Canister Filters vs HOB on the topic of nitrates

[NJGourami]

Take this opportunity to sounds off on which of these filters is more effective at minimizing nitrates and at the same time is there any significant difference.

 

[rich311k]

I do not think it would matter. The amount of niotrate comes from the amount of waste produced by the fish. Neither filter type holds the type of bacteria that will feed on nitrates so it would not matter.

 

[theotheragentm]

Yup. It goes something like this.

Ammonia -> Nitrites -> Nitrates

At each arrow, you have bacteria consuming what's on the left and creating what's on the right. As long as you have enough bacteria culture and you're circulating water, it doesn't matter what kind of filter you have really.

 

[JeffreyL]

NJGourami, I am not sure I understand your post. Did you mean which type of filter is better at reducing fish waste into nitrates?

 

[gheitman]

I don't think that either filter is going to do better than the other at minimizing nitrates because that is the end product of the nitrogen cycle and goes into the water column. On the other hand, I would think that the canister filter would do a better job of converting ammonia to nitrites and then to nitrates because it has a larger volume to hold the bacteria that do the conversion.

 

[NJGourami]

i was just trying to get at which filter filters better

 

[theotheragentm]

Hang on back filters are simple. When you get into larger tanks, above 40 gallons, I would say cannisters are nicer to deal with then as they are larger and hold more bacteria. Planted tanks typically use cannisters when they inject CO2. HOB filters would disrupt the surface of the water taking the dissolved CO2 out of the water. Maybe if you told us what tank you are looking to filter, we can put out some recommendations.

 

[NJGourami]

a 75 gallon semi agressive community tank

 

[theotheragentm]

I'd go with two filters on a large tank. A pair of Rena XP2's or whatever equivalent cannister filter in another brand would work well. You can alternate cleaning them so you don't end up with bioload spikes.

 

[BrianNY]

The simple answer is neither filter will remove nitrates. Nitrates are what is left in the water column as a result of filtration. Even with the best biological filtration, the larger the bioload, the greater the nitrate accumulation.

The only way to keep nitrates in check is with partial water changes.

 

[Atl300zx]

The only way to keep nitrates in check is with partial water changes.

Or add plants that suck up nitrogen fast. Hornwort & Wisteria come to mind.

 

[gheitman]

I would suggest two filters for a 75 gallon tank to give you some redundancy in case one fails. A Filstar xP2 canister filter combined with an AquaClear 70 HOB filter should do the job even if you overstock somewhat.