HOB vs. Canister

[SimonWoodstock]

I know this should get a few of you riled.

What is everyone's opinions on HOB or Canister filters for a 55gal. tank.

I was thinkin about putting 2 HOBs on it (when i get it) but i was looking through the new DrsFosterSmith catalog at some canister filters and saw some i liked.

Things i am interested in are: re-usable bio. media, cost of media to put in (if its not re-usable), ease of cleaning, reliability, how well it filters...that kind of stuff.

I know several good brands of HOB filters, what are some good canisters to look for. I don't know anything about them, except they filter water...

*if this helps any, i am leaning towards a cichlind tank. but, just assume i will put a really messy fish in it.

thanks

 

[Richer]

HOB are great filters for their value. They're good at mechanical filtration, and work quite well as biological filters. The thing I like about my HOB filters is that if I want to put something into the filter (ie. more bio media, or a bag of carbon, peat, etc.) I just need to stick the media into a media bag, take off the lid of the filter and stuff the bag into the filter. The only complaint I have about HOB filters is that compared to canisters, they don't have as much capacity to hold bio media.

Canister filters are great as biological filters because they have the capacity to hold large amounts of bio media. In terms of mechanical filtration, imo, they lack in that area. I would suggest putting a pre-filter over the intake of your canister. Once a week, remove the pre-filter and throughly rinse it in your sink. Don't worry about killing the bacterial colonies on your pre-filter. The role of the pre-filter is to prevent gunk from getting into your canister and clogging up your bio-media.

In reality, a combination of the two filters is always a good thing for a tank, especially if it will be a messy tank. A HOB filter with mechanical filtration media (ie. filter floss and/or sponge), and a canister filter dedicated to biological filtration (packed to the brim with bio-media with a pre-filter over the intake). Replace, and/or rinse out the mechanical filtration media in the HOB filter once a week, and rinse out the pre-filter once a week, and you should have decent mechanical and biological filtration in your tank.

For your tank, if you are on a tight budget, I would suggest getting two Aquaclear 300 filters. I've never had a problem with the aquaclear filters. Every tank of mine (expect my 70gallon planted tank) has at least one of these filters on it. With two AC300, you'll be getting about 600gallon/hour worth of filtration (w/o media in them of course).
You could also go with a AC 300, and a medium-large sized canister. I personally like Eheim canisters, but those aren't in everyone's budget range. The only other canister I've had experience with are the fluval 04 canisters. I've had good experience with those too. An AC300 and a fluval 404 will do well on a 55 gallon tank.

If this helps any, on my light/moderatly stocked 66 gallon malawi tank, I have two AC 300 filters and one fluval 404 running. The AC filters act as my primary mechanical filters (although I do have some bio media in them), and my fluval acts as the primary biological filter. Some might think I have too much filtration on my tank, but imho, if your fish can handle the extra current, then go ahead and overfilter that sucker!

HTH
-Richer

 

[125gJoe]

I agree with Richer's 3rd paragraph, having both a HOB and a Canister, and it's what I had in the past. It worked great until I did some research about keeping live plants. The HOB will produce too much surface disturbance and release CO2 from the water column. Plants thrive on CO2...
So I got another canister, and my HOB is collecting dust at this time.. ..or did I give that one away?

Once I got the plants growing nicely with the help of pressurized CO2 -- there's no going back to 'non-planted'...

Even without plants, I think it's good to have the canister - along with a good HOB. Canisters have more room inside for options on filter media..

 

[750t]

I am very pleased with the combination of a ac 300 and xp2 on a 55 gal tank. If you can afford it , its the way to go. Tim

 

[TKOS]

2 filters in always the best way to go with bigger tanks. If one filter breaks down then you won't have to panic so much. Plus it allows you to clean the media in 1 filter one week and the other the next. And if you ever have to remove the media and replace it then the other filter will take up the slack for awhile until the bacteria grows back.

 

[JSchmidt]

I follow the doctrine Richer describes: I use a canister, prefiltered packed with bioballs or ceramic noodles (Ehfimech) for biological filtration. I use another filter for mechanical filtration. I like HOT Magnums (prefiltered and packed with floss) or HOBs (I prefer Emperors with foam instead of cartridges). I also have started using powerheads with sponge over the intake; it makes for a cheap mech filter, although it's not so nice for display tanks.

The biggest key, IMO, in designing filtration is to make sure the mechanical filters (and the prefilters) are easily reached for cleaning. It does no good to have lots of mechanical filtration when the media isn't often rinsed because it's a pain to reach.

Good luck,
Jim

 

[beviking]

750t has a good option. 2 AC300's works great also.

About pre-filters...I had one on my canister and when I went to pull it off, debris would always float off into the tank, only to be sucked back onto later. Obviously this is counter productive, so I just pulled the thing off. I have sponges in the first basket (of my XP3) and rinse them every other week with water changes.

As for media, Efimech (ceramic noodles) are cheap and reusable!

 

[750t]

Yea this tank houses a 7 inch jd and a 5 inch convict. So the filtration needs are high. The ease of maint. on both filters is one reason I recommend them. All so 12 giant ramshorn snails help too.

 

[SimonWoodstock]

sorry it took so long to reply, ive been kinda busy. thanks for all the replies i got. richer---you should write a book on this stuff I just printed this out, everything i wanted to know what answered, thanks again