Who's using canister filters?

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fishybuisness

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Dec 23, 2013
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Location
Florida
Who's out there using canister filters?? im comptenplating taking my 60 gallon freshwater and converting it to saltwater. I'm still deciding wether to sell my tank and get a drilled or set up my current with a canister..let me know what you guys go through cleaning it..how much do you change the filters? how expensive is it to maintain? How are your nitrates? I'm not sure i want to add coral to this tank so nitrates are ok..will i regret not getting a drilled if i want to add coral later? ( i currently have a 30g reef tank). thanks guys
 
Could i use a wet/dry filter on the side the tank? also could i make a sump without it being drilled using pumps?
 
I wouldn't recommend getting a wet/dry for salt.

I'd get it drilled. Sumps are a great filter. You can use a HOB overflow to get the water down, as for up, a pump is required. A lot of people have problems with hob overdoes making floods during power outages.
 
I use a canister and a wet/dry!

Never had a single problem for just a FOWLR tank.


The thing is you just needs to wash the canister once a month. I take the whole canister apart and put the sponges in old tank water and the bio-rings. I clean the all the plastic parts with freshwater, and I clean the bio-rings and sponges in the tank water I take out. That way I get all the big stuff out if my canister that could cause a nitrate build up.

As with the bio-balls, I clean half of them once a month in tank water and the other half the next month. That way you knock all the big stuff off that would cause issues.

Besides the cleaning they have kept my water crystal clear and clean! No issues.
 
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If you are doing a reef I wouldn't recommend them as well.
 
I'd also suggest drilling the tank, thats the best way to go. BUT if you cant or dont want to then you are left with deiciding if you want a sump or not. If you do, then you will need a hang on overflow. I used the cpr one as it uses a small air pump to keep the siphon going thereby mostly eliminating the potential of a flood. I ran that setup for several years and never had a flood, even though I have power outages all the time. Bout $20 bucks extra and maybe $15 a year on those aqualifter air pumps, they dont last very long but they work very well.

You can also bypass the sump idea and go with either a very large hang on filter, like an aquaclear 110. Plenty big enough and you can customize what you want to run as far as chemical media as it will fit fine inside. Easy to clean pretty much too.

Then theres the canister filter. I ran a fluval 305 on my 29g and then on my 55g for about a year and had zero nitrates and no issues what soever. BUT BUT BUT you must keep it clean! Nitrates will build up inside and no matter how many water changes you do it will never go down. So maintenance on a canister can be a pain, but it can and does work fine, even on a reef tank. :)
 
Ok so I think I'll defiantly go with a sump, I'll probably just sell my whole tank setup and start from scratch with it. I defiantly need something that is least likely to flood since I rent my house lol. And maintaining the canister seems like a pain in the butt!
 
Canister is not that hard to clean. Takes me 15 to 20 mins to clean.
 
Yeah I know anyone can have nitrates but I have the means to get a different tank that's drilled so Might as well do it right
 
I actually used a HOB power filter for a year when I first got into saltwater years ago.. Worked fine.. I'd say go with whatever fits your budget.. That's why I used a HOB power filter for so long, because I was in high school and didn't have a lot of money.. The key really is water changes and having an excellent skimmer.. Good luck
 
I have a 220 gallon SW I'm running 2 aquatop cf500 canister filters and a ehiem mini surface skimmer and it's doing great
 
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