Wet dry vs. canister

I just got a 240g and it came with a wet/dry. I bought a bunch of random stuff from the media thread on here (pot scrubbers, scotch brite pads, matrix) and some sponges and the tank looks great. It didn't cost much at all. Look at making your own wet/dry or a sump. I was going to get the FX5 because I am not much of a DIY but the wet/dry really isnt that big of a project and its a LOT cheaper.

I love a sump for maintenance convenience. For freshwater, a canister is a good backup filter.

Wetdry all day, as long as you can manage to mechanically prefilter the water before it hits the bio media.

It's my understanding that you get a more diverse and robust bacterial colony in the oxygen rich wetdry filtration.

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mudbuttjones said:

Wetdry all day, as long as you can manage to mechanically prefilter the water before it hits the bio media.

It's my understanding that you get a more diverse and robust bacterial colony in the oxygen rich wetdry filtration.

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+1, wet dry is way better than a canister in theory. As long as its designed right, the beneficial bacteria in the oxygen rich environment will do a much better job than the submerged bacteria in the canister.

Would a wet dry provide adequate mech filtration ?

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As I see it, the advantages of a sump are:
1. easier to maintain/clean than canister
2. heaters, return lines, thermometer, are no longer in the tank with the fish.
3. lower cost.
4. more permanent/reliable plumbing of drain and return lines.
5. versatility--easier to add more pump capacity to a sump than a canister.

If you agree with those 5 advantages of a sump over a canister, then you need a sump. If you disagree with those, or you can come up with some advantages of a canister, then go with canisters.

As for a wet/dry, that means what--water flows over a plate with holes and falls through a bunch of bio balls or a flows through a foam filter? I've never had one, but it seems to me like it'd not be easier to clean than a canister. As for better bacterial filtration with a wet/dry.........I don't know about that, so I didn't put it in my list of advantages for a sump. But, with a wet/dry, I still see 4 more clear advantages of a sump over a canister.

I will say this, though. I think that a sump is a better fit for a large tank for two reasons. Getting equipment out of a tank is very important in a large tank because, presumably, it will house 12-14 inch fish that can and do break thermometers, pull on hoses, etc. And the cost of a sump is not much less than the cost of a canister on smaller tanks. Enough canister filtration for a 300-500 gallon tank is what--$500 or $1000? I think you could build a sump and plumb it for $500 or $600. But what's the cost of canister filtration on a 140 Gallon--$200? I don't know if I could do a sump for $200. It just seems like sumps are only cheaper as the tank size gets big. Cost is probably a wash for a 140 Gallon.

Lol anybody notice this thread is two years old?

Nope.