Canister filter vs hob filter

[PoppaRyno]

No problem. My reason for posting what I did and quoting Mebbid is that so many people expect the filter to make it so they can do less work or even to replace water changes. I run 2 ac50's and an ac30 on a 55 with a 10" messy central American hybrid and my water is crystal clear. Nitrates stay under 20.
It has nothing to do with the filters, its the 70 to 80% water changes that get done every 5 days with the vacuuming and glass scrubbing. Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with over kill and huge dollar items but they are not necessary.

Understood, but I'm not new to this. I do 10% WC everyday on all my many tanks. 50% on Sundays. Like I said out of dozens of tanks, I have 1 canister. Well 2 now, I got one with a tank I purchased last night. Lol. It came with it so don't chastise me please. Haha. I use sponges and AC hob's on everything else. But I can save money plugging in only one filter per tank on my tanks that are 120 and bigger. Instead of 2-3 hob's plugged in. I'm just starting to move to the fx6 on those for those reasons. Sponges will always love song filters. You guys rock and happy tanking.

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[Canadiver]

You guys know what... you're absolutely correct. You cant possibly have a happy, healthy, successful tank with clear water without spending $400 on a filter. Theres just no other way to do it.


So with that being said, im going to take my cheapo $40 filters on tanks full of fish that ive had for years and sulk because im obviously doing it wrong.

The mindset that you 2 have is a prevading thing in the salt water side of aquaria, not nearly as common on the freshwater side of things thankfully. The idea that you cant have a good tank without dropping thousands on it keeps far too many people from entering this hobby.

Sorry! If I have offended you or Mike or anyone else.

LOL! Wrong there are literally 100 s of ways to keep your tank running with crystal clear water. Some methods take more time and effort then others. Some cost more some cost less. We are not saying your method is wrong to each his/her own. This is a forum to share experience and maybe help one another with issues. I know I have learned a massive amount from being a member here. So you must understand this is about opinions and experiences.

I will be the first to say I am not an expert, and really couldn't tell you who is. Have been keeping fish and plants longer then I can remember and have used many, many different kinds of filtration. I understand $ can be a real factor in what methods people use. God knows I have spend my share, I am not rich by any means. I was just looking for the better filter then what I had been using.

There are countless reasons I like canister over HOB and so that is what I use and would recommend to friends. But all canisters are not equal, most have priming and leakage problems and are somewhat pricey. I did a few days of research when looking for a replacement for my 80g and quite simply the best I found was the FX 6. Yes over $300 no not the only filter you can use to achieve the results I was looking for. But after playing with the pros and cons I decided to try it. I like others am very happy I did.

I will not go through all the pros and cons for me like I said to each their own. But for me I will stick to the FX 6 and you couldn't find anything out there I would trade it for. As it has made the filtration part of my task way to easy and that's what I like.

Thank you to all who post on these forums and may your tanks always be full ???

 

[PNWaquarist]

Sometimes an HOB isn't even needed. I just bought a $20 ATI Hydro-Sponge III filter and a $10 Fusion air pump for my new 20 gallon.

 

[PassengerTN]

Sometimes an HOB isn't even needed. I just bought a $20 ATI Hydro-Sponge III filter and a $10 Fusion air pump for my new 20 gallon.

This is true too. Sponge filters are a GREAT thing to keep. I actually gave one of mine to a friend starting up a new tank today.