HOB biowheel vs canister

[josue25]

i have sump and a canister filters and i dont even send that much mate i send around 15 every 2 months lol

 

[flstffxe]

i had a fish kill when i just washed them and the filters for my 350gph are 10 bucks a piece (it holds 2 filters).
I know i am spending too much on filters, that's why i started this thread.

I don't think that people are looking at the amount you spend per say, I think they are questioning the practices that lead to spending that amount.

My guess would be the fish kill resulted from washing the all cartridges at the same time, wiping out a vast amount of the bio. Alternate washing one cartridge a week. I did this for many years using HOB water fall type filters.

In all reality a large sponge filter and a air pump would be enough for your bio, which would allow you to keep one of the water fall type filters for mechanical filtration and maintenance would be just washing a filter element. For a filter element in this type of set up, I have used every thing from AC110 sponges(cut to fit)/floss/pads stuffed into the area for the cartridge. Cost of maintenance is next to zero when doing this, as the filter elements can last several years.

The best thing to do is get away from the proprietary filter element for what ever you are using. AC110s are great off the shelf filters that are cheap to maintain, which is why they are being suggested.

I just bought my first new round of mechanical filtration material in 4 years. Cost $26.00 for 6 tanks: one 125g, two 90g, two 55g and a 10g. All I use is the blue bonded polyester filter material. I buy it by bulk via Graingers locally. http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/2JUR9?Pid=search it is available in various lengths widths and thicknesses. It is the same stuff sold in the aquarium sites and stores but for much less.

 

[SpeshulEd]

When my cartridges got old on my marineland 400 hob's, I just stuffed them with pot scrubbies and bio sponges. So far so good.

 

[broken]

OK, one last question. should i go with the fluval 405 (340 gph) and the ac110 or should i go all out and get the FX5 and the AC110?

also i really apriciate all you guys help!!! i am currently building a stand for 3x 55gal, 1x29gal, 2x20gal, and 4x10gal tanks. just think how much i would end up paying on filters at that point.

Once again THANK YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Danger_Chicken]

Get an FX5 from ebay for $200 new with all the media or 2 ac110's. You'll be much happier with the FX5 over the 405

 

[Deaths Sting]

Get an FX5 from ebay for $200 new with all the media or 2 ac110's. You'll be much happier with the FX5 over the 405

+1

FX5 FTW!!!!!

 

[fishbum]

Rather than replacing one HOB filter with another,get these, http://www.aquariumguys.com/mediabasket.html
and put filter floss in them,then put this in front of them,
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=5277
Or try these,you can stuff the blue bonded filter pad in them,
http://pet-supplies.drsfostersmith.com/search?p=Q&lbc=drsfostersmith&w=supercartridge&af=cat1:fish%20typeroduct&isort=score&method=and&ts=results&rt=template_switch_search
The marienland replacement filter cartridges you keep replacing are a complete waste of money,there is no need for carbon,and the blue pad I linked works better,and can be rinsed out and used for a long time.

Then buy whatever canister you want,to go with the HOB's you already have.

 

[bitteraspects]

those plastic things a good fix, but only cover the real issue. marineland HOB filters suck by design. even beyond the cartridges, there is a major bypass issue, lack of power (by comparison), lack of media space (by comparison), and many other reasons whay it just makes more sense to get rid of it and get a better filter.