Canister or HOB?

S

sushiray

AC Members
Jan 14, 2009
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new windsor, ny
1. If you could provide your opinions & explain why you like one over the other

2. what brands are you using for either or both in what size tanks?

3. how often do you clean the filter/change the media?

4. how often do you do w/c?

personally after using the AC110 + Fluval204 + sponge filter for my 72gal BF with discus & AC110 in my 20gal angel tank, I thought I was all set - parameters good & steady, waters pristine, with daily W/C.

But not till I cleaned out the Fluval204 & had all this crud backwash out (apparently caught in the coiled tubings) & now I think cuz of that I have an outbreak of white worms/planaria & tiny little white "mites", I am going to shut down the Fluval & replace with an AC70. I don't like the canisters since there doesn't seem to be much aeration/agitation within the canister like an HOB AC model.

That's my opinion. Plse offer your insights & experiences.

thks
 
i run canisters on my two 55g tanks, my planted tank has two Eheim filters it has a 2213 and a 2026 on it, and on my cichlids i have two HOB filters, until my 2028 canister gets going, then I will have one canister and one HOB on that tank. Other than that every other tanks has has one HOB on it.

On the canisters I change media about every 3 months and clean them about 1 time a month, then the HOBs get a filter change about 1 time a month.

I water change 50% every week.
 
I use just about every kind of filter made HOB's, wet dry's, canisters etc. emperor 400 and the HOT magnum's I own alot of them. on my large tanks I use wet dry filters. 55G and under I use emperor 400's 2 of them and a hot magnum for water polishing on each tank over 55G I use the wet dry filters and a hot magnum for water polishing on each tank. I have a vast assortment of filters and they all pretty much get the job done when you size the correct size of filter for that tank your using it on. I started buying fluval 404's and run them on larger tanks with just poly pads to polish the water. so as you can see I dont have just 1 favorite filter but several. I always keep a couple extra filters running so when I set up a new tank it can cycle faster with a filter i have had running on another tank for a few months.
 
Seems like you have some experience with both already so you should have a the best idea of what you need. Personally I have bee come more lazy when it comes to maintenance and since I like to keep up my tanks I like power and endurance smaller packages. I just did filter cleaning on my 2 magnum 350's after 2 months and they hardly slowed in GPH bot the polishing poly blankets were black, tary and heavy. Just rinse the blue bio sock out, cut a new white blanket of poly same length as the sock, turn the sock insideout lay in the poly blanket inside, then turn the whole thing rightsideout and reinstall for another 2 months of crystal clear and bi-weekly waterchnages. My favorite HOB is still the Penguin 350 as it is so truble free but I see my HOB's as more of a hydroponics holder for plants then as a filter.

Which brings us to the FX5. How do I describe canister perfection. With its huge circumference filter surface area I can install huge swath of polishing pads along the outside circumference leaving the center baskets for flow through water treatment, allowing GPH to remain high and water crystal clear, maybe for 4 months who knows. I like the FX5 so much that after working on a new cabinet to refit the doors to fit one for my next 225 tank today, I sat down on Ebay for lunch and bought another one today for $229 shipped
 
1. If you could provide your opinions & explain why you like one over the other.
It depends on the tank, the stock, etc. For larger tanks (55g+), I prefer canisters for their large media capacity and the length of time I can go without cleaning them. For smaller tanks, I like to control the amount of flow with HOBs, and there are not as many options for canisters. For fry tanks or invert tanks, I prefer sponge filters.

2. what brands are you using for either or both in what size tanks?
75g freshwater community: I have a Marineland C-360 canister as well as a Tetra Whisper HOB for extra media/QT quick-start/backup.
44g brackish puffer, molly,bbg: I just have a Marineland Emperor HOB on this one, but I'd like to add another filter. I was thinking of the Marineland 350 Mag that I got used but need to get parts for it.
20g long invert: I have 2 sponge filters since the shrimp fry kept getting sucked up even with pantyhose or sponges over the HOB intakes. Also, snails kept getting into the filter.
10g: Just an Aqua-Tech HOB that I had laying around. Just has a male krib and some molly fry and a nerite snail. Will be removing the mollies soon.

3. how often do you clean the filter/change the media?
For the HOBs, I rinse part of the media whenever it starts getting gunky. I never rinse all of the media at once. If it's getting clogged, I rinse the sponge part and then the next week I rinse the rest. Same with the canisters, though that usually takes a couple months to get to that point. For the HOBs, it's usually a couple times a month.

4. how often do you do w/c?
At least 25% weekly, usually more like 50%.
 
1. If you could provide your opinions & explain why you like one over the other

-i like power filters myself. the big aquaclear 100s are mammoth on filtration. id run those babies in a heartbeat.

2. what brands are you using for either or both in what size tanks?

-i don't have a hob filter! i make my own but if i had to get one, id go with the aquaclears. the ac 70 and ac 100 though- the others seem really wimpy to me. the emperors are nice, but the aquaclears are awesome. the old millennium filters rocked though- i had the monster300 model. she kicked a** filtering.

3. how often do you clean the filter/change the media?

-i than usual fish behavior is screaming water change and filter clean!!!:grinyes:
clean the media as needed. water is the best indictor of this, as well as fish behavior. weird, dumber than usual behavior by the fish means its water change time

4. how often do you do w/c?

-once a week and i clean the gravel till its clear of crap. never lost a fish to a messed up tank or filter, just old age.

:spam:
 
bazil323 said:
1. If you could provide your opinions & explain why you like one over the other.
It depends on the tank, the stock, etc. For larger tanks (55g+), I prefer canisters for their large media capacity and the length of time I can go without cleaning them. For smaller tanks, I like to control the amount of flow with HOBs, and there are not as many options for canisters. For fry tanks or invert tanks, I prefer sponge filters.

I had some unseen unexpected trouble with my fluval204 when I thought I did a good clean-out job but when I went to start up the siphon action, all this crud came out of the return tube, apparently many had same experience with the coiled type tubing which collects crud over time both in the intake & return tubes. not pleasant. but I found the fluval has better water flow control range than my AC110 which virtually has no range.

2. what brands are you using for either or both in what size tanks?
75g freshwater community: I have a Marineland C-360 canister as well as a Tetra Whisper HOB for extra media/QT quick-start/backup.
44g brackish puffer, molly,bbg: I just have a Marineland Emperor HOB on this one, but I'd like to add another filter. I was thinking of the Marineland 350 Mag that I got used but need to get parts for it.
20g long invert: I have 2 sponge filters since the shrimp fry kept getting sucked up even with pantyhose or sponges over the HOB intakes. Also, snails kept getting into the filter.
10g: Just an Aqua-Tech HOB that I had laying around. Just has a male krib and some molly fry and a nerite snail. Will be removing the mollies soon.

ever consider the AC units? many prefer them as I do

3. how often do you clean the filter/change the media?
For the HOBs, I rinse part of the media whenever it starts getting gunky. I never rinse all of the media at once. If it's getting clogged, I rinse the sponge part and then the next week I rinse the rest. Same with the canisters, though that usually takes a couple months to get to that point. For the HOBs, it's usually a couple times a month.

in larger tanks many have 2 running either a combo, or 2hob's. I have the combo + sponge filter but cuz I have big bio overload with my discus - I must frequently clean out my filters (the canister every 2wks - maybe cuz it's too small?, the hob monthly) - but having the combo allows me to alternate. but soon the canister will be replaced by another AC hob

4. how often do you do w/c?
At least 25% weekly, usually more like 50%.
Click to expand...

dang! you're lucky! you have the life of "leisure"!! I have to do 30-50% daily for my discus! :pc:
 
daily water changes would turn a hobby into a job not what i call fun i do 50% weekly
 
I have 2 marineland 90 HOBs on my 90 and I love them. I was thinking about a canister b4 I bought these but love the bio wheel set up on them to reduce nitrate and ammonia. Its all on your preference.
 
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