Okay, here's the thing:

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Me Jane

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Feb 14, 2011
Messages
11
Location
On a ranch in Alberta, Canada
I am about to set up an aquarium, and I don't know what type of filter to get. My biggest fear? A malfunction that puts 50 or 60 gallons of water on my floor!

So ... the question is: HOB or canister? I'm looking to do a 50-70 gallon tank. I've been reading fish forums, and I've seen comments by folks who've had their canisters leak all over the place. I JUST had new laminate put down! And then I read about someone's HOB cracking and pumping half a tank onto the floor.

What's a girl to do?
 
saltwater or FW? saltwater i would suggest a sump. if done properly there are built i safety features to prevent water from the sump overflowing the tank and vice versa.
 
Well, you want to get a filter rated for about double the actual size of your tank. At 50-70 gallons it's worth considering a canister. If you're worried about it leaking, maybe stick it in a plastic bin under the stand or something.
 
I prefer canisters. I've had great success with them in the past, and hopefully will in the future. I've never actually had either HOB or canister fail on me in such a way that put water on the floor, though I know it can happen.

Last I saw you could get a Fluval 405 (rated for 100g) for ~$140 here and there on the internet.
 
Canisters are more prone to leaking simply because they have more connections and O-rings. If you buy good equipment and don't abuse it, neither type of filter should leak.

If you go the HOB route, the AC110 is a fantastic filter. I've got one on my 40B that's been set up for about six months. I've clean it once and I didn't even need to do that. The amount of media in that filter is ridiculous.
 
That is my first thought, trackfast. If I don't whack the thing or drop it, how can it leak? This Aquaclear 110 ... it's big enough for a 50-70 gallon tank?

I'm looking at buying used. Hopefully with at least a couple of fish so that I don't have to go through that whole "cycling" thing. (How come we never did that when I was a kid?) Most that I've looked at include a Fluval 404. One had an Aqueous (?) HOB.

If I go with a tank that has a Fluval 404, one assumes the first thing to do is get new o-rings all around? Anything else a girl ought to replace before starting?

And were you me, would you go with a used Fluval?
 
The AC 110 would be big enough to handle a 50-70G tank. Are you looking for a use total set-up? Just with the move, you'll probable experience a little cycling. I think it's best to do a fishless cycle and then add livestock when your levels are good. Fluval have a good reputation and a lot of hobbyists go with them. Replacing O rings would be a good precaution. If you wanted to go with two HOBs that would work too. If I were doing a tank like yours I might go with one of each.
 
As with most anything - you're taking more chance with a used Canister than a new one, especially since the #04 series is not longer the current series of Fluval Canisters. The #05's (205,305,405) are the current generation of Fluval Canisters and in fact the biggest reason that they went from #04 to #05 was to fix design flaws that caused leaking.

The most common point of failure on a Fluval canister is the giant O-ring that seals the lid / motor onto the body of the canister. If you don't apply vaseline or some form of aqua-safe lubricant to it every time you service the canister, it can dry out and start a slow leak.

I used a HOB before my Fluval 205 on my 26gal, and the biggest issues I have with HOBs are:

1. You need space behind the tank to support the HOB reservoir, and my tank is close enough to the wall to just squeeze the hoses up.

2. HOBs that use Media Bags and / or Bio-wheels are generally better than the ones that use "all-in-one packets", but you need a bigger reservoir to support that media.

3. For some reason, my HOB would get air caught under the outflow, and it would cause these "micro-bubbles" to get shot throughout the tank - basically made my tank look like it had dust floating around in it, but they were bubbles.


On a side note - if you do decide to get a canister and set it inside a bucket - you can invest in a "moisture alarm". These are battery powered and similar to smoke detectors but you set them down near anything that might leak water (washing machine, dishwasher, etc) and as soon as they detect an excessive amount of moisture, they'll go off.
 
Yowsa, Vircomore! A "moisture alarm"? That is the ticket! No, wait a minute. What if you're not home to hear it?

Somebody on one of the other fishy boards (where I am not a member) mentioned some kind of float thing that would literally turn the power off if the pail started to fill with water. My question to that is: when there's no power to a canister, won't it still leak simply because it is BELOW the level of the aquarium? Last time I checked, the law of gravity was still in effect.

Tractfast ... one of each? Isn't that just going to make me worry twice as much? *grin*
 
You are correct. If a canister filter fails at any point pre-motor (which is basically everywhere except the hose that takes water back up to the tank) - then the siphon effect will continue to empty the tank even without power.

There's only one sure-fire way to "mitigate" the amount of water that could potentially be lost: alter the filter intake tube with a "siphon-break" close to the water's surface. This can be as simple as drilling a hole in the hosing near where the water level is in your tank - so that if the filter starts spilling water for any reason - the amount of water on the floor will only be until the tank drains down to that hole - then the hole sucks in air and breaks the siphon.

The downside to this method is that you have to be aware of the hole when you're doing water changes - because if you drain your tank down and forget to turn off the filter - it will suck in air and could damage it.
 
Yeah ... I think I'm leaning toward 2 HOB's. The idea of ANY amount of water on my brand spankin' new laminate floor creeps me right out. Laminate is lovely, unless it gets soaked. Then it's ruined.

When I was younger and had an aquarium, I always had HOB's. Never had a problem with water on the floor.

Yup. I think that's the way to go. The idea of the hole in the pipe is neat ... but you still have SOME water on the floor. No, wait. You wouldn't if you put the canister in a bucket ...

*sigh* Shoulda gone with lino! *grin*
 
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