Eden 501 Nano External Canister Review

[Skarsnik]

I've never really contributed to the forum, I've been more of a lurker so its about time I added some value! I picked up an Eden 501 a bit over a week ago from Age of Aquariums, guessing I can add this in as they are a forum sponsor and thought I would do a mini review as the info about them on the internet is a bit sparse and convoluted.



The Blurb
The Eden 501 is the smaller of the range with a max 300 per litre flow rate and is designed 'for tanks up to 60 liters'. It is german made and at a price point of around $100 so it's on par with the big boys. It does have a big brother, the 511 which has a flow rate of 600 and for tanks up to 120 litres and around $140 which is a pretty big hit on the wallet and on initial reflection you would be hard pressed to choose that over an Eheim 2213 or similar.

[Skarsnik]

First Impressions

My first impression was very positive, the unit oozes quality I would venture to say on par with Eheim in a lot of respects. The inlet and outlet hoses are very solid and kink about the same as Eheim hoses do. A bonus with the hoses is that they are clear so if you plug in some 9mm Lillypipe hoses you can get that minimalistic look.
In adition to the spray bar the canister also came with a flow nozel that you can use instead of the spray bar which is a nice addition. The unit didn't come with funky quick release taps like the Eheim units which really does suck when you want to play with it but it did come with screw nuts and the fittings have quality rubber joiners which were very effective and shows that they have thought about at least some of the details.

The canister is pretty small, with media in it the canister holds 650ml of water.



The ceramic rings provided just looked cheap and in-effective:


The spray bars and flow nozzle.

[Skarsnik]

Setting Up the Unit

The logic behind the filter media seems a bit strange to me, cheap looking ceramic rings are in the first basket and then through to a large sponge in the second compartment, it appears to be a compromise to maintain high flow and provide mechanical filtration but with less focus on biological filtration.



I did have a quick play with trying to put other media in it, but it immediatly killed the flow rate and without being able to spend a lot of time trying to get the combination of media right it is staying stock for now.

Priming the canister is a bit of fun, you need to open the top cap and pour tank water into it until it is full and then plug the unit in and it will start to work. If you try and just syphon the canister to jump start it the pump will just suck air.

[Skarsnik]

Go With the flow

As previously mentioned the unit is rated at max 300 litres per hour for up to a 60 litre tank. In a real life test after running it in for a week the flow rate was 150 litres per hour and a head height of 50cm.

The manual suggest (german accent) 'For ze best performance place ze filter in an upright position beside ze tank'. so I did, and running the unit sitting next to the tank so it is 30cm below the waterline it still pumps out 150 litres per hour. All in all pretty damn slow and pretty far from it's advertised 300lph max flow rate. In comparison Eheim flow 2/3rds their advertised flow with a normal head height. Although I think that the flow rate is adaquate on my 1x1x1 foot (27 litre) cube, I say adaquate because it is not going to suck every piece of debris out of the tank but there is enough flow to avoid dead spots and keep it's inhabitants content. But on a 60 litre tank like they advertise it would be pushing it.

On the bright side the head height is better than expected and it means I can hide the canister filter when running on a 30cm cube. I picked up some 9mm eBay lily pipes with quite thick glass and the flow rate was reduced to 100 litres per hour, still acceptable but only just.

[Skarsnik]

Shhhhh!

The real reason I purchased it was because I was not satisifed with how quiet Eheim filters are and I wanted to setup a tank on my bedside table. As a disclaimer I have sensitive hearing and no tolerance for background noise. For example I am writing this on a totally fanless computer, even the 'quite' fans gives me the shits.

And the Eden 501 does deliver! I sleep with the unit 1 meter from my head and at night all I can hear is very quiet hum, as a slight disclaimer I have wrapped the unit in a blanket to quieten it just that little bit more but I am very happy with the result. Just for a comparison the eheim 2213 or 2011 I couldn't even sleep with in the adjoining room due to the noise level.

The unit with wrapped in a blanket:

[Skarsnik]

Summary

If your looking for a VERY quiet quality canister filter for a 1 foot cube I would highly recommend it. With a few small disclaimers, the media does seem a bit limiting and the flow rate isn't going to rock your world. Okay that does seem like a couple of pretty big disclaimers, but given the chance I would purchase the 501 again.

On a side note I would love to find out if it's big brother, the 511 is as quiet and what sort real life flow rate it has as it has the potential to be ideal for slightly larger nano tank.

[Yonjuro]

Great review! I have the same filter in a 32cm Cube. I ditched the supplied noodles and replaced with Seachem Matrix. Heaps of flow in my tank, perhaps even a bit too much currently even though I have the canister 75cm from the top of the tank.

I am Using ADA mini lilly inflow and outflow.

You are right on the noise output - really super silent.

I am very happy with the Eden 501.

Cheers

Jase

PS - I thought it was Italian made nor German?? Either way it is a quality unit IMO

[blackers92]

Good review, but I must disagree with your Eheim noise level claims, I set up a 2213 less than a month ago about 2 metres away from my bed to seed, sitting on my floor not in a cabinet or wrapped in a blanket and I have actually woken up in the night to make sure it is actually working it is that silent.

Still I was considering the 511 for my 40cm cube, kind of glad I got the Eheim ($109) brand new though, but that is just my opinion.

Aren't you worried about covering it in a blanket?

[forocious]

worried about what?

[blackers92]

I have read about people putting filters on a bed of sand, on towels and soundproofing in a cabinet to help with vibrations and noise but not actually wrapping them in a towel, personally i wouldn't wrap any electrical appliance in a blanket, i know eheim have a reputation for not overheating (not sure about Eden) but I wouldn't risk it, i'm not sure if filters need ventilation but im almost positive they are not designed with the intention of a towel being wrapped around them, surely they have to disperse heat.

[Greebs]

...surely they have to disperse heat.

Shouldn't be too much of an issue with the whole thing being effectively water-cooled.

Agree that there must have been something wrong with your 2213 though - my 2217 is silent - certainly doesn't need a blanket to silence it.

[Skarsnik]

Cheers Guys.

Good review, but I must disagree with your Eheim noise level claims

I have read that a lot which I guess is why I stressed that I am sensitive to background noise. It's just my opinion, and don't get me wrong I am a huge Eheim fan. Without getting a few filters and a calibrated db meter to test with we will never really know and I would guess most people won't care.

Great review! I have the same filter in a 32cm Cube. I ditched the supplied noodles and replaced with Seachem Matrix. Heaps of flow in my tank, perhaps even a bit too much currently even though I have the canister 75cm from the top of the tank.

I am Using ADA mini lilly inflow and outflow.

I would love to know the difference in flow with tht ADA lily pipes connected and just running the pipes. It would be interesting to see how much they restrict the flow rate.

PS - I thought it was Italian made nor German?? Either way it is a quality unit IMO

Oops, your right! For some reason I transposed Italy with Germany.

[Yonjuro]

I would love to know the difference in flow with tht ADA lily pipes connected and just running the pipes. It would be interesting to see how much they restrict the flow rate.



.

...well, to be honest I don't think there is any restriction whatsoever - even with the canister chock full of Matrix. I currently need to feed the fish with sera-nip stuck to the inside of the glass as the current flow pushes pellets away too fast.

I say the above with the disclosure that I am not an expert in judging flow rates, but suffice it to say that if there was any greater flow I would probably find a small tetra stuck to in intake

Cheers

Jase

[lazynode]

That was a fantastic review, thank you!
I too wouldn't wrap it up in a towel, instead I'd make/ or look for a soundproof cabinet that would allow me to hide the filter and co2 unit. Overall it would be neater.

I like how the canister is see through, so you can tell when it's time to clean it out!

[bluepursuit]

I have an Eden 501 on my shrimp tank. As I was moving to CRS I didn't want to risk a crap filter. I've also got a fluval edge sponge on the intake to prevent baby shrimp deaths and allow for grazing. I used a small section of different sized tubing pressed together (9 to 12, 12 to 16), then drilled (tons of) holes through. The sponge fits snugly using this method however the holes in the tubing clog up over time and I need to clean them out to get the flow rate back to normal.