Biggest bang for the buck

[12 Volt Man]

I agree i have an Xp4 and its proven to be a really quality canister filter. Easy to setup, clean, and narrow so easy to store out of the way.
My only complaint so far is haveing to replace the impellor on it, and i think it may be going again, when my other filters on the tank (3 FX5's and two fluval U4 internals) have run without fail overe the same period. The oldest filter (a 4 year old FX5) has also had an impellor replaced.

do you use sand? just wondering.

one of my XP's is 3 years old now and its still the original impeller. its still good as new. just wondering if something in your tank is getting into the impeller chamber and wearing it down prematurely..

 

[coolermaster]

I dont have problems cleaning my eheim classics. You just need to backwash it. and yea, for me its bang for the buck as the series already proevd it can run perfect for years and years,,

 

[Tom500]

do you use sand? just wondering.

one of my XP's is 3 years old now and its still the original impeller. its still good as new. just wondering if something in your tank is getting into the impeller chamber and wearing it down prematurely..

Again i think you right i do use sand and there is allways a little in the impellor and at the bottom of the canister. This is almost certainly responsible for the destruction of the impeller

 

[1974Pantera]

The XP-3 gets my vote too! Great unit!

 

[Sab_Fan]

eheim classics get my vote . . . I think they're pretty easy to maintain, too, once you get the hang of it . . .

 

[Bawb2u]

Best bang for the buck are Eheim Classic series. Not the easist for maintainence but that's a different question

.

[qoute]Bawb2u wht do u mean whats the problem wit them.[/QUOTE]

They don't have baskets, so the media is loose inside. It's a little more trouble cleaning. Once you get a routine down, it's not so bad. They do a great job of filtering, run super quiet, have almost nothing to go wrong with them and last forever.

 

[FishNCash]

XP3 used to be a better bang for the buck when it was priced at $95. I would not say the XP3 at $169 is the best bang for the buck anymore. However, it is a very nice filter if you can afford that price. At $169 range I would say Eheim 2026 Pro II is the best bang for the buck. Reviews of all canister filters are posted here. You decide which one you like.

http://cichlidforum.com/reviews/category_display.php?CatID=104

 

[dr_sudz]

i personally never understand why guys on here will run a sump AND a canister. A properly sized sump should do it all and more. canisters are not really doing a whole lot for the tank when running a sump. I don't think you can over filter, but I do think it is ridiculous to run an inferior filter with a far superior one. Can anyone explain why with good reason they throw money away on this type of filtering setup???

 

[12 Volt Man]

probably just redundancy. if your return pump kicks out, and your on holiday, you have no filtration with a sump only tank.

if you have a canister running, your fish are fine till you get back..

 

[Toby_H]

i personally never understand why guys on here will run a sump AND a canister. A properly sized sump should do it all and more. canisters are not really doing a whole lot for the tank when running a sump. I don't think you can over filter, but I do think it is ridiculous to run an inferior filter with a far superior one. Can anyone explain why with good reason they throw money away on this type of filtering setup???

The vast majority of sump users do not design their intakes to remove physical waste which sites at the bottom of the tank... the typical overflows just sip water off the surface...

So instead of being creative, they buy a cansiter to collect waste and then only clean it once every several months allowing the waste4 to continue to break down and increase the pollutants...

"redundancy" is a valid reason to do so... but using two pumps in the sump is a better for of redundancy. If the sump pump fails when you are away for a week, the bacteria in the sump is removed from the system allowing spikes to take place... using two pumps in the sump would continue to keep the same bacteria in use if one were to fail...