Canister filters - what’s your experience?

[blaxsun]

Hogwash!!

When I had my 55g running, I had a canister on it. I have to say that that tank looked better than my 135 ever has. Never had issues with parameter swings or Nitrate buildup.

Canisters need to be cleaned more often than a sump, yes. You pull the canister offline, take the whole shebang to the sink and get to washing.. done and done.

Most sumps are at or near ground level (under the tank in the stand) Try to siphon THAT mess!!! Cleaning a sump is a serious labor in my experience... Yes they are sleeker, give more options for expansion, but in the end, what matters is does the job get done!!

Hey, if you live for creating more work - knock yourself out! I can do a quick syphon of my sump in about 10-15min, which really isn't that labor intensive. A lot less time than cleaning a canister filter.

Just because you can do something doesn't mean it's a good idea. Canister filtration is a throwback to the 70's and 80's and the technology has been surpassed.

 

[Sleeping Giant]

Hey, if you live for creating more work - knock yourself out! I can do a quick syphon of my sump in about 10-15min, which really isn't that labor intensive. A lot less time than cleaning a canister filter.

Just because you can do something doesn't mean it's a good idea. Canister filtration is a throwback to the 70's and 80's and the technology has been surpassed.

actually I can drain my canister in about 3 minutes, completely disconnect it from my display, clean it out , full it back up and hooked up to my DT within half an hour. soooooo if ya don't know, ya don't know.
I love my fluval Fx4 and I love that when I'm away for whatever reason I don't have to worry about a sump issue on-top of anything that could go wrong in the DT.
It comes down to way less stress for me, which in the long run is more relaxing for me when I'm fish watching.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

If I had a canister filter, maybe I might be tempted to use it. But no way in the world I would go out and buy one. Especially when the choice a between purchasing a skimmer or a canister filter, the skimmer should win every time.

But honestly, for a 25 gallon, I would skip both the canister and skimmer and save my $200. Powerheads and weekly water changes would be sufficient. Maybe a cheap hob filter for mechanical and carbon if you want, but absolutely not a canister.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

All the folks in this thread that mention they use canisters, are all on 55 gallons or larger.

We are talking about a 25 gallon here, would you really recommend someone go out and buy a new canister filter for a 25 gallon?

 

[Sleeping Giant]

All the folks in this thread that mention they use canisters, are all on 55 gallons or larger.

We are talking about a 25 gallon here, would you really recommend someone go out and buy a new canister filter for a 25 gallon?

I have one on my 20 gallon observation tank fluval 307

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Totally incorrect....I probably clean my Cannister and renew filtration about once every 3 months, and even then, I'm amazed at how not super dirty it is. I run massive Cannister Filters on my 125 fresh, and even when lazy, let it go for 5 months, and tank still looks great. I'm certain some of you'll have had bad experiences or are just plain dumb....you'll always come out to hate on Cannister Filters within 1 poRst....get a grip folks

Totally incorrect....I probably clean my Cannister and renew filtration about once every 3 months, and even then, I'm amazed at how not super dirty it is. I run massive Cannister Filters on my 125 fresh, and even when lazy, let it go for 5 months, and tank still looks great. I'm certain some of you'll have had bad experiences or are just plain dumb....you'll always come out to hate on Cannister Filters within 1 poRst....get a grip folks

There are different opinions, to say I'm incorrect is the wrong statement, saying In my opinion would be more correct. Imo you have to clean filter socks and canister filter more often is due to organic material in the foam and filter socks breaking down and adding high level of nutrients to the system causing algae and other issues. Not because it gets dirtier than a fresh water system.

 

[LPS Bum]

I’ve run my 240 gal FOWLR for more than 15 years off a canister filter and a HOB skimmer. I clean the canister once a month during water changes. Never had any issues with it.

 

[doubleshot00]

Mine worked great for about 6 months then i started having small issues. Every hour or so it would push out micro bubbles. Then my surface started getting a film on it and my ATO wouldn't work correctly. I had a tunze intank skimmer to.

IMO in a small tank i dont see an issue but larger its a pain.

I upgraded to a sump and its the best decision i have made in this hobby.

 

[Reef Wizard]

In my experience of canisters it depends on bioload as well. I had 45 gallon cichlid tank. Dwarf mbuna. Cichlids produce a lot of waste and I had to clean that canister regularly and clean out the mechanical filtration. With weekly 20% water changes. For a small tank and small bioload I don't think a canister will hurt all three HOB sump and canister have downsides as well as upsides pick your poison. My cichlid tank for anyone curious

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Totally incorrect....I probably clean my Cannister and renew filtration about once every 3 months, and even then, I'm amazed at how not super dirty it is. I run massive Cannister Filters on my 125 fresh, and even when lazy, let it go for 5 months, and tank still looks great. I'm certain some of you'll have had bad experiences or are just plain dumb....you'll always come out to hate on Cannister Filters within 1 poRst....get a grip folks

Wow, I didn't even finish reading your post until now, calling someone dumb is a bold statement. Read my original post. I stated a canister filter is fine. I ran one for a long time myself. I would take a step back and rethink how you come across in your postings . These are discussions, there's more than one way to skin a cat. I would stop taking things as a personal attack on you and just state your opinion. It will serve you in life much better.

 

[Reef Wizard]

Doing a new 25g lagoon build. I’ve been thinking about skipping a skimmer and going with a fluval canister filter as my main mechanical and biological filtration method. Any tips? Thanks!

Back to the issue at hand. I think you should go with what you can afford what YOU want to do. And of course the time you have to spend all three Main filtration types will require maintenance. If money is an issue and space HOB. If you want to get a canister go for it. If you like the tinker and have space a sump will certainly help with a smaller tank. I see no problem with a canister as long as you have fun this is a hobby after all. Do your diligence and research every aspect and take your time you will be just fine.

 

[Nano_Man]

In the 90s all used was eheim filters never let me down. You pay for what you get . People say they are a nitrate producer but if you have a good routine for cleaning not bad . Any thing you don’t clean regular turns into a nitrate producer. I carnt rate theses eheim canisters they were first class

 

[blaxsun]

actually I can drain my canister in about 3 minutes, completely disconnect it from my display, clean it out , full it back up and hooked up to my DT within half an hour. soooooo if ya don't know, ya don't know.
I love my fluval Fx4 and I love that when I'm away for whatever reason I don't have to worry about a sump issue on-top of anything that could go wrong in the DT.
It comes down to way less stress for me, which in the long run is more relaxing for me when I'm fish watching.

I think I'd be more concerned about a potential leak from a canister vs. an external sump.

 

[Sleeping Giant]

I think I'd be more concerned about a potential leak from a canister vs. an external sump.

ummmmm nope

 

[Sleeping Giant]

I've had a sump overflow, never had a canister ever explode

 

[blaxsun]

I've had a sump overflow, never had a canister ever explode

I did say leak (not explosion).

 

[Sleeping Giant]

I did say leak (not explosion).

never had one leak yet, it's only been about 6 yrs since I have been using them though

 

[blaxsun]

never had one leak yet, it's only been about 6 yrs since I have been using them though

Never had a sump leak. Guess there's a first for everything...

 

[Sleeping Giant]

Never had a sump leak. Guess there's a first for everything...

well I've had a sump overflow while I wasn't home, so there's that. do what you want and I'll do what I like.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

ummmmm nope

Iv had my sump almost over flow in a power outage, never had a leak from a canister filter. I am currently running fluvial fx4 2 fluval 201, 1500 cascade on my fresh water tanks. Been running canister filters since the earlier 90's