canister filters inline?

[SemperFish]

I have several canister filters hooked up to my tank, so now i have many hoses going in and out. Can I reduce that by hooking one filter up to another. Specifically what I am thinking of is using my XP1 as a prefilter for my XP3. If I do this im wonderring if I even have to power the XP1 at all or if the XP3 will pull through it.
Any ideas?

 

[tank125]

Yeah you can do that. But you might not get enough flow through the smaller hose.

 

[Bderick67]

You best bet would be to use a y fitting and run the two filters in parrallel. Running them in series will make the pumps work against each other and will actually reduce the flow of the largest pump, so in tandem the output will be less then just the xp3 itself.

 

[fishluvr510]

Hello,
can anyone help fine a net or bag that goes over the filter intake.so like lttle particales like duck weed won't get sucked up into filter.I seen it a like a year ago but forgot what it was called i know fluval sells it.I think its made out of nylon and has like a little rope on top of it and all you have to do is pull it to fit right ariund the intake only.I need it cause i have duckweed in my tank.

 

[SemperFish]

I like the Y fitting idea. I may give that a shot. Anyone else got ideas?

 

[WyldFya]

Running inline is a no no. First problem you will run into, is that your pumps will fight each other, and eventually one, several, or all will die. Running inline will eventually kill your filters. Second problem, you will lower your flow rate dramatically as the amount of media that is in the 'system' is far more than the pumps on each filter were designed to use. This may cause your return line to not even have 1/2 the largest pumps normal return. The Y style will work on the intake side, just make sure you have a large enough tube bringing water down to the 'Y' fitting, or you will starve your filters of water, again slowing the flow, and possibly reducing the longevity of your pump. On the return side you will need to run the tubes back into the tank independently otherwise your returns will be fighting each other when they come back together, and can actually cause backflow on your filters, which can easily destroy a pump.