AC110 vs. Fluval 306

[clm08k]

I came home today and found my mom bought me a Fluval 306 canister filter! It says that it filters up to 300L/ 70 gallons.
Will this be better than my current Aqua Clear 110 HOB ? The AC110 says it will filter up to 100 gallons. My mom thinks the Fluval 306 will be quieter and that I won't have to do as many water changes. I do about a 60%-70% WC every 4-5 days with the AC110. My question is can the Fluval 306( 70gal) replace my AC110 and provide better filtration/less noise? I do not want to run both the Fluval306 and AC110 at the same time. If the 306 will not be better filtration than the AC110, please let me know! Thank you!

Tank is a 55g, but overstocked:
(4X ) 8-10inch polys,
6.5 inch albino sen
3 congo tetras (2-3in)
3 giant danios (2-3in)

 

[clm08k]

 

[Jexnell]

A hob and canister are two different beast.

From my experience the majority of the noise from HOB filters can be lessened by kepping your water level higher, closer if not touching the bottom of the HOB. This will reduce the noise from the water splashing into the main tank.


HOB's by far are easier to clean. They are right there, easy to get to. Canisters are a bit more work. Have to disconnect the hoses, get the thing open, clean it, get it all back together.

Canisters are normally quieter due to the return being under water so no splash noise.

Will running one over the other change up water changes. No amount of filtration can replace water changes ever. Yes may be able to spread them out more.
If it was me I would run both filters and keep the same water change schedule.

My two 125s have an AC110 and a FX4 and get fin level changes every third day.

 

[Oughtsix]

I completely agree with Jexnel.

The less often you clean your filters the more often you should do water changes... and canister filters are generally more troublesome to clean so they generally get cleaned less often.

Like Jexnel said run both of them. Clean each filter alternating weekends.

If you decide to get rid of your AC110 you should really use a spray bar on the Fluval 306. HOB filters offer a fair amount of O2 exchange and off gassing... canisters pretty much offer none unless you use a spray bar.

 

[punman]

The AC110 is giving you almost 10x an hour water turnover which is awesome. That is what I strive for with my cichlids. I use AClear a lot. I fill the tank well above the bottom of the black plastic stripping that is going around the top of the tank. Two reasons - it keeps the tank quieter filter-wise, and it gives the fish a little extra volume to swim in which does not hurt. I do however keep the tank covered better at the back with little strips of glass, plastic, whatever, as you don't want fish jumping out.

So, bottom line, I think you have enough filtration. But if you could afford to keep the other filter, running two would not hurt. It is also never a bad idea to have a spare filter of any kind on hand in case one quits/breaks down.

Not suggesting you do this now, but if I were setting up a 55 gallon tank and were using hang-on-back filtering, and did not own any filters, I would opt for buying two AC70s rather than one AC110. The output of the two AC70s is not much better than the single 110. That is not the reason. I would do this for more efficient filtering, spread out over the length of the tank, and again, the idea that if one filter malfunctioned in the middle of the night or while you were away for the weekend, you'd still have filtering.

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

Everyone has pretty much nailed it so far.

I agree that running both filters is the best option. Filling the tank up so that the water level is a bit above the AC110 output will keep it very quiet. I used to run two HOB filters on my son’s ten gallon tank and they were completely silent.

As for water changes, these are determined by the number of fish, how big they are, and how much you feed them. Assuming none of those things change if you swap filters, then the same amount of water changes will be needed. I will say, I believe canister filters are more effective at mechanical filtration than HIB filters. However, this means that more gunk gets trapped in then and since they often go neglected because “out of sight, out of mind” that gunk and detritus just sits there. This is why they are referred to as nitrate factories. So, the argument can be made that the canister filter might actually cause you to do more water changes.

Basically, run both filters, keep the water level high enough, and keep the tank covered.

 

[Niki_up]

I have not used canister filters but I have always thought they were the superior filters. After reading about them and their cleaning requirements I opted for all AC filters as they are easy to clean and easy to access. I’m not lazy per say when it comes to cleaning my tanks but I don’t want to fuss with taking things apart and basically rebuild them.

I did get a canister with a tank I got for free once and I eneded up selling the canister filter bc ci didn’t want to mess with it.

My 90g has 2xac110, 60g has 1xac110, 33g has 1xac70, 10g has 1xac30.

These tanks are all in the same room and they make no noise.

One disadvantage of a hob is that you cannot put the tank closer to the wall, but that’s also a good place for other wires lol

You can always just try the canister as you already have it, in order to cycle it you will need to run both filters for a little while so the bb can build up on the canister media. And by the time the canister cycles you will have a good idea which one you like better.

 

[TheWolfman]

I like the idea of running both. I’ve had problems with aquaclear filters loosing prime after a power outage / interruption. Canisters always start back up and do run much quieter. With a high fish load like you have having redundant filters is a good idea god forbid something happens to either one.

 

[punman]

One disadvantage of a hob is that you cannot put the tank closer to the wall, but that’s also a good place for other wires lol

I find it good to have some space behind the tank anyways. You catch a fish - it splashes in the net, etc. Nice to keep the walls dry if you can.

 

[pops]

I always ran both, canister more of a bio filter than a mech filter, HoB more of a mech. Running a HoB will help pull the pressure of needing to clean your canister as often long as you clean your HoB every week. My canisters got cleaned every 3 months. Hob (AC110s) every week. none of this to do with need for water change as that is dictated by nitrate creep, no mater what filtration you are running nitrate creep will be the same and need the same water changes.