Question about Canister Filters

Hurley

Hurley

aka Bunny13
Oct 2, 2005
1,644
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Baltimore, Maryland
www.freewebs.com
I had this posted in the Freshwater Products/DIY section but it didn't get many views and no responses, so I thought I would try my luck here...

I have/am working on a planted tank. I currently have a HOB filter but I am looking to switch to a canister filter. Its a 20 gallon tank. Does anyone have any suggestion of a brand of canister filter to use? I was looking at the Turtle Clean 501 Canister Filter for about $40. Here is the LINK

Has anyone heard of this filter or had any experience with it? Thanks

*edit* Fixed Link
 
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I never bought a canister filter but I acquired an Eheim 2013 (I believe that was the model) with a 60 gallon I bought. I'll stick with my HOB's. the canister is a pain to clean, hard to tell when it's dirty and it sucks to get primed back up. I can clean my emperor 400 in about 3 minutes, takes about 15 or more to do the canister and I've got a mess when I'm done usually. don't really know much about the different models though. Kyle
 
You only really want to use a canister filter for big aquariums. I would say anything smaller than a 55 should just use a power filter.
 
HolyBull said:
He has a planted tank so he does not want to lose CO2 with the power filter
Click to expand...


its she lol! and yes I dont want to lose CO2 with a power filter. I have heard that canister filters are good for planted tanks because they do not aggitate the water as much causing CO2 to dissapate into the atmosphere.
 
I have a penguin biowheel 200 on my 29 gallon planted tank with a Hagen CO2 system. It does agitate the surface but my CO2 stays above 15 ppm which is desired for plants. My plants grow ridiculously fast.
 
I too want a canister for a 46G planted. But I was under the impression that they are easier and more efficient. Maybe I was wrong? I was looking to get an Ehiem but no idea what model.
 
I'll tell you my filter of choice for a planted tan k... it does not disrupt the water surface at all! first off do you have a 20g long or a regular one. If you have a long go with a fluval 2+ internal canister filter if you have a regular 20g I'd go with a 3+... very easy to clean, plus it has a little attachment that you can hook a air hose up to so air bubbles are diffused out of the out take. But this can also be used to defuse your CO2 bubbles
http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=22433&category_id=1717&pcid1=2885
 
Wild cat, i will back up the fluval filter, I've never used the in tank ones, but i bet they are good. i have a fluval 304, which has 4 internal media holders. It works great, cleaning only takes maybe five minutes. The top is designed great, so you don't have to disconnect any hoses, just levers to take the who piece out. I would reccomend them to everyone. However, buying a canister for a 20g might be a pricy investment, when a normal over the back filter will work fine
 
I use canisters from 15 gallons and up, nothing but Eheims, some internal, some external. The Eheim Classic series (which includes the 2213) is not user friendly, but last forever. The Pro series is much easier to use.

I liked the Fluval internals when they were the original series (they were at least comparable to the Eheims then and more user-friendly). The 2plus, etc., is not nearly the filter the older models were. I don't care for the current models at all.
 
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