75 gallons stacked with canisters

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fishbum

fishbum

Piranha
MFK Member
Nov 10, 2007
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I have a pair of 75 gallon tanks that are on metal stands that will fit another 75 on the bottom.The tanks on top are being filterd with Eheims.

I was wondering if I put another tank on the bottom of the stand,would a canister work on it if the tank is basically sitting on the floor?
 
As you may be aware by the tone of your question, canisters are designed to be fed by gravity, and the pump RETURNS the water to the tank.

You could get it to work, but it would put a strain on the motor which would at best make it noisy and at worst cause premature failure. Getting all of the air out of the filter would he harder as well.
 
Yeah,that is what I was thinking too.A couple of HOB's on each tank would probably be the way to go.

But has anyone actually tried this with canisters?
 
In this situation you should expect the canister on the bottom tank to loose some flow (gph) and be harder to prime, but it will otherwise work just fine.

There will not be any additional stress on the motor. That is the beauty of a magnetic driven pump. The motor spins at it's designed rate no matter what and the impeller keeps up if it can. If it cannot the magnetic connection simply slips.

I've filtered Rubbermaid Tubs sitting directly on the floow with a (Mag 350) canister filter...

HOB filters work just fine without being multiple feet below the tanks... and they use the same type of motor/impeller as a canister...

The Magnum 250 is a cansiter filter that is a Hang On Tank version and they work just fine...

The only impact is you will loose a little flow (gph)...
 
i have a metal stand with a 75 gal with a iguana in it and a 75 gal turtle tank on the bottom i have a fluval 405 on it it runs fine and quiet the only problem is getting it started. after it is running its great
 
Howdy,

No problem at all.

Eheim specifically states that it is sufficient if the top of the canister is 4'' below the surface of the water in your tank. Should even be sufficient room for your Pro 3 ;)

Besides, it makes perfect sense when you consider physics: If you have the filter above your water level it needs to work harder, but below the surface it's gravity driven, and the work load only depends on how far it is to pump your water over the tank's rim. The canister can be a foot or a mile below the tank, your pump still only has to push the water over the tank's rim. Only pressure changes, and that has no effect on the impeller's workload.

Bottom line: You're safe!

HarleyK
 
I must respectfully disagree with anyone who says it won't work, or that it will affect performance in any way. I have a 75 gal stitting on the floor right now with a litle FX1 just a pumpin away....

I have an FX3 sitting on the shelf behind my Ray tank just a pumpin away.

I had no difficulty Priming them, and they are not noisey.

The only thing that changes is that there is less internal pressure which means that those times when you find your tank 2 inches low and the carpet wet will be much fewer. (Does that only happen to me?)
 
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