to canister or not to canister?

[Fry]

So the difference between mechanical and bio filtration confuses me. I understand the principle obviously, one is great for filter out the crap in the water (mechanical) and the bio will remove toxins and holds the good bacteria that the tanks needs.

So this being said, I have a Fluval 304, which would this be considered?

Most filters will do at least both mechanical and bio filtration. This is within a single filter. If you add carbon or other chemical filtration media to the filter then the filter will perform the tasks of be mechanical, biological, and chemical filtration all at once (such as your Fluval 304). Mechanical media is almost always also bio media as it houses a lot of the beneficial bacteria, because of this you should always rinse it in water from the tank and not tap water in order to protect the beneficial bacteria, typically sponges or filter pads are mechanical media. Some media are meant to house immense amounts of beneficial bacteria and don't really filter out crud - that is it allows particles to bypass it, this is the commonly known bio media such as biomax, matrix, and ehfisubstrat.

Overfiltration is overrated on this forum IMO. As long as your water is clear that indicates that you have enough mechanical filtration, as long as you are free of ammonia and nitrites in a cycled tank that indicates that you have enough bio filtration. Any more than this can be considered a waste, but extra filters do have their benefits such as to safeguard a good amount of beneficial bacteria when you need to clean another filter, space for chemical media when needed, and to add water flow to the tank.

 

[WyldFya]

I have run pretty much all that have been listed in this thread with the exception of cascades (look cheesy)...eheim is good but a little pricey (have 2 of them) fluval fx5 is my preferred filter only have one of those...got it for 150 off ebay...in order to match the output of the fx5 you wold have to go with the eheim pro 3 which last time I checked was over 300, granted if you have the extra money go for the eheim but if not the fx5 will do a great job

are dodge and bderick a comedy team?

The eheim 2080 is not the same flow rate as an FX5, the eheim 2080 is actually much slower flowrate.

 

[fwiffo]

dr fwiffo prescribes medicine for all the loyal canister fans out there: take wheneve they start to read this thread:

i have owned a few canisters over the years myself. i owned a rena xp2, an eheim 2213, an eheim 2222, and a fluval 104. heres the pros and cons of them, as i remember.

rena xp2- nice filter, very strong and kept water crystal clear. hated priming the dam thing with that funnel. also, whenever the power would go out, i would call home and have someone throw the gray lever to prevent the filter from siphoning out the aquarium water. it was quiet though and easy to maintain, very easy. overall, it was good. i liked it alot. funny thing i bought it on ebay for 60 bucks with shipping new from some chinese dude who turned out to be a pirate that his goods taken by the fbi. anyway, when i sold it USED six months later for college money, i actually sold it for 80! go figure...

eheim 2213- heard it was quiet, but it was NOISY! never figured out why, even after dissassembling it and asking around about the problem. priming was a pain but i figured out an easy way to overcome that deficiency, but it was my way, shoulda been theirs. didnt care for the media in one big canister idea. had to dump it all out in the utility sink and wash- took a while to clean then put it all back together-reminded me of "humpty dumpty" really.. impeller shaft broke twice while cleaning. ceramic was like 2 cm thick and broke easy. fluval, and rena, i think(?) have steel impellers shafts. overall, PITA and a waste of money and time. shoulda drop kicked it to the dumpster instead of it going on ebay...

eheim 2222- quiet and efficient. a breeze to clean and prime. didnt like the fact of all the empty room at the bottom of the canister between the media basket and canister's green shell. was very nice and made up for the 2213's problems. bio-filtration was great, but then again they ALL did stellar on that account. flimsy impeller- but learned from the eheim 2213 on that one, so i knew i had to talk to and baby it while removing the impeller from the shaft.. overall, pricey, but pretty nice.

fluval 104- a joy to maintain. was quiet and very efficient. no bypass, from what i could tell. was easy to clean. media like the foam and bio-max stuff could be re-used indefinetly, just like the aquaclears. oh, i did have to throw the gray lever whenever the power went out, just like the rena. impeller was steel, not ceramic like the eheims- i'll take steel anyday over ceramic! overall, it was my favorite and i wouldnt hesitate to buy another one.

thats my take on it, but its just my opinion, not fact or anything that should be in stone.