Anyone tried Aqueon's SmartClean technology?

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I was looking around for a 5 gallon quarantine tank because the stand I bought accommodates a 5.5 gal on the bottom shelf.  This is pretty slick!  As we know, with quarantine tanks we have increased water changes.  Also I would NOT be able to use a siphon on a bottom shelf tank. Has anyone tried one of these out?

 

Edited August 5, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[BuzzDaddy21]

I was thinking about a 5ga. with shrimp on a countertop this might be interesting, of course on a lower stand or floor this would be neat. Thanks for sharing.

[redfish]

Interesting.  I ran into the QT being too low for easy siphoning but I made it work.  I need to find another solution too!

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 8/5/2022 at 9:42 AM, redfish said:

Interesting.  I ran into the QT being too low for easy siphoning but I made it work.  I need to find another solution too!

I was considering one of those fountain pumps for water changes as an alternate idea.  The little ones they use for pet fountains, connected to tubing.  I figured I could just keep it in the tank, and throw a check valve on the tube when not in use.

Edited August 5, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Goosedub]

I have a couple tanks with this type of technology in them. They work fine for what they are but they move water very slowly. I don’t use it because of that, but I don’t have to either. Probably ok with small water volumes.

[redfish]

On 8/5/2022 at 8:43 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

I was considering one of those fountain pumps for water changes as an alternate idea.  The little ones they use for pet fountains, connected to tubing.  I figured I could just keep it in the tank, and throw a check valve on the tube when not in use.

I was thinking about something like this also.  I'll have to keep brainstorming and see what we come up with.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

While this seems clever, this tank has a bunch of poor reviews (ie: light raises temp, and FAST.  Hood doesn't fit properly.  Etc)  

I might go with the fountain pump idea after all.

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/5/2022 at 6:45 AM, Goosedub said:

I have a couple tanks with this type of technology in them. They work fine for what they are but they move water very slowly. I don’t use it because of that, but I don’t have to either. Probably ok with small water volumes.

I would nearly always recommend at least the small nano sponge filter from ACO.  You'd likely get a lot more flow from that basic setup.

[Goosedub]

On 8/5/2022 at 2:29 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I would nearly always recommend at least the small nano sponge filter from ACO.  You'd likely get a lot more flow from that basic setup.

I think they were talking about the water change feature. The slow water movement is fine for filtration to just takes forever to change the water that way. That’s whybI just use a siphon on mine

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 8/5/2022 at 3:44 PM, Goosedub said:

I think they were talking about the water change feature. The slow water movement is fine for filtration to just takes forever to change the water that way. That’s whybI just use a siphon on mine

Yep the water change feature for a tank that’s low to the ground.

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/5/2022 at 12:44 PM, Goosedub said:

I think they were talking about the water change feature. The slow water movement is fine for filtration to just takes forever to change the water that way. That’s whybI just use a siphon on mine

A way a lot of those work is you dump in say... 1 gal of water, it has an outspout and that's what the jar is for. 

Filtration wise, slow is fine, for most of these smaller tanks, absolutely.  I just simply mean, I would really have an airstone in this size/style knowing those pumps in those filters.  If you just saw my HoB you'd know why! 😞   Especially for a planted tank with moss.

I'm right there with you too.  I much prefer to siphon the tanks. Even just using a tube on something this small.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 8/5/2022 at 6:55 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I'm right there with you too.  I much prefer to siphon the tanks. Even just using a tube on something this small.

I wish I could siphon but with a tank low to the ground, the gravity is not there to pull the water out. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/5/2022 at 4:38 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

I wish I could siphon but with a tank low to the ground, the gravity is not there to pull the water out. 

Yeah. Tanks that small, I literally was using a cup or something, airline hose even if you really had to.  Small container like tupperware or something. As long as it's below the WL you'll be "ok" but it gets really slow.  I like the idea of fountain pumps for that use.  Good way to handle it.  when I had the tubs on the ground I was leaving a lot of stuff on the bottom, but I took a 5G bucket and used that to scoop out water. 

REAL DRY floor after WCs in that situation.  It sucked.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 8/5/2022 at 7:44 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

when I had the tubs on the ground

Kind of what I’m doing for the QT tote. I use a plastic beer pitcher that I got at some festival to scoop water out and into my bucket. I don’t really vac unless I see stuff, in my case, dust from carbon. In which case I use a turkey baster.

[Patrick_G]

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea, I think it looks pretty cool. Anything that's makes water changing easier is good in my opinion. Now I’d like to see something along these lines for bigger tanks.