AC fans vs. all others

how many of us are fans of AC's vs. other HOB's & canisters (with-w/o sponge filter)?

  • AC's only

    Votes: 9 9.1%
  • other HOB's only

    Votes: 6 6.1%
  • canisters only

    Votes: 16 16.2%
  • AC + other HOB

    Votes: 10 10.1%
  • AC + canister

    Votes: 42 42.4%
  • other HOB + canister

    Votes: 16 16.2%

  • Total voters
    99
I've heard good things about sun sun & can't beat the price!!
 
I like the water displacement from having a canister and hob filter combo...I have all acs (110 and 70s) and they are great but get a bit noisy at time and you have to smack them lol..ill take my ac/fluval combo on all my tanks thank you very much

only found them noisy when the water level goes down a bit - then sounds like a waterfall! but not intolerable!
 
Haven't owned an AC in 10 years.. don't intend on purchasing one anytime soon. I'll stick to the other HOBs and canisters.
 
I wonder how many more times we will see this same type of poll? Guess nobody know how to use the search function to see if it has already been covered!
 
wonder how many of us are fans of AC filters (in my case AC110's & AC70's)

I don't ever see 'aquarium kits' or 'complete aquarium setups' which include an AquaClear filter with the setup. AC's are just more expensive than the cheap units sold in walmart or other non-mom-and-pop fish stores. I think, for this reason alone, other HOB's are more prevalent in use.

AquaClear filters are the best HOB you can find, well, in my opinion.
 
I don't ever see 'aquarium kits' or 'complete aquarium setups' which include an AquaClear filter with the setup. AC's are just more expensive than the cheap units sold in walmart or other non-mom-and-pop fish stores. I think, for this reason alone, other HOB's are more prevalent in use.

AquaClear filters are the best HOB you can find, well, in my opinion.

well, we fans are entitled to our own likes/positive opinions!! as for previous polls, I'm only back in it for a yr so wanted to have my own poll after seeing so many pros on AC's & on canisters. after my poor experience with fluval canister I wanted poll feedback from others.

many as you can see in the poll use combo AC+canister which I was once a user, but I disdain canisters (again my experience not an opinion).

ever since I doubled up my AC in my tanks & DIY extended intake tube on one of them, I have great performance, water flow & ease of cleaning/changing wally polly & lower cost & no accidents/overflows & quiet for my ears & way lower cost than canisters! ha to you all!

(canisters are awkward to handle when cleaning + fluval tubing p.i.t.a. to clean since it harbors debris & backwashes into tank when u start it up again! - to me that is maintenance I can do without)

I recently cleaned both my ac's took me I'd say 12min - remove from tank, empty water, take out media, throw out wally pollys, rinse/squeeze sponge, bottlebrush clean the tubings, replace media/insert, partially fill with water on tilt to get air bubbles out, place HOB of tank, fill with water, plug it back in, done!
 
canisters are awkward to handle when cleaning + fluval tubing p.i.t.a. to clean since it harbors debris & backwashes into tank when u start it up again! - to me that is maintenance I can do without)

While I will agree that the Fluval 205-405 line of canister design has some real bypass issues, The issues you describe only occur with owner/operators error becasue they don't understand how a canister works and allow frustration rather then learning how to property clean, assemble and operate it correctly. AC's on the other hand although having a strong motor/pump have failed to update both the material used and obsolete design filter since the 1970's when most HOB power filter manufactures switched over to durable plastics avoiding premature cracking and chipping, and the use of high surface area cartridge filtration allowing passive water pressure rather then laboring the pump to force filtration through a small surface area that is too thick and avoiding premature clogs and spills. All modern filters are high surface area low thickness simply becasue it works much-much better.
 
sorry don't think there was any error on owner part when the tubing collects all that debris/muck continuously even after cleaning the tubing. think that is poor design, aside from any bypass issues also.
 
AquariaCentral.com