HOB vs Canister vs W/D with Refuge

[Joey2619]

Hiya guys, I have a couple questions.

What is the best type of filtration? And what are the pros and cons of each? I know its a pretty general question, but I'm trying to figure out the best ways to filter and add versatility to different sized tanks.

[Sidi]

HOB: Cheap, easy, works. May have a little noise, especially the cheaper ones. They may or may not have problems priming after you lose power.

Canister: You can set up a water flow from one side of the tank to the other, easier to set up a more complex filtration system. Usually quieter, and better than HOB. But they're quite a bit more expensive, and if a seal blows...not good.

Wet/Dry (sump): You can use it to maintain a constant water level in the tank, you can put the heater there and not have it making the tank ugly. Absolutely the best for a saltwater setup, especially if you have something that eats copapods/amphibods. Also you can set it up to grow a ton of algae there, rather than mucking up your tank.

For a small tank the wet/dry is impractical. For a very large tank the HOB becomes impractical (you could run multiple ones, but you'd be better off with one good canister, or a sump). On my 55g fw I run a HOB Aquaclear, but before I was scared out of saltwater I did a 20 gallon sump.

EDIT: Oh, and I'd like to move to a canister system on the 55, since I've gone planted. The HOB is ok now, and is wonderful with just a fish setup, but I'd prefer a steady movement across the substrate.

[tropicfishman]

well the best way to go about this is to set down and think about tank size it will be on, what kind of fish, how big of a bioload, wether or not ya care to see a HOB or ya want a sleek clean look behind the tank. I prefer canister filters, easy to setup and maintain, very versatile, quite, for what they do there not to expensive, upgradable, etc. I like HOB for smaller tanks such as 29 or 10 gallons, I have a canister filter ( cascade 700 I think, rated for 65 gallons ) on my 29 and it works aweosme, but on small tanks I like the HOB models since there alot cheaper to maintain, compared toa canister or wet dry which does cost about twice as much in media.

[Fishyfanatic]

I prefer Canisters. IME they are simple to setup, easy to maintain, and a better investment in the long run. It depends on the tank size, the fish that you want to ultimately house, the bioload, etc.

[Joey2619]

Alright I see where you guys are coming from.

On our 72g bow tank with goldies, we're using a Fluval canister filter. I find it to be a hassle to close the lines, wrap towels around the disconnection valves, pull them off, then when putting the filter back in, I find it hard to get the little plastic locks to sit into each other properly and all of this non-sense. Maybe it is different with other brand canisters.

I may be picking up a 75g soon for a future community tank, and I figure it would be best to use a W/D setup with a built in refuge where I can put fish that need to be seperated from the main group for awhile, or grow plants down there to help keep the water conditions under control.

W/D systems with drawers are easier to clean because you just pull the media filled drawer out while the whole system is still running, change the media, and pop it back in?

Do you ever have to empty the W/D refuge setup since its on the same system as the main tank?

And you also have a more efficient and overall better setup with the W/D because you can store more media, right?

Are there any other benefits to using W/D Refuge setups?

[Fishyfanatic]

I'd say it's different between canisters. For my cascade all I do is turn the valve to close the line and unscrew the hose.

[Idealconcepts]

Originally Posted by Joey2619

Are there any other benefits to using W/D Refuge setups?

Other benefits is w/d can more efficiently convert ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate because the media (bio-balls or other) is in contact with the air. The bacteria in the nitrogen process are very oxygen hungrey when they convert the Amon to Nitri and the Nitri to Nitra. So if you have a large bio-load the w/d will be able to adjust easily and quickly. You will still need to do water changes to remove the nitrate.

[Jdonner]

Strangely nobody talked about CO2.
The point is that HOB shouldn't be used for planted aquarium, you can, but it's just not wise, you would waste way too much CO2. A canister would a better choice.

[rkilling1]

Originally Posted by Jdonner

Strangely nobody talked about CO2.
The point is that HOB shouldn't be used for planted aquarium, you can, but it's just not wise, you would waste way too much CO2. A canister would a better choice.

That would only be a problem if you are injecting CO2 and have a lot of surface agitation from the HOB. Many planted tanks don't inject CO2, so it would be beneficial to have surface agitation to keep the CO2 at atmospheric levels.

There are many ways to keep a HOB from agitating the surface of the water too much while injecting CO2.

If you run a very high light tank, you need some agitation to remove O2 during the day or else you will limit the amount of CO2 that can dissolve.

The point is, just because it's a planted tank doesn't mean you shouldn't run a HOB.