What are your favorite type of filters?

[Nova 8]

How often do folks who like canisters clean them? If it's less frequently than you clean your HOBs or siphon your gravel it's probably not often enough...

Matt

I use to have pretty bad habits with canisters (4-6 months) but all this year I've been doing it monthly and have set out to replace sponges every 6 months which I changed in January and just again today.

^ +1


All those filters have their place. I'd never try filter my 2000L tank with canisters, or a small display in my living room with a big ugly sponge filter, or a bank of a couple of dozen 10g tanks with a sump...

This is exactly it, use the correct filter for the correct aquarium/fish.

 

[duanes]

Agree with Matt, it's not about the type of filter, it's how often you get the gunk out.
The most important stuff to get rid is really not the stuff you see, but what you don't see.
And leaving a canister filled with metabolizing gunk for a few months is akin to not filtering at all, compared to a small HOB that is cleaned every other day.
I prefer sumps with filter socks that are rinsed daily, with lots of water from water changes, and planted refugiums.

 

[viejafish]

I will not trust placing a canister filters in my living area because it is an unsafe system for two reasons. First, if it leaks, it can drain the tank and flood the the floor. There are O rings and clamps in canisters vulnerable to failure by human mistake or wear and tear. Second, it is a closed system not open to the atmostphere. A dirty canister in a power outage can quickly turn aerobic and when the power returns, it can flush out toxic gases to wipe out the fish. Canisters are marketed for having large media volume. True, but not open to the atmosphere means that it subtracts from, rather than add oxygen to, the flow through. In contrast, Sponge filters, HOBs and sump systems are open systems you never have to worry about going anerobic.

Hobbyists tend to believe that the more sophisticated systerm they buy, the better for the fish. Not true. Sponge filters work perfectly fine and are the the most economical and commonly used system for multiple fish room tanks when appearance doesn't matter. HOBs, are simple and inexpensive systems that can be used for small to big tanks, but need frequent media change because of the small capacity. Sump systems should be reserved for the biggest tanks which offer high flow rate and the largest media volume, but it requires brain to set up the more complicated plumbing system.

 

[Armand]

^^^^I agree with Viejafish for the most part of it, only I rely on canister more than he does.


In my experience a leaking cannister most of times is due to user guilt, you can also minimize the impact your cannister turning into an anaerobic bomb after a long power outage just by not being lazy and cleaning it up every month, in other words if that happens, it might as well should be user's responsability.

 

[dogofwar]

People seem to be terrified of sumps. They're really not that hard, especially with a drilled tank.

Since none of my big tanks are drilled and I want the benefits of a sump, I have DIY "dump" filters on them. Basically, it's a sump on top of your tank...fed with the outflow of pump in the tank (or a canister)...and water returns to the tank via gravity. You can make a dump filter as attractive or ugly as you want based on the container that you house it in.

Matt

 

[viejafish]

Agree with Matt, it's not about the type of filter, it's how often you get the gunk out.
The most important stuff to get rid is really not the stuff you see, but what you don't see.
And leaving a canister filled with metabolizing gunk for a few months is akin to not filtering at all, compared to a small HOB that is cleaned every other day.
I prefer sumps with filter socks that are rinsed daily, with lots of water from water changes, and planted refugiums.

I couldn't agree with duanes any less. Buying a big canister thinking that there is no need to clean the filter every few months is turning it into a big nitrate factory. HOBs prevent you from being lazy and force you to change the media weekly.

^^^^I agree with Viejafish for the most part of it, only I rely on canister more than he does.


In my experience a leaking cannister most of times is due to user guilt, you can also minimize the impact your cannister turning into an anaerobic bomb after a long power outage just by not being lazy and cleaning it up every month, in other words if that happens, it might as well should be user's responsability.

User guilt and bad engineering design are correlated. There is no vulnerability for anaerobic conditions in HOBs and sump system because they were designed to be an open system. There is no vulnerablity of leaky O ring and clamps because they don't exist in HOBs and sump system. Every O ring and clamp will eventually fail with repeated usage, the more frequenlyt you clean a canister, the faster they will get worn out.

 

[Armand]

People seem to be terrified of sumps. They're really not that hard, especially with a drilled tank.

Since none of my big tanks are drilled and I want the benefits of a sump, I have DIY "dump" filters on them. Basically, it's a sump on top of your tank...fed with the outflow of pump in the tank (or a canister)...and water returns to the tank via gravity. You can make a dump filter as attractive or ugly as you want based on the container that you house it in.

Matt

My tank has a built in dump filter hidden in the lid, but I think it works out kind of a sort of a wet dry, I placed some bioballs on the tray and then covered them with a layer of thin sponges and over them a layer of floss, water gets the top of it impulsed by an 210 GPH pump that is inside of the tank and gets sprayed all over the floss pads that get the debrits and then passes throughout the bioballs and then it falls inside the tank, same principle of a wet dry only in the top of the tank.

Most people is "afraid " of the sumps -that includes me- only because it takes some extra effort to plan it and get installed, but I recently started studing the sumps sistem and it is in fact really simple and more efficient than any other sistem.

Having said that I'd rather to keep into the canister/hob sistems on tanks smaller than 125 gals only because they take less work to give them a go, If I get me a bigger tank in a near future then I may try sump.


Cheers.

 

[dogofwar]

I think Duane's point - and I agree with it completely - is that canister filters need regular cleaning....just as HOBs and sumps do. That it's a PITA to clean a canister (vs. a sump or HOB) AND that regularly cleaning them is what will cause them to get worn out sooner are main reasons that I'm not a fan of them.

Before I knew better, I'd run canisters for months at a time. Out of sight doesn't make poop disappear

Matt

Every O ring and clamp will eventually fail with repeated usage, the more frequenlyt you clean a canister, the faster they will get worn out.

 

[TakeNotes]

I must agree cleaning cannisters sucks, even on eheims but more so on other brands I've used. If I could id run sumps everywhere with canisters as a back up or vice versa on the back up situation. Helps to see what's going on inn ur filtration system

Sent from MFK App

 

[Armand]

User guilt and bad engineering design are correlated. There is no vulnerability for anaerobic conditions in HOBs and sump system because they were designed to be an open system. There is no vulnerablity of leaky O ring and clamps because they don't exist in HOBs and sump system. Every O ring and clamp will eventually fail with repeated usage, the more frequenlyt you clean a canister, the faster they will get worn out.

I agree cannisters imply a risk you have a good point about that, nevertheless It is user task to get informed and be aware of all those risk and to take a decision out of it. Cannisters have their good points tho and I am willing to take the risk, I have two of the same model that I replace at the time of cleaning, having two of them makes the cleansing routine really easier and gives you time to service the one youre removing because you have the other one ready to go!., this also prolongues the live span of the equipment and all its parts.

I consiously grease implellers and all the o rings with food grade silicone grease and I am very careful when handling them because I know about the risks, I have not had an issue yet and I think it is going to be very hard I have one.


Cheers.