Canisters: Rena xp vs Penn-Plaxx Cascade vs ?
- Thread starter Moloch
- Start date
I chose renas over eheim because they are cheaper obviously, but also very easy to clean and maintain, great media possibilities..but most of all, parts/media/sponges are inexpensive. If I had the loot im sure I'd pick eheim but I have 2 xp4s and a fluval 405 on my 125 and loving it
vr6fan;4456136; said:
This is more what I'm wanting to hear...
The MAJORITY of what I've heard so far is from people who have used one brand and love that brand...not a lot of comparison or reasoning behind why they'd choose this over that.
I'm very heavily leaning towards the xp3
I highly recommend the XP3
Stage one filter sponges
stage two three Seachem Matrix
and read up on stickies
Stage one filter sponges
stage two three Seachem Matrix
and read up on stickies
I have run the Cascade 1000 that I bought with a used 65g and was very happy with its performance. The poor guy who sold the set up had just purchased the filter so it was practically brand new. This was what got me started on the Cascades.
I sold the 65g and upgraded to a 120g which has 2 Cascades 1500's on it. This has been working out very well for this set up.
The whole by-pass issue can practically be cut to almost nothing with a little bit of work. You get a package of the uncut blue bonded filter pad 12" x 24" and cut a 1-1/2" x 24" strip and wrap it around the bottom basket; this forces most of the water to go through the bottom sponge. (you have to kind of wrap it tight and carefully use a flat item, like a thin screwdriver to tuck it in.) Stack the rest of the baskets in the filter; then cut another strip and wrap/tuck around the top basket. Any by-pass will occur between the middle filter media, which in my case is bio; ceramic rings and matrix. If you use the pre-cut white pads on top you will see that this process works well because it will NOT be totally brown in color. This means the filter is not just by-passing it all to the top.
The Cascades are a good "budget" filter with lots of bang for the buck if you set them up with the additional material around the top and bottom baskets.
I sold the 65g and upgraded to a 120g which has 2 Cascades 1500's on it. This has been working out very well for this set up.
The whole by-pass issue can practically be cut to almost nothing with a little bit of work. You get a package of the uncut blue bonded filter pad 12" x 24" and cut a 1-1/2" x 24" strip and wrap it around the bottom basket; this forces most of the water to go through the bottom sponge. (you have to kind of wrap it tight and carefully use a flat item, like a thin screwdriver to tuck it in.) Stack the rest of the baskets in the filter; then cut another strip and wrap/tuck around the top basket. Any by-pass will occur between the middle filter media, which in my case is bio; ceramic rings and matrix. If you use the pre-cut white pads on top you will see that this process works well because it will NOT be totally brown in color. This means the filter is not just by-passing it all to the top.
The Cascades are a good "budget" filter with lots of bang for the buck if you set them up with the additional material around the top and bottom baskets.
Moloch;4455180; said:
Just wanted to mention that the fittings may not be considered true quick disconnects but they work out just fine. They do incorporate shut off valves on the lines so they are easy to manage with very little water loss or mess.
Thanks for the input. I think I'm going to save the extra coin and spring for a rena xp3 rather than try and save a couple bucks on the cascade but have the extra work & worry. I'm sure they're great filters, but I think the rena seems like a better fit for me.
In any case, hopefully in another year or two I'll have moved into a house, have room for an even larger tank and have reason to try other filters again
In any case, hopefully in another year or two I'll have moved into a house, have room for an even larger tank and have reason to try other filters again
I'm currently using both a Rena and a Cascade. Cascades are cheaper but the build quality is also cheaper, though I haven't had any problems with it so far (it has been set up for a total of around 4 months), but the Rena filters look and feel a lot more sturdy. As far as the actual filtration, they are both very similar in design, and I haven't had any problems with either of them. Eheims are overpriced, imo.
Oh and setup is pretty easy with both of them (I've never had a canister that was actually difficult to set up), and maintenance is also very easy with both of them, especially the cascade.
Edit: Forgot to mention, I'm using the Cascade 500 and Rena XP4. The Cascade was $40 (I'm not sure of the pricing on the other models), the XP4 was around $200 (don't remember exactly)
Oh and setup is pretty easy with both of them (I've never had a canister that was actually difficult to set up), and maintenance is also very easy with both of them, especially the cascade.
Edit: Forgot to mention, I'm using the Cascade 500 and Rena XP4. The Cascade was $40 (I'm not sure of the pricing on the other models), the XP4 was around $200 (don't remember exactly)
I've had a Rena XP3 on my 75gal for a little over a month. It does ok, but I'm thinking about getting it some help. First, it can be a pain to get all of the air out of the canister sometimes. The trick is to burp it after doing maintenance before you plug it back up. After I started doing that, I've not had any more issues with air in it. Second, if you use Rena's Super Micro pad in the canister, then it stops up pretty quick. Like every 4 days for me, at which point the filter almost stops circulating water completely. That's not necessarily a bad thing, since it is removing stuff to stop up, but still annoying. It's not an issue if you just use the micro filter that comes with it, but it doesn't get the water as clean.
Anyway, I like the XP3 and am thinking about either adding a 2nd one or prehaps something like a Eheim 2028 to try something different.
Anyway, I like the XP3 and am thinking about either adding a 2nd one or prehaps something like a Eheim 2028 to try something different.
