Canister filters

[Jd0716]

Hi all I was wondering I have a 50 gallon bow front and I was thinking of changing the HOB filter with a fluval canister filter. Currently I have a breeding pair of convicts, 2 blood parrots, 2 oscars, 2 jewels, and a bichir which is about a foot long. Anybody have anything negative about the fluval canister or would you recommend anything else.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

[FishBoy185]

Are you gonna upgrade to a bigger tank anytime soon?

[FishBoy185]

Unless you are going to seperate those fish you need a wayy larger aquarium then what you have right now, the 2 oscars alone need 125 gallons and that may not even be enough. The breeding pair of convicts terrorize other fish in the tank when they pair up.
Sorry but its the truth

-Brian

[FishBoy185]

And for the canister id recommend Eheim, but thats just me.

[Jd0716]

All the fish are still pretty young. I will eventually get a larger tank. The convicts actually get along with the other fish in the tank unless there breeding which is generally once every couple of months. They do protect there fry but they generally eat them after a couple of weeks. I was going to start putting them into a another tank but I set that one up with Africans cichlids for my son. Thanks for the advice for the canister filter I having been doing some homework to find which would be the best bang for the buck.

[Brian_Nano12g]

Fishboy is 100% correct on the stocking of that tank. Stocking problems aside, Fluval 06 canisters (newest model) are great filters. I have two of them. Although Eheim are also great filters, especially for having less bypass, I'm not particularly fond of the classic cans. I don't like the lack of self priming, no modular compartments, and no flow control...all of which are features found on the Fluval. But to each their own, it boils down to preference.

[FishBoy185]

Yeah I would prefer eheim pro over eheim classic.

[CalebZachary]

Rena's are good too.

On a side note, even with the fish as juvies, you're still way overstocked. For that amount of fish, you need 200+ gallon tank to make it work. I'd rehome all those fish and do a new stock as it's not going to end pretty.

[FishBoy185]

Yes I agree with CalebZachary

[Coryluv]

I just got a Fluval 206 for my 29 gallon tank. What I like about it: media baskets with lots of flexibility. I love the aquastop valve so that you can easily detach the hoses for maintenance. It seems very sturdy. It primes easily (like it was a few pumps of the primer and it was good to go). I'm not enamored with the ribbed hoses though for sure they will never collapse. They are stiff and measuring, cutting and getting the hoses set up are the major time sink in the whole set up. But once it is set up you will only have to mess with the hoses when you want to tear the whole thing apart for major maintenance. Mine runs really quiet. I'm still running my AC 50 HOB until I build up the beneficial bacteria in the canister.

[bshenanagins]

Now that you know you need to alter the stock, here are my recommendations. Fluvals are great (04-06), I'd recommend a 404, 05, 06. If you happen to find one used for a good price, a great investment is the tuneup kit sold by Hagen. Mine is now completely silent after replacing the Impellar shaft and shield. Another great filter is the Rena XP series now owned by API. I'd recommend an XP3 (L) or XP4 (XL).