powerful enough to hide away under the tank which is one of my main to reasons for using a canister filter. They look kind of industrial hung on the side of the tank. If I'm stuck with it in view I'd rather go with a HOB filter, some of them are very stream line and 'designery' looking these days. 

My top choice for a shrimp tank though would probably be a plain old sponge filter run by an air pump. They are cheap and effective (as long as you don't have fish with a high bioload) and shrimp friendly, no fear of baby shrimp being sucked in. They are also fairly easy to tuck out of sight behind decor in the tank.

A canister filter might support a higher bioload but with a planted shrimp tank bioload is rarely a problem, the shrimp would have no room to move before you were worrying about bioload.

The one reason left that I can think of (other than the fact that "mini canister filter" just sounds cool  ) is if you are wanting a really quiet tank. Even with a quiet air pump you are always going to get a bit of noise from the bubbles and hob filters tend to make a trickle noise. Generally those noises can be considered gentle and even soothing but I have run into this recently with setting up a small tank on my bedside table which I want to be essentially silent. Once again I looked into the mini canister filters but because the tank will have a low bioload I think I am going to let the plants do the filtering and add a small powerhead for circulation.


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