My 220 Gallon filtration headache !!!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I'd add the 2 sunsun canisters in addition to your 2262.

I am extremely pleased with my sunsuns. I like them more than the eheim classics I've owned in the past. I've got 2 sunsun 302's and 2 fluval 406's running right now and I have no complaints about either and I can tell you the sunsun canisters are quieter and just as easy to service as the fluvals.

One word of caution though - the plumbing set for the sunsun is absolute garbage. The tubing is top notch but the spraybar and intake are very flimsy. I ended up making a custom set of black pvc plumbing for mine. For the price I really cant complain.

The 525gph is not entirely accurate. As with most of the sunsuns you'll be getting roughly half of that with media and head loss figured in. Which still isnt terrible. My 302's rated at 265gph are moving about as much water as my old fluval 104 did - about 120-150gph.

Also the 50 something watts claimed for the 304 includes the wattage of the UV lamp which can be turned off. So running the filter consumes only 40 or so watts.

The canisters are very large and mine do a superb job of mechanical filtration with very little to no bypass. I'd set the eheim up for bio and the 2 sunsuns more for mechanical.

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mudbuttjones said:
One word of caution though - the plumbing set for the sunsun is absolute garbage. The tubing is top notch but the spraybar and intake are very flimsy. I ended up making a custom set of black pvc plumbing for mine. For the price I really cant complain.

The 525gph is not entirely accurate. As with most of the sunsuns you'll be getting roughly half of that with media and head loss figured in. Which still isnt terrible. My 302's rated at 265gph are moving about as much water as my old fluval 104 did - about 120-150gph.
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Yeah, I do agree the spraybar and intake tubes are flimsy, but I've kept them and they work just fine. Just need to treat them a little gentler when you're handling them during cleaning and/or relocation.

You probably would get 500gph if the canisters was operating without any media. Just one of those misleading claims made by ALL manufacturers to sell products.
 
xraycer said:
Yeah, I do agree the spraybar and intake tubes are flimsy, but I've kept them and they work just fine. Just need to treat them a little gentler when you're handling them during cleaning and/or relocation.

You probably would get 500gph if the canisters was operating without any media. Just one of those misleading claims made by ALL manufacturers to sell products.
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That's true. I like how eveyone says that eheim "figures their flowrates based on being filled with media" that's bs. My eheim classic had the most dismal output. Even since new. I read an article a while back where someone tested a 2217 and a 2213 and both were also at about 50-60% of their advertised flowrates with media.

I was reading through hundreds of amazon reviews before I ordered my sunsun 302s there were a few where guys tested the flowrates. If I recall the 303 was like 200 of 370 gph and the 304 was around 300 of 525gph. Which I don't think is too bad.

My main gripe about the sunsun plumbing as the way the spraybar slips together. Mine didn't have a tight fit, I was afraid the stiff hose would pull the spraybar in half and down from the trim from the tank since the suction cups are on the actual spray bar part. It kept coming apart in the tank when I was setting up. If it werent for the vertical metal uprights of my rack I wouldn't have used the parts at all if I didn't have something to zip tie the hoses to. If any of that makes sense.

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xraycer said:
I highly recommend the Odyssea 700CFS canisters. It's an FX design so virtually no past through. I've actually made it work better by adding filter floss to the initial stage. Excellent mech filtration, and priced about the same as the 304b.
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I actually went and did a bit of a research on this canister and frankly am still not sure about it. Not like I heard anything bad about it its just I have zero experience with it and they don't seem to have much replacement parts available for them in case something breaks. They do seem to do a great job mechanically which is what I need. I just don't know how it would work, can you add some bio media to them as well ? I saw that the motor is directly in the bottom center of the canister which means if any bio media falls in the bottom, there goes the the motor. Give me some input please, also they look very tall , would they fit under my stand? its a 30" wooden stand
 
Pataphysicist said:
I actually went and did a bit of a research on this canister and frankly am still not sure about it. Not like I heard anything bad about it its just I have zero experience with it and they don't seem to have much replacement parts available for them in case something breaks. They do seem to do a great job mechanically which is what I need. I just don't know how it would work, can you add some bio media to them as well ? I saw that the motor is directly in the bottom center of the canister which means if any bio media falls in the bottom, there goes the the motor. Give me some input please, also they look very tall , would they fit under my stand? its a 30" wooden stand
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I own multiple units of both the Sunsuns & Odysseas, and if I were to do it over, I would go all Odyssea 700. Yes, you can use ceramic media in the Odyssea. The 700 is composed of 2 large sponges. The lower sponge has a cut-out to tightly encase the pump, so you can fill the canister with ceramic media. Aquatrder.com do carry a few parts and they are very inexpensive as well, but for $90 for the entire canister, you can just buy a new one and basically double your parts inventory. The only thing you need to replace right off the bat, with these canisters, are the o-rings that connect the hose connector to the canister. $5 fix. This make removing the hose dramatic easier. As mentioned in an earlier post, I now use filter floss in the upper section and the mech aspect has been very, very noticeable. I can't comment on the UV, since I don't believe in them and don't use them. I've permanently removed the UV and filled the void in the sponge with a Poland Spring water bottle.
 
Well after days of research and opinions i decided to buy two SunSun 304B/404B rated for 150-200 Gallons. Just returned from a costumers house who just bought my flowerhorn and he has 3 x SunSun's 304B on his 300 Gallon African cichlid tank and frankly i don't think ill ever seen a tank that crystal clear. That was it, i was sold. I will post some pics and the media that will be going inside them. I paid $168 + free shipping for both of them, can't complain on the prices.
 
1. Wet/Dry Sump
2. Another 2262 so you have a backup in-case you lose the pump in your current filter
3. FX-6 (love mine and have never had any problems)
4. Fluidized Sand Filter http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?208356-My-DIY-bio-tube-filter...thing

Only the Sand filter will be inside your budget unless your tank is already drilled and you DIY a sump


EDIT: See you made up your mind already, best of luck... just seems like a lot of work to have to maintain 3 separate canister filters....
 
Stang725 said:
1. Wet/Dry Sump
2. Another 2262 so you have a backup in-case you lose the pump in your current filter
3. FX-6 (love mine and have never had any problems)
4. Fluidized Sand Filter http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?208356-My-DIY-bio-tube-filter...thing

Only the Sand filter will be inside your budget unless your tank is already drilled and you DIY a sump


EDIT: See you made up your mind already, best of luck... just seems like a lot of work to have to maintain 3 separate canister filters....
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I will be getting an fx6 in the near future, I just didn't want to spend $350 on one atm due to other projects am putting my time into. Also I only open my eheim 2262 once every 6 months. If it's fairly clean I leave it up to a year. Reason why I went with 2 x sunsun its not only because ive seen the results others get with them and they do have fairly same design as the marineland 360 I have on my 55 gallon, I had that canister for 4 years and opened it maybe 5-6 times. Never had a problem with it, no leaks , does a nice job keeping tank clean and design makes it a 10 minute clean job when I do maintenance to it. Hoping I get same luck with these 2 x SunSun's ^^
 
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