Canister vs HOB Filter

[mikeyost12]

Hey everyone, I am by no means a expert on fish keeping and had a 55G tank stocked with gold fish for about 4 years. I recently switched over to more tropical freshwater fish and because of my in experience, had terrible results, loosing all of my fish except my Danios and my Albino Cats.
I bought an API Mast Test Kit 3 days ago and my initial reading came out 7.8PH, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 160 (out of this world). I immediately did a 70% water change and ran the same test two days ago (Day 2). That reading was 7.8PH, Ammonia climbed to .25, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 30-40 (Better there). I did another water change, this time about 50% and ran more test today. My readings today was 7.8PH, Ammonia still at .25, Nitrite 0, Nitrate closer to the 40 mark. I did notice 2 of my fish had Ick so my tank is being medicated right now (I did not do a water change today. I am going to do a 25% change tomorrow and add more medication into the tank.)

So with all of that being said, I am currently running a Emperor 400 for my filtration and although it is a good filter, I feel like with more media in a Canistar filter I may be better off....... My only source of water is well water also. I have been looking at various filters online and the one I am leaning towards is the Fluval 406.

Am I accurate on going to a canister filter? Pros and Cons? My numbers seem to fluctuate on me, will a canister filter help stabilize my parameters? Is the Fluval 406 a good one to purchase? (Once I figure out exactly what I am doing with keep steady water quality I would like to upgrade to a 75G tank, would this filter work on that size tank also?)

I appreciate all of your help

 

[coralbandit]

Your tank had nitrates so the bio media in fiter is doing its job? More filtering will only possibly make more nitrate?
IMO your tank is fine although I prefer Aqua clear for HOB filters and use no canisters for convenience..You just need to keep up on weekly water changes to remove the nitrates ...
IMO the .25 ammonia is possibly from your source water? Does your source use chloramine? Either that or a 'false positive ' as clearly the filter is in force producing nitrates which means it can and will convert ammonia.
Chloramine is chlorine bonded to ammonia so often when conditioning water the ammonia will be detected..
A good conditioner like prime detoxifies ammonia for 2 days ,but it will still register on test .
If the ich treatment allows go 2 days without ater change and then test for ammonia..
Good luck.

 

[mbkemp]

I agree with bandit. I bought into the canister hype when I got started. Spent a bunch of money because it’s what I thought I was supposed to do. I am moving to hob’s and sponges. The only reasons I would use a canister now is they generally are quieter and you can drive a reactor for co2. You might be able to argue flow. My hmf filters have more flow than any canister I own

 

[TMaier]

I went from HOB to Canisters in May 2016 and would never go back to an HOB. Everyone I ever used would stop. I’d rinse it out and for a few days it would be fine. And then it would stop. I’d rinse it out and it would be fine.

Tired of constantly babysitting the thing.

I do make a point of maintenance on the canister monthly.

 

[BBradbury]

Hello Mike...

This hobby isn't about filter gizmos. They all do a very poor job of keeping the tank water clean. That's because none of them can remove the old toxic water and replace that with pure, treated tap water. Most of us keep basic tanks with basic fish from the local pet stores. If this is the kind of tank you have, you can easily run your 55 with a couple of dual sponge filters for a few dollars as long as you commit to an aggressive water change routine. This means removing and replacing most of the water every week. The water change will keep toxins out of the water and guarantee a steady water chemistry. This all the fish need to be healthy.

Save your money on filters that just take in toxic tank water and return the water a bit less toxic and just change out a lot of water and do it frequently. Then, you can spend the extra money on another large tank.

B

 

[Wy Renegade]

The biggest factor with canisters is frequency of cleaning. If you are not a frequent cleaner, do not go with canisters as they get absolutely disgusting if not maintained. If you are on top of a water changes and filter cleanings, you will have good luck with any type of filter as BBradbury said. Personally I've run UGF for well over 25 years without issue, and I've also had good luck in the past 7 or 8 years with HOB filters. Never good luck with big canisters personally, but I do run a couple on my shrimp tanks. If properly maintained they do well.

 

[Mebbid]

A HOB filter will do just as much good for the tank as a canister. Canisters tend to cost much more than equivalently sized HOBs.

A filters primary job is the conversion of ammonia to nitrates. Any filter from sponge, box, canister, under gravel, hob will do this job very effectively.

Canisters hold much more media than hob style filters, but biologically this is pointless. It only takes a small amount of biological media to filter a tank and anything beyond that is wasting time, space, and money.

The big benefit for canister filters is they have more room to customize filter media such as adding different forms of chemical filtration. However, certain hob filters have plenty of space for chemical filtration.

Imho, canisters are much more of a pain than hob style filters. They are more difficult to clean, messier, and more expensive. Go with a quality hob filter such as a fluval or aquaclear.

 

[mikeyost12]

Your tank had nitrates so the bio media in fiter is doing its job? More filtering will only possibly make more nitrate?
IMO your tank is fine although I prefer Aqua clear for HOB filters and use no canisters for convenience..You just need to keep up on weekly water changes to remove the nitrates ...
IMO the .25 ammonia is possibly from your source water? Does your source use chloramine? Either that or a 'false positive ' as clearly the filter is in force producing nitrates which means it can and will convert ammonia.
Chloramine is chlorine bonded to ammonia so often when conditioning water the ammonia will be detected..
A good conditioner like prime detoxifies ammonia for 2 days ,but it will still register on test .
If the ich treatment allows go 2 days without ater change and then test for ammonia..
Good luck.

I appreciate the feedback...... My routine right now is I do a weekly water change of about 20-30% vacuuming 1/3 of the gravel each time. Once a month, I take the decorations out of the water and scrub them off. Also once a month, I break down the HOB filter and clean the inside plastic parts and propeller. I did do a Nitrate test on my source water and it came back between 10-20. With us having well water, it does come back pretty hard. Also forgot to mention, I do add Prime everytime I do a partial water change, adding a cap full to treat the entire tank.
Am I doing everything the right way?

 

[coralbandit]

You seem to be doing fine.Rinse the filter media with tank water in a bucket when making water changes.
The % of water changed is the % the nutrient [nitrate ] will be reduced .
So if you have 40 and do a 25% change you end up with 30 assuming the source is zero...
I would step up to 50% at least 2 times a month and then the 25% in between.
I have many tanks and never test one..
If I think it is time by fish behavior or it is just my schedule I change 50% or more so I know I have reduced the nutrients at least 50%....
The ammonia is probably real and in the source [well water] so I would just make sure to use a conditioner that detoxifies ammonia like Prime .It converts ammonia to a more fish safe form for 2 days so hopefully the filter deals with it in that time .It is safe to repeat full tank dose every two days if needed.. While converted by the conditioner it will still register on test.

 

[meegosh]

I doubt your ammonia source is your well water, imo. Ammonia is rarely found in well water. The nitrates on the other hand is understandable. My municipal water has 10-20ppm nitrate so those levels are not extreme by any means. You're treating with prime so I wouldn't be too concerned about the low ammonia.

I saw you have a 55g but what are you stocked with? I have a Fluval 406 on my 75g and absolutely love it. I got it in the beginning of 2012 and just a few months back replaced the impeller cover and impeller (got the kit on amazon for like $25). Absolute workhorse and no leaks or issues. Restarts fine after power failures, which is fairly common for me, something I struggled with when I used AquaClear HOB filters. I personally love having an inline heater so less stuff in the tank. Much cleaner looking with only an intake and outflow in the tank.

Best of luck!

 

[mikeyost12]

I doubt your ammonia source is your well water, imo. Ammonia is rarely found in well water. The nitrates on the other hand is understandable. My municipal water has 10-20ppm nitrate so those levels are not extreme by any means. You're treating with prime so I wouldn't be too concerned about the low ammonia.

I saw you have a 55g but what are you stocked with? I have a Fluval 406 on my 75g and absolutely love it. I got it in the beginning of 2012 and just a few months back replaced the impeller cover and impeller (got the kit on amazon for like $25). Absolute workhorse and no leaks or issues. Restarts fine after power failures, which is fairly common for me, something I struggled with when I used AquaClear HOB filters. I personally love having an inline heater so less stuff in the tank. Much cleaner looking with only an intake and outflow in the tank.

Best of luck!

Thank you for the information. I do have the Fluval up and running in my tank now and so far I absolutely love it. I currently have 4 Giant Danios and 6 Albino Cats in the tank. I am taking the process extremely slow but I am working up to a total of 8 Giant Danios, 6 Albino Cats, and 3 Angel Fish