Easy To Use Canister Filter
- Thread starter DawnMichele
- Start date
This is a bit generalized. How often you have to clean is based upon factors such as stock level, feeding practice, and how messy your stock are. Waste trapped in fiter pads/floss is not going anywhere until you clean them out. How long you let that trapped waster linger is up to you. X amount of trapped waste in a large canister is no healthier, than the same exact amount of trapped in a smaller hob.
I think it all boils down to media. My FX6 is mostly loaded with ceramic media and just two round coarse pads. I basically blast the pads out, swish the ceramic media bags in some tank water and give the sponges a good squeeze. I suppose if you were using floss or something it would be more work. But when I'm done there isn't any detritus left in there.
I hate hob filters, other than the aquaclears, I feel like cartridges are a rip off.
Being an oscar keeper myself, I would recommend one or two AquaClear 110's and a canister. IMO, the big point being missed here is a canister's biological media holding capacity. It's going to be able to house much more bio media and beneficial bacteria than any HOB out there. Use the HOBs as your primary source of mechanical filtration because they're so easy to clean.
I keep an oscar and a green severum in my 75g that has an AC110 and a Marineland C360. I clean the AC110 weekly when I do WCs. I only have to open up the C360 about every 3 months. Thank goodness too because I hate doing it.
I keep an oscar and a green severum in my 75g that has an AC110 and a Marineland C360. I clean the AC110 weekly when I do WCs. I only have to open up the C360 about every 3 months. Thank goodness too because I hate doing it.
I definitely agree with everything posted here, but I also find that most of us here, utilize more bio-media than we actually need......which is actually a good thing...but again not necessary. For Dawn's 125 O tank, 2-3 AC110 will hold more than enough bio-media to sustain waste management. She's looking for easy maintenance, so sticking to hob is the way to go. Another big plus with hob is that flooding issue is extremely low in comparison with canisters.
I believe biomedia is mostly misunderstood.
The media touted as best, has millions of pores for BB can live in.
But if media is full of gunk, or pores are slathered in layers of old bio-film, then anything within those pores is in a dead zone. BB need aerobic conditions and contact with flow to use the ammonia and nitrate, if water is sliding over bio-film, this is compromized. If a canister is not cleaned regularly it loses efficiency. I believe that not cleaning canisters often is not a good idea, and because they are difficult to clean in comparison to other filters, they usually are usually not.
I don't see being under pressure, having to mess around with large O rings, and worrying air lock preventing start of flow as being user friendly.
Maybe the new models are better, and less troublesome, but I gave up on canisters years ago for all the above reasons, and it would take a lot of data to the contrary to do so.
The media touted as best, has millions of pores for BB can live in.
But if media is full of gunk, or pores are slathered in layers of old bio-film, then anything within those pores is in a dead zone. BB need aerobic conditions and contact with flow to use the ammonia and nitrate, if water is sliding over bio-film, this is compromized. If a canister is not cleaned regularly it loses efficiency. I believe that not cleaning canisters often is not a good idea, and because they are difficult to clean in comparison to other filters, they usually are usually not.
I don't see being under pressure, having to mess around with large O rings, and worrying air lock preventing start of flow as being user friendly.
Maybe the new models are better, and less troublesome, but I gave up on canisters years ago for all the above reasons, and it would take a lot of data to the contrary to do so.
Agree with Duanes, although I run 8 canisters, they are not user friendly, easiest are sumps and HOB, that said, I clean my canisters regularly and find them highly effective.
Agree with Duanes on common misunderstanding on bio media.
A gunk up canister will turn into an oxygen scavenger when non-beneficial (heterotrophic) bacteria that feed on the gunk exceed beneficial (nitrifying) bacteria and compete with fish for oxygen. A gunk up canister is a time bomb in power outage as the content can turn anaerobic and emits toxic gases when the power resumes.
Canister is not easy to clean and if you rush to put the parts back improperly, it is vulnerable to develop leak and drain the tank when you are not watching.
A gunk up canister will turn into an oxygen scavenger when non-beneficial (heterotrophic) bacteria that feed on the gunk exceed beneficial (nitrifying) bacteria and compete with fish for oxygen. A gunk up canister is a time bomb in power outage as the content can turn anaerobic and emits toxic gases when the power resumes.
Canister is not easy to clean and if you rush to put the parts back improperly, it is vulnerable to develop leak and drain the tank when you are not watching.
