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Review: Cobalt EXT Canister

Tony

Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
After some discussion with Matt Chambers about this item, I figured I'd give it a review.

Cobalt-EXT-Canister-Filter.jpg


This was one of the items generously donated by Cobalt that served as one of the awards for the Aquarium Beautiful contest at this year's AquaMania. I ended up taking it home and as much of a naysayer I typically am regarding canisters, I will say that initial reports are very very good.

What do I hate most about canisters? Welp, cleaning can be a pain in the butt, but the number one item is the noise these can make. Cobalt has fixed this by doing something I wish I would have thought of... moving the pump from the canister housing and putting it into the tank! This makes the EXT canister the most quite filter I have ever played with. (FYI, you can locate the pump outside the canister if you please)

You simply slide on a strainer, cut and attach the hoses and fire it up (no priming if you you locate the pump in the tank). The outflow side comes with a rigid U-section and a diffuser to direct the flow and keep the outflow in place.

This configuration would come in handy for oddball applications, I think... perhaps a turtle tank or waterfall terrarium.

T404676


Media-wise, the canister has four baskets, preloaded with media - ceramic rings, carbon and a low-to-medium density sponge and fluff. I took out the carbon and added a coarse sponge (personal preference)

The coolest feature about it is the bypass for cleaning the filter. Instead of having to shut it down and disconnect the hoses, you simply flip a valve on the top of the canister and that creates a closed loop between the intake and outflow. This same lever disconnects that section and you can just walk the canister over the the bathroom/shop sink and clean it out (the lack of cord attached is an added bonus). Super easy.

It's rated for 210 gph, which Cobalt says works for a 55 gallon tank. I have it on my 45 Westy tank now in conjunction with an AC50 to get the bacteria jump-started. Will likely take off the AC in the next few days to enjoy a completely silent aquarium. With the flow reduction you typically get on a canister though, I wouldn't go much bigger than the 45 if it was rolling solo (or if you only cleaned it every 6 months).

Anyway, I knew a few people were looking at it and thought I'd share my experiences so far. Will post up in the future if I remember to do so or if anyone has questions.

They retail for about $120-$150, but can be found on the net for $105 or so. I am not sure that this package comes with the pump though.

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jonclark96

Past CCA President
Yes, I believe this is the only size they currently offer. Keith, the Cobalt rep at AquaMania, recommended multiples for larger tanks.
 

frankoq

Members
I really like the feature where you disconnect the entire canister and the pump is still circulating water.
About noise, I'm using an FX5 and my "super quiet" air pump makes more noise that the canister. LOL.
 

mchambers

Former CCA member
After seeing the Cobalt canister filter at AquaMania, and talking to the Cobalt representative about how it worked, I decided to see if I could find one. I managed to pick one up used on eBay at a pretty good price. Unfortunately, the seller did not include the pump – I think the seller didn't know anything about aquarium filters. (Tony, the package comes with the pump, for $103 at Ken's: http://www.kensfish.com/aquarium-supplies/aquarium-filters/cobalt-ext-canister-filter.html.)

I managed to negotiate a partial refund, and I've been running the filter using an old Maxi-jet pump since Saturday. It's pretty close to silent, and I think it will be completely silent once I switch to the Cobalt pump that I ordered.

As Tony said, you can place the pump in a variety of places, although placing it in the tank next to the intake seems to be the quietest choice. The canister body is not as big as you might think.

I'm pretty impressed with the design, for the reasons that Tony mentioned. Also, removing the top of the filter to get to the media trays is quite easy. It doesn't use an O-ring, so opening and closing the filter is easier than with most canisters. The other advantage of having the pump be external to the canister body is that you don't have to have the canister below the aquarium. It can actually be above the aquarium, or on the same level, if you need that for a lower tank.

The four media trays are quite customizable, meaning that you can use whatever kind of media you want. Right now, I'm using the media that came with the filter – a sponge, some carbon, and some synthetic filter floss. I didn't use the Cobalt bio media, because I stuck in some bio media that I had in a running Aquaclear 70 for the last two weeks. Accordingly, I don't need to worry about cycling this filter.

All in all, I'm very impressed with the filter. I wish it was a little cheaper, like many of Cobalt's products, but in this case it may be worth paying a little extra for this filter. I have it running on a 40 breeder and the flow is more than sufficient. I think the Maxi-jet is rated for slightly more flow than the Cobalt pump. I'm thinking that the Cobalt pump will also be plenty of flow for this tank.
 

mchambers

Former CCA member
Update: I received the Cobalt inline pump in the mail yesterday, and installed it in the tank, on the intake line.

Works beautifully. Of course, it worked just fine with the maxi-jet pump, too. Now I can go back to using the maxi-jet for water changes.
 

chriscoli

Administrator
I forgot to chime in earlier, but I won one of these at the AquaFest raffle. I'm a bit iffy on canister filters, but I really like this one.

And, if you're trying to reduce your electric bill, it draws only about 1/2 watts of a Fluval 405 and about 1/3 the watts of a Cascade 1000.
 

spazmattik

Members
Thanks for the review Tony. I may have to look into replacing one or more of our canisters because of these upsides. I have switched most tanks to aquaclears but this closed loop sounds worth it to swap canisters alone. What a great idea.
 
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