Canister filters

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degbowl

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Nov 22, 2003
Messages
352
Location
Long Island NY
I'm thinking of setting up a new tank and I want to go with a canister filter. I use aquaclear filters on all my other tanks. My concern with a canister filter is maintenance. I am thinking of either a fluval or a Filstar. I live in a second floor apt and don't want any water accidents. I want to be able to disconnect the hoses from the filter and remove filter to clean filter. I want to have the hoses stay in the tank and not drain tank or lose it's siphon. I think the fluval has that feature. I would be open to any suggestions for a canister filter. Thanks for reading my long question!
 
The renas the xp series are a good choice. The hoses detach easily without losing siphon and you can take the filter to the sink for cleaning. I love mine. Also has a lot of room for media.
 
I second the rena's. Very good filters, and do exactly what you need. THey have a quick disconnect feature that works very well.
 
I agree, I love my Rena (and my Fluval, and my Cascade 1000 canisters) but I don't want to lead you into thinking that a canister filter equals less maintenance. It doesn't.:) But, with the Fluval, the Rena, or the Cascade (or an Eheim, if you can afford it!) the filtration is nearly silent, and the maintenance is easy. My Fluval, Rena, and Cascade weren't exactly a breeze as far as initial setup, but once you set these filters up and you understand how they work (and I am NOT mechanically inclined!) you will love any of them. :) Any of these choices allow you to easily disconnect the hoses and clean the filter in the sink (please clean the media in a bucket of tank water, to preserve your bacteria population) with little effort. The choice is yours- you'll surely be satisfied, whatever you choose.
 
XP's all the way. I really like my XP2 and 2 XP3's. Will soon be getting the XP4 for my 75G. Maintenance is easy, I have not had any problems with leaks during maintenance, and the priming is very simple. I have it down to under 5 minutes to do full maintenance on my XP3's.
 
severum mama said:
I agree, I love my Rena (and my Fluval, and my Cascade 1000 canisters) but I don't want to lead you into thinking that a canister filter equals less maintenance. It doesn't.:) But, with the Fluval, the Rena, or the Cascade (or an Eheim, if you can afford it!) the filtration is nearly silent, and the maintenance is easy. My Fluval, Rena, and Cascade weren't exactly a breeze as far as initial setup, but once you set these filters up and you understand how they work (and I am NOT mechanically inclined!) you will love any of them. :) Any of these choices allow you to easily disconnect the hoses and clean the filter in the sink (please clean the media in a bucket of tank water, to preserve your bacteria population) with little effort. The choice is yours- you'll surely be satisfied, whatever you choose.

Out of those three, which one do you like the best? Which one is easier as far as maintenance goes? :mrgreen:
 
I like the Renas. They're simple. You unplug the filter, take it to a sink area, pop the top off, and pull out media baskets if necessary. No screwing necessary. It's clamp based.
 
I have 4 Cascade Canisters and honestly, they are simple to maintain. I did filter maintance on my 55 gal last night in about 15 minute and that inclues disconnect/connect time. Once you get used to your filter it goes faster.
 
you've mentioned the most popular in your post and the rest have shown as well. Pretty much any canister worth its salt will have the quick disconnect, my fluval 204 has it and at worse you'll get a few drips and unless you tip the canister when cleaning thats it
 
I have a Fluval 403 thats about 18 years old and a second thats 10. In that time I have replaced the quick disconnects and the impeller on the older. As the hoses are hard and some times leak a little after cleaning, I keep them in 5 GAL buckets and check for leaks for a few days after cleaning or moving. The buckets also catch the few drips that come from disconnecting the hoses. Also once in a while if the O ring is not seated properly the 403 will leak, I hope the newer units are better.

Being from the old school when I setup the tank I made a under gravel filter and used the filter to pull water from the UGF. I later added a second Fluval 403 and a manifold that allows me to back flush the UGF. Also it helps to restart the siphon should I lose it.

Two years ago I pulled them for a wet/dry, after one year the canisters are back in place.

I know that Fluval uses a metric hose (a little harder to find) and their valves tend to leak after several years, they are quiet and have a long life.
 
Whichever one you choose, in regard to not wanting to flood the downstairs neighbor....

Clean it when you'll be home for a while afterwards (Saturday AM for me). I did have my XP3 pump water out of the tank after cleaning; just once, and I think I was careless when putting it back together after the clean.

I feel better if I am there after I play with anything that might cause a flood. :)
 
Flooding is my main concern. I don't have a problem putting the time in maintaining my tanks. I had an xp1 years ago that I bought used off ebay. I had a problem with it leaking alot of water after cleaning it. But to be fair it was used and not in great condition. Everything I buy now is new. I can't go cheap when I have other people to worry about. Just from looking through magazines I like the XP or the Fluval. Thanks for all the replies.

Jim
 
You're going to get a lot of responses on the XP's; bought at Petcetera, making them give you their online price (bring a printout of their online ad), they can be very cheap.

I personally own a XP3 and an Eheim (don't remember the model off hand, haven't been home for a month), and while I don't have any problems with either, I prefer the Eheim. It runs quieter, and I find it a little bit easier to strip and clean.
 
There's pretty much no difference in the maintenance between the XP, Fluval, or Cascade canisters. It's all really easy once you do it a couple of times.:)
 
Flooding is my main concern. I don't have a problem putting the time in maintaining my tanks. I had an xp1 years ago that I bought used off ebay. I had a problem with it leaking alot of water after cleaning it. But to be fair it was used and not in great condition. Everything I buy now is new. I can't go cheap when I have other people to worry about. Just from looking through magazines I like the XP or the Fluval. Thanks for all the replies.

If you were really concerned, and I would say this is well into the paranoia range, you could set the filter up in a rubbermaid container or bucket with a pump and a float switch. If the water level rises in the container the switch activates and turns on the pump to return water back to the tank.

It would require some basic wiring, and the cost of a decent pump (it could be a cheap submersible model as long as the float switch is set at a higher level than the pump itself). You'd be giving up a bunch of room under your stand, but that should be nearly foolproof. The only way it could fail is if you had a large enough leak to overwhelm the pump, and that would probably take a massive hole in the pump itself and the intake being set very low in the tank.

Edit: I take back the wiring part. You could pick up a bilge/sump pump with a built in switch for not too much more than a pump itself.
 
I have an Eheim Ecco. Great filter (though I have not tried other canister filters) that is easy to maintain and very quiet.

The hoses disconnect quite easily and have individual shut off valves. Opening the filter for maintenance involves pushing in the red button and swinging the big handle downwards which causes the whole lid to pop up.

I have been using it for just under 3 years.
 
Just to give you an update. I bought a couple of XP1's for $59 each from big als. They were very easy to set up. I will let you know when it is time for maintenance.
 
degbowl said:
Just to give you an update. I bought a couple of XP1's for $59 each from big als. They were very easy to set up. I will let you know when it is time for maintenance.

Aren't they great? hehe...
Just so you know, maintenance is a breeze. ;)
I have an XP2 and 2 XP3's. Love the XP's. Glad my neighbor is changing from Eheim to XP, lol. They aren't as great as some say, he loves changing out my XP's with me, lol. Says it's a breeze compared to his Eheim, lol. XP's do just as good in my opinion, but maintenance is a tad easier. Just remember, it's not the canister (XP or Eheim) that does the job. It's what you put in it.
 
I happen to have an XP3 as well. I do find the maintenance a bit easier than the Fluval I had previously. Priming is simple (as you have already discovered no doubt). It's pretty much a snap to maintain. I would suggest putting a lot of filter floss (the white ones) over the black sponges. It will help trap more gunk. If you haven't already done so, get the micro pads, they are worth it.
 
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