luvincichlids515
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
I have had an xp2 on my 55 gallon for over a year and have had zero problems with it and the water is crystal clear. Works great!
I will second the Rena XP's in general and the XP3 specifically for a 55g. That's what I have on my planted 55 with pretty high bioload and it works great. I have an XP2 on my 36 corner and while it is a bit of overkill on that tank (mostly just because of the current speed in such an oddly shaped tank) the XP2 would not be enough on the 55.
My concern wasn't with breaking the baskets, it was that it was not a rigid material, it seemed to me that the rather large baskets would have more of a chance of letting water flow through at the sides where one basket locks into the next one. I'm looking at efficiency and the quality of construction IMO has something to do with that.If you are worried about the cascade trays being flimsy, don't be. I have yet to break one.
I can certainly appreciate the need to get the most effective canister for your tank, but shouldn't dollar(euro, pound, whatever) value play a role here as well? The Cascade may not beat the competitors, but it seems to hold it's own against them while keeping it's purchase price down by a considerable margin.
I'm in the market for my first canister as well (55 planted) and am having trouble finding any notable advantages to the Rena or Fluval that would justify the price difference.
BYW thank you so much for starting this thread and posting your research, its been helping me immensely!