Canister filters

[Vítor]

Hello guys i have 17 gallon Cube, for filtration i use a tidal 55 but i would like a cleaner look in the tank and something more safe for my Chilli Rasborras and shrimps. So i was wondering about a canister filter. Which canister filters do you recomend? I've been looking at the fluval 107 or 207 or the eheim e702, i would to have a inline heating aswell but as far as i know the only canisters with inline heater are the oase which are much more expensive than the ones i mentioned before.

[MattyM]

For me, I much much prefer the AquaClears to the Tidals. On my 20g I used an Aquaclear 55 and painted the back of the tank black - all you see is one tube going into the tank. The heater can be easily hidden if you mount it horizontally just above the substrate and put plants/decor in front of it, and you won't have to worry about turning it off during water changes. I also had cory cats to help kick junk up into the water column where the filter could catch it, and a small pre-filter sponge that I got off Amazon. To tame the flow back into the tank, I added a baffle - which can be as easy as cutting a plastic water bottle or ordering a 3d printed one off Etsy - little googling will get you there. 

That said, I have 2 canisters on my big tank, and one is a Biomaster Thermal. It is amazing, yes it costs more but you are getting a quality heater, and with the removable pre-filter I barely have to open the entire thing up for cleaning. It also has flow control should you need it, and it comes with a spray bar, which none of the fluvals do. 

Hope that helps!

[madmark285]

In the US, the OASE Indoor Aquatics Filtosmart Thermo 100 is $110, the Fluval 107 is $124. No clue concerning a  performance comparison. 

Edit: With a canister filter, you have a long intake tube in the tank. Would putting a heater next to the tube be a big deal? 

Edited April 16 by madmark285

[Vítor]

On 4/16/2024 at 3:32 PM, MattyM said:

For me, I much much prefer the AquaClears to the Tidals. On my 20g I used an Aquaclear 55 and painted the back of the tank black - all you see is one tube going into the tank. The heater can be easily hidden if you mount it horizontally just above the substrate and put plants/decor in front of it, and you won't have to worry about turning it off during water changes. I also had cory cats to help kick junk up into the water column where the filter could catch it, and a small pre-filter sponge that I got off Amazon. To tame the flow back into the tank, I added a baffle - which can be as easy as cutting a plastic water bottle or ordering a 3d printed one off Etsy - little googling will get you there. 

That said, I have 2 canisters on my big tank, and one is a Biomaster Thermal. It is amazing, yes it costs more but you are getting a quality heater, and with the removable pre-filter I barely have to open the entire thing up for cleaning. It also has flow control should you need it, and it comes with a spray bar, which none of the fluvals do. 

Hope that helps!

When i went for tidal i was in hurry but i do like the basket its way easy to clean plus the self priming system is awesome. But going for a canister filter with clear lily pipes will give a cleaner look and a better filtration i think

On 4/16/2024 at 3:35 PM, madmark285 said:

In the US, the OASE Indoor Aquatics Filtosmart Thermo 100 is $110, the Fluval 107 is $124. No clue concerning a  performance comparison. 

Edit: With a canister filter, you have a long intake tube in the tank. Would putting a heater next to the tube be a big deal? 

The Oase that i would go for is the thermo 250 which is 230€ here in Portugal and the fluval in amazon you can get it between 60€/80€ the fluval 207 right know is 110€ so its a big difference.

[madmark285]

OASE Filtosmart Thermo 200 should be 160€, that should be plenty big enough for a 17 gallon tank. But I agree, Oase seem a bit overpriced. 

[Vítor]

On 4/16/2024 at 5:35 PM, madmark285 said:

OASE Filtosmart Thermo 200 should be 160€, that should be plenty big enough for a 17 gallon tank. But I agree, Oase seem a bit overpriced. 

Anyways i've trying to watch some reviews and opinion about this 3:

Fluval 207
Jbl e702 greenline
Tetra 700 ex

JBL there are a couple vídeos but they are in German and there is none long term review 

Tetra doesnt seem that famous... But i do prefer the way that JBL and Tetra work , to be honest Tetra seems to have the mos efficient way of filtration in my opinion, i just wanna know if those filters are reliable and if its easy to find spare parts.

[madmark285]

On 4/16/2024 at 3:52 PM, Vítor said:

Tetra doesnt seem that famous...

Tetra will well known in the USA for food, air pumps and Whisper HOB filters. I can't find the Tetra 700 ex for sale in the USA, looks like a nice filter. Tetra been in business for a long time.

[Vítor]

On 4/16/2024 at 10:27 PM, madmark285 said:

Tetra will well known in the USA for food, air pumps and Whisper HOB filters. I can't find the Tetra 700 ex for sale in the USA, looks like a nice filter. Tetra been in business for a long time.

Oh didnt know thats why there is no, reviews about it 😂 

[nabokovfan87]

Look up the UNS mini canisters. Steel ones are great in terms of aesthetics, but check into both the series they have.

I wish I had gone that route with mine as opposed to fluval. Basically, you get a lot more for what you pay for, less design issues.

[macdaddy36]

On 4/16/2024 at 9:59 AM, Vítor said:

more safe for my Chilli Rasborras and shrimps.

With pretty much any canister filter you will need a pre-filter sponge. Also with just tiny chili rasbora and shrimp be aware that anything more than a simple sponge filter is way overkill. 
I like the Fluval 107, although with its large intake it probably won’t be much of an aesthetic improvement over you HOB. The best thing to do would be to try to hide it with hardscape and plants.

I don’t have any comments about other canisters since the 107 is the only one I have.

Also, how deep is you 17 gallon cube? In my 20 gallon high (16 inch deep) the 107 intake basically touches the substrate. If I had to guess its probably 13 inches long. I am not sure if the 207 intake is even longer.

On 4/16/2024 at 9:08 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Look up the UNS mini canisters. Steel ones are great in terms of aesthetics, but check into both the series they have.

I wish I had gone that route with mine as opposed to fluval. Basically, you get a lot more for what you pay for, less design issues.

I watched a video on these one time. Aren’t they like crazy expensive?

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/16/2024 at 6:15 PM, macdaddy36 said:

I watched a video on these one time. Aren’t they like crazy expensive?

Same price as a fluval

[Vítor]

On 4/17/2024 at 2:15 AM, macdaddy36 said:

With pretty much any canister filter you will need a pre-filter sponge. Also with just tiny chili rasbora and shrimp be aware that anything more than a simple sponge filter is way overkill. 
I like the Fluval 107, although with its large intake it probably won’t be much of an aesthetic improvement over you HOB. The best thing to do would be to try to hide it with hardscape and plants.

I don’t have any comments about other canisters since the 107 is the only one I have.

Also, how deep is you 17 gallon cube? In my 20 gallon high (16 inch deep) the 107 intake basically touches the substrate. If I had to guess its probably 13 inches long. I am not sure if the 207 intake is even longer.

I watched a video on these one time. Aren’t they like crazy expensive?

I would change them for clear lily pipes, my aquarium is 40x40x40cm, do you feel that the fluval does a good job polishing the water and the baskets are enough for the media?

On 4/17/2024 at 2:08 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Look up the UNS mini canisters. Steel ones are great in terms of aesthetics, but check into both the series they have.

I wish I had gone that route with mine as opposed to fluval. Basically, you get a lot more for what you pay for, less design issues.

I will have a look

[madmark285]

Another suggestion.

The intake pipe on a Tidal 75 fits perfectly inside 1" Sch 40 PVC pipe. I connected the Tidal to an undergravel filter. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/17/2024 at 1:31 AM, Vítor said:

I would change them for clear lily pipes, my aquarium is 40x40x40cm, do you feel that the fluval does a good job polishing the water and the baskets are enough for the media?

Steel pipes are nice! 🙂

It does a good job of polishing the water, yes. That 2" thick black foam in the bottom tray works great. There is some slight bypass in the lid and tray design that causes some issues, but it can be minimized in some aspects. I mentioned that because it pretty much throws dirt all over the media. A good pre filter is also good for that polishing affect.

On 4/17/2024 at 2:08 AM, madmark285 said:

The intake pipe on a Tidal 75 fits perfectly inside 1" Sch 40 PVC pipe. I connected the Tidal to an undergravel filter. 

Less than 15% of the intake from the tidal comes from the actual intake pipe itself. There's slots all around the pump that suck in a lot of the water, the intake pipe also has a "half moon" that you would want to drill out as well.

Most of the intake of water comes from the pump housing+skimmer grates.

[madmark285]

On 4/18/2024 at 6:02 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Less than 15% of the intake from the tidal comes from the actual intake pipe itself. There's slots all around the pump that suck in a lot of the water, the intake pipe also has a "half moon" that you would want to drill out as well.

I did a duct tape test and covered the skimmer and bottom slots. Visually I saw no difference in flow. The 1/2 moon was removed. However, the pump was making noise, sounded like air was in the impeller section. I removed the tape over the skimmer slots and the noise went away. There was no difference in flow. The skimmer doesn't do much, a common complaint about the Tidal.

For the bottom slot slots, I initially covered all of them with silicone but I did open up 2 slots. I am not sure what is best, open to suggestions. 

I really like this combo but an AquaClear or Fluval C series filter may be a better choice. 

 

[anewbie]

I've used zoo med filter - i think the 30 (they have two models); they are fairly inexpensive and it seem to work well the past 4 years. It also has a nice quick release for easy cleaning.

Yea i just checked (amazon has great purchase history); it was the 30. 

Edited April 19 by anewbie

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/19/2024 at 9:07 AM, madmark285 said:

I did a duct tape test and covered the skimmer and bottom slots. Visually I saw no difference in flow. The 1/2 moon was removed. However, the pump was making noise, sounded like air was in the impeller section. I removed the tape over the skimmer slots and the noise went away. There was no difference in flow. The skimmer doesn't do much, a common complaint about the Tidal.

For the bottom slot slots, I initially covered all of them with silicone but I did open up 2 slots. I am not sure what is best, open to suggestions. 

I would like to see this if you have any details. I've got a playlist on YouTube and a thread in my signature regarding my testing.

The skimmer is not "doing nothing" but water level absolutely plays a role with function of the skimmer as an "intake".  The tidal has the skimmer slots, the heater holder alot, the pump slots, the gaps in all of the plastics due to molding tolerances, the gaps to allow the housing to attach to the pump cover, and then you have the intake tube itself, which has the half moon restricting flow out of the box.

We can discuss the tidal in another thread given the subject matter of this topic.

With most canister filter designs, even small ones, you have a much more direct intake and output path for the water circulation.