Need advice about switching to Canister filters

[u2_Crazy]

I currently have a 29Gal planted with a Penguin 200 filter with Bio-Wheel. I would like to switch to Canister. Can someone please describe what I will need to buy and what the maintenance is like on a canister? I would like to keep this as budget conscious as possible as I am more of a fan of the aquarium world than my wife is.

Thanks

[JDogg]

Originally Posted by u2_Crazy

I currently have a 29Gal planted with a Penguin 200 filter with Bio-Wheel. I would like to switch to Canister. Can someone please describe what I will need to buy and what the maintenance is like on a canister? I would like to keep this as budget conscious as possible as I am more of a fan of the aquarium world than my wife is.

Thanks

tell me a little more about your tank... how heavily populated is it?

do you have life plants?

are you looking for Mechanical filtration, biological filtration or some of both?

although i personally have never used them...many here have said good things about RENA Filstar line of canisters...

and XP1 should be enough for your tank... how ever i believe that the XP2 for an extra ~$20 will give you a little more bang for your buck...you can never have too much filtration IMO

as far as maintenance...again i can not speak from personal experience with RENA canisters...but my EHEIM on my 75 gal is fairly easy to maintain... i just disconnect the hoses and clean some of the big pieces of gunk and replace the filter floss about once every 1-2 months...

[JustOneMore20]

I have 2 Rena XP3s and will be getting an XP2 for Christmas. They are easy to maintain. I rinse my foam pads monthy or every 1.5 months in old tank water. Where the hoses go into the cannister (you can probably see from a picture), it disconnects and allows you to take the cannister part to the sink/tub easily. Its very easy to start up and very inexpensive for a cannister IMO. The directions to put everything together are very easy to follow.
I personally would go ahead and get the XP2 for your 29g. I hope to eventually get one for my 29g. The extra $20 or so gives you one more filter media basket, which is great IMO.

[u2_Crazy]

I currently have a lightly planted tank.

Occupants include 10 Black neon tetras, 5 Tiger Barbs, 2 Clown Plecos, 2 Yoyo Loaches, 1 Mystery Snail.

not sure which type of filtration I want (mech or bio) probably a good balance of both.

Can you tell me, is the Rena xp2 out of the box all that I need or do I have to buy filer media as well? Also, is there any maintenance costs involved?? do I have to buy new media every few weeks?
This is part of the reason I am changing as the ongoing cost of buying filters for my penguin 200 is about $20 every 2 - 3 months.

[JustOneMore20]

Can you tell me, is the Rena xp2 out of the box all that I need or do I have to buy filer media as well?

The only thing it doesn't include is biological filtration. But you can get some Bioballs for about $10 and that will give you more than enough (I used 1 gallon of them for 2 Xp3s). Ceramic rings would work too, if you could find them. Rena of course has their own brand of biological filtration, bio-chem stars and ceramic rings, but they you don't get as much for the price.

Also, is there any maintenance costs involved?? do I have to buy new media every few weeks?

IME, no cost involved in maintenance. I have never replaced my foam pads or bioballs. I just rinse out one of the foam pads in old tank water once a month or so and alternate them. I also use filter floss in mine (pillow stuffing), but you can get it at a craft store for probably cheaper. Thats just an example.

(And I even made the site switch to the Canadian site for ya )

[JDogg]

Originally Posted by JustOneMore20

(And I even made the site switch to the Canadian site for ya )

ooh good catch there..I did not even notice u2_Crazy was canadian

[JustOneMore20]

I was about to link to Drs Foster and Smith, but thought I'd check because I've linked to that before and the person was not in the US. Since he/she is Canadian, I thought I'd link to Big Al's instead.

[flushingfish]

I also would like to know what would the benfit be of switching to a canister from my HOB Penguin 150?
And how easy is it to run DIY CO2 in the tank? I am currently running my CO2 through my intake but I hear with canisters it could damage the impellor. My biload is in my signature and the tank is medium planted and looking to go more heavily on the plants.

[JDogg]

Originally Posted by flushingfish

I also would like to know what would the benfit be of switching to a canister from my HOB Penguin 150?
And how easy is it to run DIY CO2 in the tank? I am currently running my CO2 through my intake but I hear with canisters it could damage the impellor. My biload is in my signature and the tank is medium planted and looking to go more heavily on the plants.

i have great sucess running my DIY CO2 into the intake of a powerhead...for what it is worth... with a canister you get less surface movement then with a HOB so i would think you would have less out gassing of the CO2... there are also some good DIY inline Reactors you could look into as well.

[supermazz9]

Might I reccomend www.mops.ca for your purchase...I think that you'll find it a fair bit cheaper, and I'm personally sick of big al's brand stuff...