THE GREAT CANISTER FILTER DEBATE!!!

[Kittkat1981]

IDK if it will be a great debate buuutttt....

Im setting up my first 75 gal. it will be heavily planted and stocked with discus and other compatible fish.  So. I want to know Who's your canister filter brand. Who do you suggest? Why?  I personally like aquatop.  The price vs what you get is awesome in my book.  Great flow. Easy service. Lasting well, so far.  Also. How do you have yours setup?  I have a homemade spray bar on mine. Do you use a mid water column intake or surface skimmer?

Edited November 23, 2021 by Kittkat1981

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

I’ve never used anything aquatop other then Their pumps. 
Eheim, classic series, has always been what I’ve used for canisters. I’ve helped setup friends tanks with Fluvals. 
What I like about Eheims - availability of parts, dependability, and longevity. What you put in the media chamber is up to you no jokey easily broken media baskets, grab some media bags and foams and stack and arrange it how you like. Downsides manual priming but it’s easy with the quick release valves to prime it once you’re used to it. 
Fluval, the media baskets aren’t the worst I’ve seen (that’s actually Eheim new pro series), the fx series 4-6 are beasts and really dependable. The configurations of their media aren’t awful but I think the pond guru pointed out some ways to do it better. 

[Kittkat1981]

I've heard alot about the dependability and overall greatness of Eheim.  I personally have their 500w heater and auto feeder.  I go back to the aquatop because of value and, as for now, longevity.  I have a fx300 on my 65 and dont have to do any water changes for atleast a month   I've gone as long as 4.  Water numbers were fine and the fish were still doing great but my nerves were not.  filter media is fairly cheap and like you said about stacking in the Eheim, you can do with the aquatop and they are based in San Fran (last i checked)  customer service is good as well.  Ive heard great things about the Fluval Fx6 as well. (KG aquatics says it is a must have for a 75 gal)  

[StevesFishTanks]

The fluval fx4 5 and 6 are very good filters. Self prime, self restart after outage. Self purge trapped air every 12/24 hrs. I have a very long service intervals on mine. Mainly because I use prefilters that are cleaned every water change.

[B1gJ4k3]

I picked up a pair of used FX4s and have become a pretty big fan of them. The media basket criticisms are well-founded and the inlet is very bulky so you can't but a prefilter sponge over it. BUT the nice thing that nobody seems to praise enough is the outlet port that not only lets you drain the canister without making a huge mess, but if you hook up a garden hose to it, it TURNS THE WHOLE THING INTO A SIPHON for simple water changes. For a planted tank that I don't gravel vac, that's been a game-changer.

I also have a Fluval 7 series on one of my "smaller" (46 gallon) tank. It's just OK. The connections are secure enough and there's tons of space for pretty much whatever media you can throw into them. Cleaning them is pretty clunky (and messy), though.

In my younger, more naive days, I went down the route of the Marineland Magniflow canisters. Do not recommend. Hard to prime, even clunkier to clean, fragile parts, leaky lids, crazy fragile hose connections, parts that are always out of stock...ugh. I'm not sorry to be rid of them.

[eatyourpeas]

I only have nano tanks and use Shiruba canisters in them. I clean the pre-filter sponge with every weekly WC, clean the actual filters every 3-4 months. I threw away the carbon and only use sponge and bio-ceramic media. They all have spray bars. All my tanks but one are Aquatop and I am very happy with their quality, but do not know anything about their filtration products.

[Colu]

I would second fluval FX 4 or FX 6 or the  fluval 07 series I use a fluval 307 with UV steriliser on my 60 gallon does a good job and I have a ziss bubble filter as on that tank as well both are doing a great job never get any water quality issue 

Edited November 23, 2021 by Colu

[Kittkat1981]

On 11/22/2021 at 9:45 PM, B1gJ4k3 said:

I picked up a pair of used FX4s and have become a pretty big fan of them. The media basket criticisms are well-founded and the inlet is very bulky so you can't but a prefilter sponge over it. BUT the nice thing that nobody seems to praise enough is the outlet port that not only lets you drain the canister without making a huge mess, but if you hook up a garden hose to it, it TURNS THE WHOLE THING INTO A SIPHON for simple water changes. For a planted tank that I don't gravel vac, that's been a game-changer.

I also have a Fluval 7 series on one of my "smaller" (46 gallon) tank. It's just OK. The connections are secure enough and there's tons of space for pretty much whatever media you can throw into them. Cleaning them is pretty clunky (and messy), though.

In my younger, more naive days, I went down the route of the Marineland Magniflow canisters. Do not recommend. Hard to prime, even clunkier to clean, fragile parts, leaky lids, crazy fragile hose connections, parts that are always out of stock...ugh. I'm not sorry to be rid of them.

Now see. I'll disagree. I have a marineland 220 and has been trouble free for the most part. The hose ends came loose a time or two but I can't say it wasn't my fault though.  You'd think that a more supple hose would be available.

[HH Morant]

I like Eheim classic, but I know the FX series has a lot of fans. Like @Beardedbillygoat1975, I like the complete lack of trays in the Eheim classics. I use 30 ppi foam - and nothing else - in the filters. I cut the foam to fit and put in as much as it will hold.

Edited November 23, 2021 by HH Morant

[Kittkat1981]

On 11/22/2021 at 10:31 PM, HH Morant said:

I like Eheim classic, but I know the FX series has a lot of fans. Like @Beardedbillygoat1975, I like the complete lack of trays in the Eheim classics. I use 30 ppi foam - and nothing else - in the filters. I cut the foam to fit and put in as much as it will hold.

Went and checked out the eheim classic. Digging the no tray thing too.  How is the flow?

[HH Morant]

I like the flow. My two 2217s are a couple of years old and are still doing fine, although I think the flow was a little better when they were new. There are some Youtube videos about Eheim filters that you might want to watch.

My angels don't like a strong flow, so I made the holes in the spraybar a lot bigger.

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

I have not noticed any change over the 2 years I’ve had this 2217. My prior 2213, 2215 and an eco did well over 5+ years. In general, they are consistent more than anything. It takes a lot to bog them up. With 2215 I did replace the impeller at year 4. With a prefilter I can go 6+ months before i see a reduced flow rate. I use it almost exclusively for biological media. I’ve got a Marineland 450 hob that’s doing my mechanical. I have used a Lilly pipe, spray bar and just a jet output and been happy with the surface agitation and current. 

[Flumpweesel]

On 11/23/2021 at 3:13 AM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

pond guru

He's great isn't he.

Anyway I have fluval 307 on my approx 60gal tank. And in have it positioned really badly due to the tank being really low and the filter won't fit under and I have stupidly long hoses so the flow could be better but for nearly 10 years now it has been going strong the trickiest bit is opening it up for cleaning but that isn't very often these days. Can't compare with anything else canister wise.

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

@Flumpweeselas long as you go into his videos knowing he’s part owner of Biohome you’re good and then you can just glean his knowledge and not his shilling for his company. It’s a decent product I have it in my Eheim but Swiss Tropical sponges are just as good for bio or even cheaper lava rock. 

[Flumpweesel]

On 11/23/2021 at 9:02 AM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

@Flumpweeselas long as you go into his videos knowing he’s part owner of Biohome you’re good and then you can just glean his knowledge and not his shilling for his company. It’s a decent product I have it in my Eheim but Swiss Tropical sponges are just as good for bio or even cheaper lava rock. 

Always check motivation.  I enjoyed his older stuff when he had a fish shop quite a bit got me though some tricky problems with my set ups.

[gardenman]

I use the Penn Plax Cascade canister filters on my fifty and thirty high, and they work fine. Mine are several years old now with no real issues with either one. They were nearly as low cost as the Aquatop (and other older Marineland canister filter knockoffs) and were a "name" brand. 

[Kittkat1981]

On 11/23/2021 at 7:12 AM, gardenman said:

I use the Penn Plax Cascade canister filters on my fifty and thirty high, and they work fine. Mine are several years old now with no real issues with either one. They were nearly as low cost as the Aquatop (and other older Marineland canister filter knockoffs) and were a "name" brand. 

Penn Plax makes its entrance here.  I've seen kg tropics review of then Penn plax. Said that it was good unit. Just pricy.  How easy is the canister to load and do the trays have the versatility of the eheim?  

[Kittkat1981]

On 11/23/2021 at 2:34 AM, Flumpweesel said:

He's great isn't he.

Anyway I have fluval 307 on my approx 60gal tank. And in have it positioned really badly due to the tank being really low and the filter won't fit under and I have stupidly long hoses so the flow could be better but for nearly 10 years now it has been going strong the trickiest bit is opening it up for cleaning but that isn't very often these days. Can't compare with anything else canister wise.

I always hear how good fluval is. With this being, for the foreseeable future my largest tank. I would like servicing to be as pain free as possible.  As for hoses.  I think I said this on an earlier response, you would think they could figure out a more supple hose.  Both my marineland and aquatop hoses were stiff as a preachers.....well.  they were hard to get into place. And are still hard to deal with some times

[Mmiller2001]

I'm a Eheim guy, I fully expect that my Eheims will still be running 20 years later. Common hose sizes, non of this weird hosing issues some filters have and they are dead silent. The Eheim Classics are at a great price point and work just as well.

[Kittkat1981]

On 11/23/2021 at 9:44 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

I'm a Eheim guy, I fully expect that my Eheims will still be running 20 years later. Common hose sizes, non of this weird hosing issues some filters have and they are dead silent. The Eheim Classics are at a great price point and work just as well.

Gotta say.  Eheim is starting to win me over.  Saw one tutorial where a guy had pumas stones in as bio filter media. I'm wondering how much that would increase your bio load capability? 

[HH Morant]

Pumice is a little hard to work with because it floats, so chips of the pumice will tend to be sucked into the motor rather than sinking to the bottom.

I have been persuaded [by aquariumscience.org] that 30 ppi foam is the best canister filter media, followed closely by pot scrubbers and static K-1 media. Better to read the entire article, but see the chart from aquariumscience.org below. I have converted my canisters to 30 ppi foam (a little at a time) and it works.

a

[Kittkat1981]

On 11/23/2021 at 10:23 AM, HH Morant said:

Pumice is a little hard to work with because it floats, so chips of the pumice will tend to be sucked into the motor rather than sinking to the bottom.

I have been persuaded [by aquariumscience.org] that 30 ppi foam is the best canister filter media, followed closely by pot scrubbers and static K-1 media. Better to read the entire article, but see the chart from aquariumscience.org below. I have converted my canisters to 30 ppi foam (a little at a time) and it works.

a

I say pumis.   It was some sort of rock.  Didn't float.  He was talking up the surface for bacteria. 

[gardenman]

On 11/23/2021 at 9:00 AM, Kittkat1981 said:

Penn Plax makes its entrance here.  I've seen kg tropics review of then Penn plax. Said that it was good unit. Just pricy.  How easy is the canister to load and do the trays have the versatility of the eheim?  

Mine weren't pricey. They were pretty close to the Aquatops in price. The trays are nice and big and you can put pretty much anything in them. I use quilt batting for mechanical filtration, ceramic cylinders and Matrix for biofiltration, along with sponges. I really haven't had any major issues with them. If you buy Penn Plax replacement filter pads, then yeah, they get pricey, but the filters were pretty affordable when I bought them. (Under $100 for the Cascade 1500 if I recall properly.)

[HH Morant]

On 11/23/2021 at 10:26 AM, Kittkat1981 said:

I say pumis.   It was some sort of rock.  Didn't float.  He was talking up the surface for bacteria. 

Probably lava rock. I have a lava rock substrate (from Bonsai Jack) and I recently put in some under-gravel filters.

[Kittkat1981]

On 11/23/2021 at 10:52 AM, HH Morant said:

Probably lava rock. I have a lava rock substrate (from Bonsai Jack) and I recently put in some under-gravel filters.

how do you like it?