What Filter do you use?

stevenjohn21

I have both Canister and HOB's and to be honest anything under 40 gallon i prefer HOB's but then that depends on what species you are housing i guess.

Curt

Wow canisters have taken the lead.. I am a bit surprised.

jaysee

I'm not :)

Curt

I have never used / looked into canistars perhaps I should for my next tank.

jaysee

You'll wish you did a long time ago and will never go back to HOBs.

iamgray

Aquaclear 110 for now, but i am planning to order an eheim 2213 within the next couple weeks.

Curt

So what are the advantages to a canister I have always used hob
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Mikaila31

They have a LOT more room for filter media, the media itself is customizable to what you want. They hold a lot more water too which is good if power ever goes out, a bio wheel would be the worst thing you could have because it will dry out and bacteria will die within an hour or two if you are not home to trow it in the tank. Canister sits out of sight and you barely see it in the tank either, instead of the giant HOB hanging on your tank. Canister is almost silent if not completely. Canisters have the ability to aim the output to where you want, generally in this sense they circulate the water better unlike the HOB on a long tank that just mixes a lot of the water on one end. Its mainly do to the way the HOB pours the water back in from above, where a canister can use a spray bar and shoot filtered water along the length of the entire tank. Canisters being as large as they are don't need to be cleaned as often. No expensive filter media if you wish to just use pot scrubbers and filter floss. Any filter media will fit in a canister. Canister does not disturb the surface making it more plant friendly then the HOB filter, which is the killer of CO2.

All this said I really only suggest canister on 40gallon or larger tanks. I know they make them smaller then that, but IMO they get too expensive. Like every filter though, don't go by what manufacturer says the filter will do. Go by what you want the filter to do. Turnover rate is important. A lot the "for Aquariums up to XXXgallons" do not make sense to me. Lets take RENA canisters for example since I am familiar with them. The XP1 does 250 GPH(gal per hour) and is for up to 45gallon tanks. If you do the math this filter will turnover a 45 gallon tank 5.5 times every hour. The XP3 though does 350 gph and is for up to 175 gallon tank. Doing the same math here a 175 gallon would only be turned over 2 times. I can tell you straight out that a XP3 won't do a 175 gallon all by itself. You may not need another filter, but you will definitely need a powerhead or two depending on setup.

I have had one HOB and that was a Aquaclear. It ran for all of two weeks before I could not stand the god awful noise it made. It ended up in an auction within a month of me buying it. HOBs IMO are very flawed filters. I am not surprised either that canisters are in the lead. Again give me anything but a HOB.

iamgray

I am switching to a canister because it was recommended in order to help my plants do better... like Mikaila said, because it doesn't disturb the water as much. I also am looking forward to it because of how silent they are, although I disagree to an extent about the noise level of Aquaclear HOB filters. I have found that they CAN be extremely noisy, but it's not so much that they're noisy on their own, they are just finicky and the slightest thing seems to create huge noise. Like if it's not sitting just right, it'll rattle... if the water level is too low, the water trickling noise is aggravating... and it seems like I am forever having to take it apart to rinse something out of the impeller. So, when every factor is just perfect, they are pretty much silent, but they require a lot of messing around in order to keep them that way.

HMlairy

Fluval U2 new model :) Efficent and extremely quiet