Aquarium Owners: The best canister filter?

[spacejamz]

About to start my 55gal tank again...was a salt tank but I'm going to back to freshwater since my LFS closed down which is where I bought my saltwater from for my water changes...i have talked my self out of the undergravel filter and will probably go with a pair of hang on power filters and a powerhead for circulation...

 

[Ryland]

I have been using a Fluval 304 for probably 10-15 years without a problem. It keeps the water clean and doesnt take much maintenance.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Undergravel filters were "the cat's meow" for many years...but not so much lately. The controversy has been going on for years...IMO, they're OK for a lightly loaded
freshwater system as long as they're maintained properly, but even a well maintained UG setup will accumulate a LOT of detritus under the plate...and that can lead to problems down the road...especially if you have a power outage for more than a couple of hours.

http://www.firsttankguide.net/ugfcontroversy.php

Yeah. For FWIW, every aquarium I worked at, we never ever used undergravel filters, even in our very small exhibits. We vacuum siphoned, used skimmers or standpipes with simple filters, used canisters, bio-towers, and often sumps filled with bio-balls.

 

[trmiv]

Can never go wrong with Eheim equipment. I've been keeping only reef aquariums for the past 8 years, so I haven't had a canister in awhile, but I only use Eheim return pumps and Eheim Jager heaters. I think my Eheim 1260 return could survive a nuclear blast.

 

[her209]

I always prefer the DIY route (if I can do it) over buying something pre-made.

 

[jtvang125]

So are all you guys with FW tanks doing planted or just fake plants?

I started my first tank as planted. I had to take it down but when I got back into the hobby I went with a reef tank instead. The tank is coming along great but I still long to start up a planted tank again. I seem to remember having much more fun growing plants than corals.

 

[Old Hippie]

So are all you guys with FW tanks doing planted or just fake plants?

Fakes for me.

These cichlids eat the plastic ones and I can't imagine how they'd rape a real plant.

I've found the SeaGarden brand to be the best match for my tank.

72 BF with a 20gal. sump filtration unit.

 

[cheezy321]

Im doing a planted tank, I find it much more rewarding (and better looking) than fake plants.

In my 55G FW tank I have the following:
2 Silver Dollars
10 Cardinal Tetras
1 hatchet fish (the other 4 jumped out when i left the lid open, dumbass me!)
Pleco
2 - 5 ghost shrimp.

The tank gets pretty dirty right now, but I have no other circulation aside from the top filters. I think the Fluval will help out a lot with the circulation.

Its waiting at my house for me right now. Installing it tonight. Ill take some pics for ATOT after its installed!

 

[IcePickFreak]

I am disappoint with the lack of SW setups here.

I agree with the general consensus so far, stick with Eheim or Fluval. I've used both in the past and never had issues with either.

 

[her209]

So are all you guys with FW tanks doing planted or just fake plants?

I started my first tank as planted. I had to take it down but when I got back into the hobby I went with a reef tank instead. The tank is coming along great but I still long to start up a planted tank again. I seem to remember having much more fun growing plants than corals.

I've wanted to do a planted tank for the longest time but my reason was for nitrate removal therefore requiring less water changes. But when you start adding up the costs to get optimal growth (good lighting, CO2 injection, fertilization) it would be more economical, i.e., cheaper, to just buy a reverse osmosis unit and not have to worry about measuring the nitrate levels, measuring nutrient levels, worry about lighting period, etc.

 

[slag]

My tank has 4 cichlids, 2 plecos, and an oscar. The turds build up, even though I have both under gravel filtration with a powerhead as well as a filter that hangs over the tank and takes replaceable charcoal/mesh filter media.

The problem I'm having is that the shit is sticking to the rocks, and unless i violently stir up the water, it wont come off the rocks easily. I have the traditional gravity assisted aquarium cleaner that sucks out the old water and poo, but it doesn't have enough suckage. I'd like to find something that is battery powered that has more suction, or water assisted so that while I'm pulling old dirty water out, its refilling with fresh clean water at the same time. Does such an animal exist? Took me a couple hours last night to clean my tank of all the fish poo and there is still a ton left. I took the water level down to a critical level of 1/3 tank and still didn't get all the poo cleaned out. I dont want to stress my fish too much, and put the chemical in to get the water normal/chlorine out/nitrogen level back to normal, but the water still had a lot of particulate in it from when I stirred it up. Of course, this morning it looked a lot better, but i can still see poo sticking to my gravel.

 

[Modelworks]

I have a 55G with cichlids and use Aquaclear 70 hang on filters with a fluval 304 canister filter with spray bar for return and never have to do much maintenance on the tank except to clean the glass or do water changes. Inside there is a marineland 900 pump that I use for a powerhead with a sponge filter attached. There is no charcoal medium used, just foam filters I rinse every few months.

The aquaclears are on sale at amazon , btw for $34.95 shipped, a great deal.
http://www.amazon.com/AquaClear-70-P.../dp/B000260FUW

 

[Modelworks]

My tank has 4 cichlids, 2 plecos, and an oscar. The turds build up, even though I have both under gravel filtration with a powerhead as well as a filter that hangs over the tank and takes replaceable charcoal/mesh filter media.

The first thing I would do is scrap the under gravel filtration. Cichlids love to dig and will displace the gravel you are using to filter. If you are set on using the under gravel then consider reversing the flow on it with a powerhead so that you force water up through the gravel and not pulling all the crud down into the gravel.


From how you describe it , it sounds like your tank is out of balance. If there is too much waste either you are feeding too much or your filtration and water movement is too slow. Cichlids come from the lakes in africa and while we might think of lakes as calm the lakes their are anything but, during boat trips people have had their boats overturned from the waves on the lake. I keep my water turbulent and constantly moving so no debris has time to just sit on the bottom. The fish love it and will often school together at night in front of the powerhead outlets , swimming up and down against the flow along the length of the tank. Still not sure why they do this every night, must be a fish thing.

 

[Old Hippie]

I'd like to find something that is battery powered that has more suction, or water assisted so that while I'm pulling old dirty water out, its refilling with fresh clean water at the same time. Does such an animal exist?

The EHEIM Quick Vac Pro is the battery powered unit I use.

The Aquarium Cleaning Machine is a step-up.

Get rid of the UGF.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

Also one thing to consider when thinking about a cheap canister, depending on how low the filter intake is in the tank, that could be half the tank of water or more in your house and on the floor.

do you really feel comfortable skimping on price with an appliance running 24/7 that could leak 25 gallons or more of water in your house?

that's not to say cascade or any brand mentioned here is bad, but just make sure you research what you are considering buying before you do it.

I've had 2 Cascade 1000's and a Fluval 405 and they all did a good job.
I don't worry about canisters leaking as they are a sealed system and have multiple layers of containment built in.
I fear 100+ gallon fish tanks now, as I've had 2 new ones in a row leak all over my new hardwood floors.

I currently only have a Fluval Edge with Saltwater and inverts and damsel in it now.

 

[IcePickFreak]

The undergravel filters may be part of the problem. I'm not too versed in FW, but in SW this is why you avoid deadspots so you can keep the waste suspended until it gets picked up by the filtration. Having a UG filter is counter-productive to that. Having all the crap stuck in there is going to raise Nitrates (the basic cycle works the same in both FW & SW.)

As for a battery operated vacuum, they do make em but they all seem pretty cheaply made. I even tried one out a few years back and the suction wasn't any better than the siphon vac's, and it didn't take too long for the motor to go out. Not sure if they make a higher quality one, but from a quick google search it looks like it's all still cheap junk.

 

[slag]

I have no problem getting rid of the under gravel filtration, however, I really really like the turbulence the powerhead gives and without the under gravel filtration, the power head goes bye bye.

I'll take a few pics or a video tonight of my tank. There is a lot of water movement, but its a 55 gallon take and so its a decent size. I'm worried about the nitrates, and there is a chemical you can put in to remove them, but thats really not a solution. The plecos are busy busy busy eating everything, but when you eat shit 4x in a row, it just stays as shit.

My cichids don't dig a whole lot. The gravel isn't fine, but not super large either, but they are content enough to just swim around and hang out near structure. Weird, I know. I don't feel like I feed them too much. I feed them once a day, normally during the evening, and they eat it all up in 5 minutes. The oscar is especially greedy, but aren't they normally..

 

[jtvang125]

If your bio load is exceeding the capacity of your filtration the only thing left is to increase the frequency of your water changes to lower your water parameters. You can use chemicals but I usually avoid them unless it's the last resort.

 

[IcePickFreak]

Should be able to just get rid of the intake tube from the UG filter to the powerhead and still use the powerhead for movement. I'd make sure to use a strainer on the intake though to keep fish safe, even bigger ones.

If not - there are a ton of different powerheads out there so maybe these are some proprietary UG filter only design - there's plenty others you can buy that will work that way and you can find some decent ones for pretty cheap. Maxi-Jets are the classic reliable standard and probably the cheapest (See here) otherwise theres the newer prop design ones but you'll pay more. On a 4 foot 55g, I'd probably go with 2 at each end of the tank to keep the sediment stirred up.

That said, you still may need to vac the substrate a bit and do a few water changes to clean things up, but the water movement will prevent it from happening again in the future. In saltwater the saying goes "Nothing good happens quickly in this hobby."

 

[slag]

I'm definitely going to have to do something different with the water flow, thats for sure. I can remove the under gravel filters easily enough I think and just dump the gravel down to the bottom of the tank, but my current power head sits on the intake tube and sucks from below. Lost the suction cup for it long long ago. Its old, but puts out a ton of water imho.

I'm probably going to use the gravity assisted vac again tonight and perform another water change. Its pretty disgusting though.

 

[BoomerD]

http://www.pythonproducts.com/aqprod.html

 

[jupiter57]

I have 2 power heads with an under gravel filter and a cheap over the back filter and my tank is beautiful, the fish are colorful and healthy and the water is clear as can be.

And I don't do anything other than add water when it is lower.

True.
While I haven't owned an aquarium in 10 years, nothing worked like an undergravel filter with good powerheads.