Aquaclear 110 vs Undersized Fluval Canister

[saradomin]

Currently, I have an Aquaclear 110 for my 90 gallon tank. Would something like a Fluval 206 be an adequate replacement? I heard the canisters are superior in filtration.

Can I get an undersized canister or do I have to get one that is rated for my tank?

 

[sinibotia]

Typically I would go by gallons per hour. You want between 4 and 10 times the amount of the water in the tank going through the filter per hour. So at least 360 gph on the canister filter? Then go for it.

 

[saradomin]

Do I have to worry about the size limits on the box?

 

[sinibotia]

Nah, just go for at least 4x the tank size in gph. Higher never hurts though; my 20 gallon schistura tank has a filter with 330 gph! (of course, schistura love high current)

 

[eddyk]

No fish ever died because the water was too clean. I wouldn't recommend using anything undersized. If budget is a concern, Sunsun makes a great filter for $85.00 or so on ebay. I have one it works well.

I also have 2 eheim 2217's on the same tank. The Sunsun is a good filters, the eheim's are great.

 

[dalto]

Keep in mind that cansisters are rated based on the GPH of the pump, not the GPH of the filter. Typically the filter + media reduces GPH by 50% so consider that.

Back to the original question, a Fluval 206 would be woefully inadequate for a 90g tank and significantly less filtration than an AC110.