Filters - thinking of going to a cannister...

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Apr 10, 2004
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Filters - thinking of going to a canister...

I have spent a lot of time reading up on these forums, and am thankful for all of the great information here!

Reading up on filtration, it seems that the general consensus is that canisters may be the way to go. I was at my LFS today, and got the same opinion.

Current set up:

46-gal
Emperor 400
undergravel with 2 powerheads

10-gal
Penguin Mini
undergravel with 1 powerhead

Both tanks are FW and heavily planted. Fish include: Black Skirt Tetras, platys, Danios, Khuli loaches, Neon Dwarf Gourami, Niger otos, and Dwarf cories.

LFS had some good tips for if/when I make the switch:
-take out plants
-get an air stone in a bucket and move fish out of tank
-take out UGF
-reassemble

Any opinions? Favorites? Likes/Dislikes? Still in research phase, and I realize that it will be a big job if I decide to do it.

Thanks for any input!

edit: typo
 
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The June issue of FAMA has a comparison article between a Marineland Magnum 350 Bio Pro System, a Hagen Fluval 404, a Rena Filstar XP3 and an Eheim Professional II 2138. It is a pretty good article.

I had a Fluval 404 die on me after a few years while my 20? is still going strong. I've always wanted an Eheim and I'll be setting one up in about 3 days.

One last thing, my Fluvals are the old style ones and not the new ones they have out now.
 
This sounds perfect! A comparison is just what I was looking for. Thanks so much for the info.

My local bookstore (B&N) doesn't have this magazine. :( I just found the FAMA web site, but the June issue isn't on there yet. I'll keep looking though.

Thanks again.
 
I love my Fluval 304, it's been a pure joy so far. It's dead easy to maintain. I would recommend cleaning on a 4-6 weekly basis, then it actually becomes a smaller and quicker job. I often wonder what people expect to find when they open up a cannister after 3 months and then complain that it's jammed full of crud and gunk!!:rolleyes:

If you can afford it, I've heard that Eheims are the way to go.

(Just to prove I'm unbiased!:D)
 
I'm a big fan of my canister filter (filstar xp2) as well. The fish even seem to enjoy the added current coming from the spraybar. Preetty much any canister will be a piece of cake to clean once you get the hang of it.

Were you planning on putting a canister on the 10 gallon as well?

Your plan sounds great. I recently had to move my tank, and that's just about what I did. I'll outline my steps:

-Put gravel in 10 gal rubbermaid container.
-Fill tub with tank water.
-Put fish in tub.
-Move fish across town (only a 15 minute drive).
-Move tub inside.
-Place heater and airstone in tub.
-Slowly aclimate fish to new water by replacing
some of the tub water with new water from
the tank, repeating this step over the course
of a couple of hours. This step may not have
to be as drawn out as it is, but better safe than
sorry.
-Put fish in their new home.

I'm assuming that you're planning on replacing the water after you pull the UG. It'd make sense to me because the water is going to get pretty messy.

One last thing, if you're planning on losing the Emperor and the UG, make sure you run the canister filter with the other filters in place to let it get its bacteria established.
 
I think canisters are best in tanks larger than 55 gallons. If under 55 gallons, and your stock load isnt too overstocked, a regular HOB filter should work fine. There's just so many to choose from and the HOB are made to work so good now-a-days that I see no reason for a canister in anything smaller than 55 gallons.

JMO and my .02 :D
 
I think it depends on how the canister is used. For example, I use Eheim 2213s on several 30 gallon tanks. I use the canisters as bio-only filters (they're prefiltered, but otherwise, all media is bio-media, usually ceramic noodles). This makes the canisters very low maintenance, with the exception of regular cleaning of the prefilter sponges, but with outstanding capacity as biofilters. I like this use of the 2213s because I get biofiltration on a par (or exceeding) that of an HOB, say an Emperor 280, but I have much more flexibility in how I handle the current. With an HOB, you're pretty much limited to dumping the water back in via a chute, but with canisters you can be much more creative.

As with many things, though, it all depends... on your budget, stocking levels, maintenance practices, etc.

Jim
 
Thanks for the replies. I am saving up all of the various 0.02 contributions! :D


Were you planning on putting a canister on the 10 gallon as well?
Click to expand...

I wasn't planning on it. I have a Neon Dwarf Gourami and (5) dwarf cories in there. It is sparkling clean with the UGF and the Penguin.

The 46-gal has a lot of sediment (boy, those 8 platys have a lot of "output" LOL) and the water isn't crystal clear at the moment... I think I am dealing with a bacterial bloom. All levels (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate are good.

As for the 46-gal -- Hmmmm I hadn't thought of it as being too 'small' for a cannister. I have just been reading/realizing that we should have done that at the start, especially with the Khulis and the plants.

The LFS said it would be a good idea if I went with a cannister to get it installed then wait 4-6 weeks to get the biofilter all set up before taking out the old one. Good tips, sguthrie on moving the fish back in/water change.

My current stock in the 46-gal is:
5 Black Widow Tetras
8 platys
5 danios
1 betta
5 Khulis
6 dwarf cories
2 Niger Otos

With the exception of the platys, all of the others seem pretty "clean".

Thanks again for all of your thoughts and suggestions!
 
I thought the canister on the 10 would be overkill. =)

The filtration on your other tank is plenty sufficient, but I think you'll like the canister much better. It'll also give you an extra filter to make it easier to justify another tank... :D

You can get a great deal on one at www.bigalsonline.com , www.drsfostersmith.com , and other places as well. I ordered mine for around the same price as those places from petsmart.com in hopes that they had in store pickup, but they didn't. I did get a five dollar gift card, though...

I guess that makes 4 cents for me.
 
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