# FINALLY! a heated mini filter!



## Ash_bash (19 Mar 2021)

I've been searching high and low the last few weeks for a small filter with a built in heater to no avail. 

 I can't belive nobody has made one, nano aquascapes are the hardest to hide equipment in and yet there's nothing out there.

Im running a oase thermo 100 on my 35cm cube which works brilliantly but is abit too large and powerful for my 25L nano im setting up. 
I saw the oase filtosmart 60 has the same blanking cap as the bigger versions you can convert to the thermo's with an extra part. 

After some research i found that the filtosmart 60s are too small for any of the oase heaters, although the Thermofit converter still does fit into the blanking socket!

I've found that a "SuperFish Nano 50w" has the same circumference glass heating element as the oase, but are much shorter, so they fit and seal perfectly in the oase filtosmart 60! The perfect little filter heater combo for nano/picto aquariums!

The actual filter i brought is from Eden who got brought out by oase. exactly the same as the oase version but with a semi transparent case (you can see when filter gets mucky). 

Amazon had a sale on eden filter for £28 
Heater was £15
Thermo converter was about £7

So a great little thermo filterfor around £50, a bargin i thought, what do you guys think?


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## Nick potts (19 Mar 2021)

Nice mod, been looking at nano filters myself.

I have an aps ef-150 which the flow is weak and an aquaone 400 which is noisy. Do you have a link to the filter?


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## Ash_bash (19 Mar 2021)

Hi nick, yeah they have gone up very slightly since I brought mine though.

Amazon product

Still £20 cheaper than the oase version though! 






						FiltoSmart 60 External Aquarium Filter - Oase : Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies
					

Free delivery and returns on eligible orders. Buy FiltoSmart 60 External Aquarium Filter - Oase at Amazon UK.



					www.amazon.co.uk


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## Courtneybst (19 Mar 2021)

Legend!


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## GHNelson (19 Mar 2021)

Hi 
What length is that Superfish Nano Heater?
Cheers
hoggie


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## FishKeeper55 (20 Mar 2021)

@GHNelson  superfish claim to be be 17cm in length


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## Ash_bash (20 Mar 2021)

FishKeeper55 said:


> @GHNelson  superfish claim to be be 17cm in length


You are correct, the bit that actually sits in filter is only 12.5cm vs the oase's 16cm. The oases smallest heater is still 20mm too long for the filtosmart 60


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## si walker (22 Mar 2021)

Nice work mate. Wonder if they know it works and were waiting for a world exclusive release. Haha. You got there first.


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## OllieTY (22 Mar 2021)

Genius solution, I've been eyeing up these Eden filters for a while. I was intrigued by Pondguru's video of them, it seems the water takes in interesting route through the canister/media.


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## Andy P (22 Mar 2021)

Hello ash bash
Can you post the link for the heater please & what’s  a thermo converter?
I’ve just bought a boyu Ef-05, which looks similar, does the heater fit into the water priming opening & how do you get a good seal? Big thanks
Regards andy p


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## Ash_bash (22 Mar 2021)

Hi andy, yeah that does look similar.
The thermo converter is somthing oase sells, they basically sell two filters one with a heater in the other with just a blanking cap. 
But you can buy the part to turn it into the thermo version of the filter. 

the converter is just a plastic part that you swap out for the blanking plug and has a smaller opening thats the same size as the glass heater tube, that seals on a rubber o-ring.

Its abit of a gamble as im not sure if the blanking plug on yours will be the same as oase use.
Amazon product

Heaters been rebranded but looks identical 

Amazon product


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## Andy P (22 Mar 2021)

Hello again & thanks. I'm intrigued-just set up a 30x30x30 25L tank & it doesn't look too good with all the necessaries in it (chihiros/heater/HOB filter & DIY C02) so bought 'pad' style heater but its still obtrusive; I just bought this from AliX : 

7.66US $ 12% OFF|Aquarium Submersible Fish Tank Automatic Water Heater 20/40/60/80/100W Adjustable Temperature Heating Rod Thermostat Heater Rod|Temperature Control Products|   - AliExpress 

Looks good & it's 11.3cm long & will blend in the back plants-but the ability to put a heater in the filter is even less stuff in the tank; is yours up & running ok? thanks again for the advice & links 
regards andy p


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## Andy P (30 Mar 2021)

Ash_bash said:


> I've been searching high and low the last few weeks for a small filter with a built in heater to no avail.
> 
> I can't belive nobody has made one, nano aquascapes are the hardest to hide equipment in and yet there's nothing out there.
> 
> ...


Hello again Ash_Bash, grateful for further advice 

Do you put the heater on the 'in' side or 'out' side & through the middle of the sponge or the bags of filter media? thanks 
I've noticed there's a lot of advice on using seachem matrix/purigen with polyester stuffing on the outside of filters-in those specific layers for crystal clear H20

regards andy p


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## Ash_bash (30 Mar 2021)

Andy P said:


> Hello again Ash_Bash, grateful for further advice
> 
> Do you put the heater on the 'in' side or 'out' side & through the middle of the sponge or the bags of filter media? thanks
> I've noticed there's a lot of advice on using seachem matrix/purigen with polyester stuffing on the outside of filters-in those specific layers for crystal clear H20
> ...


Hi again Andy, 
I was going to put it through my seachem matrix bio media as that's where you put it on the thermo model's, the conversion kit comes with a kind of sleeve with holes in that keeps abit of a gap away from the media so it can get rid of its heat.

I normally do away with my sponge in favour of more biomedia and a pack of purgem, amazing stuff, keeps the water crystal clear! My bioloads pretty low anyway to be fair.

Hope this helps


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## Andy P (31 Mar 2021)

Good evening & thanks. 
Yes, great help & I'll be sure to get matrix/purigen for when I set it up; if I can't get the thermometer to fit in the Boyu I'll opt for an Oase 60 like you originally mentioned in your message (they're about £51 though which kind of defies my budget approach-but its for the best long-term I think) keep you posted 
regards andy p


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## Andy P (1 May 2021)

morning Ash
Got the filtosmart 100 parts, can you advise me what bits go where please? Really appreciated-hope it fits the boyu! Have fab BH weekend
Regards andy p


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## GHNelson (1 May 2021)

Hi Andy
The heater fits inside the blue collar it will be a tight fit to make a good seal.



The 3 other parts are for inside an Oase Filter.....so might not fit.
hoggie


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## Monkfish (7 May 2021)

Is this the Eden 501? I’ve just found one on marketplace for £20 and already have a nano heater 50w so going to give it a go. 

The filter will be sitting on a desk the same level as the tank. Do you think this would cause issues using it?


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## Ash_bash (7 May 2021)

Hi guys sorry forgot about this thread, I decided to do a dry start method so haven't set up the filter yet, I'll be setting it up over the weekend though so I'll try and take some pictures of how to set it up. 

Yeah it's an Eden 501 monkfish, nah there will be no issues with it being at the same level, if anything it will increase flow because of the lack of head pressure.

I was going to put mine on the same level but I've. Come up with a way of storing it in the shoe cupboard.


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## Monkfish (7 May 2021)

Thats great thanks.  Do you know if the filter has a flow adjuster on it? I'm going tp pair it with a 23l tank and didn't;t want to cause a whirlpool haha


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## Ash_bash (7 May 2021)

No adjustment unfortunately, they are rated at 300lph but with restrictions of pipe etc I don't think you'll be much over the 10x volume.

I'm running a oase 100 on my 35cm cube and that's 14x volume per hour and that doesn't seem excessive, I do use a "spiral" Lilly pipe that gets the volume through it without the jet like flow of the normal ones.


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## Ash_bash (8 May 2021)

Finally got my tank up and running, took a few pictures of the process.

First take plug out and stick in blue converter, put the tab to the right side of the inlet and turn clockwise to lock it in. The tab will touch the body but it still locks it in place.
Save the black tube with holes in but throw the rest as they won't fit this filter.





Now push the heater in all the way till it stops, this should be tight on the o'ring if you've got the right size, putting a little water on the heater helps.




Next you need to cut 25mm from the black tube with holes in as it's too long for the filter.
once you have done this put the tube in the filter cut side facing up. You can put the top on the filter to show you where the black tube needs to sit to match up with the heater.
it's pretty much exactly in the middle of the chamber, it should look like this.



Carefully hold the black tube in place with your fingers and fill the chamber with your bio media. Make sure the tube doesn't move while you do this or that any media goes down the tube.
I use matrix by seachem, I just use the smaller peices as you can fit more in, fill it so it's abit below the lip. This will hold the tube in place now.




Then just put the top on and lock the filter up and you are ready to go. I do plan to cut abit of the blue foam out and squeeze a bag of sechem puigen in there too.




 Connect it up and you are away, I managed to hide the filter and Co2 in the shoe cupboard, it's abit awkward as the draw opens forward so the filter and the co2 are diagonal and move as draw comes forward. I've cable tied them to the shelf to secure them.

I left extra slack on the wires, tubes etc so it all works well. Managed to fit all the plugs in the top draw. Still needs a tidy but I've had enough for today!


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## Monkfish (8 May 2021)

Amazing thank Ash!! 

I’ve bought the filter for £20 and ordered the thermo parts. 

Where did you get your lily pipes from? I’ve been struggling to find any that are the right size for the Eden 9/12 tubing.


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## Ash_bash (8 May 2021)

Cheers monkfish! 
I got them from Amazon, it was originally for main tank but I must of messed up the sizes because when it came it was way to small, luckily I saved it and could use it on this tank.

took me awhile to find as I wanted one that bent back on itself so it didnt stick out to far into the tank, and bent slightly downward so it had good flow around the carpet plants.

It was similar to this. Amazon product


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## Monkfish (8 May 2021)

Thank you. The link doesn’t seem to work though, sorry.


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## Monkfish (8 May 2021)

I found these acrylic ones on eBay 









						Acrylic Lily pipe Inflow and Outflow 10/12mm For Live Plants Aquarium Fish Tank  | eBay
					

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Acrylic Lily pipe Inflow and Outflow 10/12mm For Live Plants Aquarium Fish Tank at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.



					www.ebay.co.uk
				




Do you think this would cause too much turbulence in a 23l tank?


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## Ash_bash (8 May 2021)

Hmm I've never had any experience with the acrylic ones, that looks like a jet type outlet, might be abit much for your tank. 

I Brought this set from eBay but only ended up using the inlet from it. The outlets good if you're worried about flow though.









						13mm Aquarium Planted Glass Outflow Inflow Lily Pipe Tube for Fish Tank Pond  | eBay
					

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 13mm Aquarium Planted Glass Outflow Inflow Lily Pipe Tube for Fish Tank Pond at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!



					www.ebay.co.uk


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## Monkfish (8 May 2021)

Oh cool thanks. I found a 10mm version of that style in eBay so I’ll go for one of those. I’m sure I’ll find 10mm inlet. 

I’ll then spend 30 mins staring at them in fear I’m going to break them as soon as I bring the pipes within 5 yard of them haha


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## Ash_bash (9 May 2021)

Just a quick update, fish tank was around 22c was set to about 26c.
The room was about 18c
So under achieving by around 4c

I took the filter apart, the water in the black tube was warm so my initial thoughts are that a  lot of the water was taking the easy route and going over the top divider instead of through the bio media and out the bottom, so it's not pulling the heat from the filter fast enough.

I've cut a little bit of filter foam to wedge at the top of the divider to make it harder for water to bypass the heater. The picture is of the foam doubled up but this was too thick so I ended up using single ply, it's about 15mm thick and a very small grade. 



It seems to be helping it out, I'll post findings later tonight, I've also ordered the superfish pro 50w just incase this one is abit of a dud, I can't even remember which tank I used to use it on, think it's pretty old.









						Superfish Pro Heater Tropical Aquarium Thermal Shock Resistant Fish Tank Heating  | eBay
					

Superfish Pro Heater 50W. Superfish Pro Heater 100W Superfish Pro Heater 200W. Superfish Pro Heater 300W. Professional aquarium heater with thermal shock-resistant borosilicate safety glass. As such, we have a huge wealth of experience in online trading.



					www.ebay.co.uk


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## Monkfish (12 May 2021)

My filter arrived today, going to give this a go when I have time!


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## Ehcosbie (13 May 2021)

Andy P said:


> Hello ash bash
> Can you post the link for the heater please & what’s  a thermo converter?
> I’ve just bought a boyu Ef-05, which looks similar, does the heater fit into the water priming opening & how do you get a good seal? Big thanks
> Regards andy p


Hi @Andy P, did the oase converter fit the boyu Ef-05 in the end?


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## Andy P (13 May 2021)

hello there-alas no
the depth of the boyu lid/circular opening is not deep enough & the fitting won’t click into slots to tighten-looking @ oase filtosmart 60, though the heater fits superbly into the oase fitting so 1/2 way there! 
regards andy p


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## Monkfish (13 May 2021)

@Ash_bash Does the water in the filter flow through the Matrix first and then in to the foam section? If do you think it would work to swap them around, so the water flows in foam first to catch bit particles and then through the Matrix? I was always led to believe foams should go before the bio media in a canister, but of course I could be wrong!


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## John SV (19 Aug 2021)

Hi there I have a allpondsolutions 25w heater was wondering if it would fit? Thankyou so much this thread is a lifesaver!


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## TeaHausCanada (19 Sep 2021)

Seems like an intriguing idea.  I've been using a similiar filter for my 6.3g nano long for a year now but over here in Canada it's marketed as the Zoo-med line (I'm using something called the Zoo-Med 15.  Works well but they are set-up backwards, meaning water is pumped through the biological media first and the sponges last.  I reversed this set-up and have the intake hitting sponges first, then the bio media and lastly some purigen before exiting.  Makes more sense and has worked well for over a year.  I've tried the smaller glass lily pipes but find the flow is a bit low for my longer tank so have gone back to the included spray bar.  The only downside to these little canisters is that they can't be hidden under the tank since the pumps are too weak to pump water up.  They need to stand behind or beside the tank.


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