Tell me about Fluval Canisters- or Canisters in general

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TrebleClef84
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Tell me about Fluval Canisters- or Canisters in general

Post by TrebleClef84 » Sat Feb 18, 2012 11:45 am

I'm thinking about getting a fluval canister filter tomorrow as they are on sale at my LFS. I have a 55 gallon loach tank I want to put it on with a very fine sand for substrate. I've never had a canister before, only the back hanging kind.
What do you love about them? What do you hate about them?
Do they break easily? Are they difficult/expensive to maintain?
How easily does sand get stuck in the motor? How easily do fish get stuck in there?
Is there anything else I should know?

plaalye
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Re: Tell me about Fluval Canisters- or Canisters in general

Post by plaalye » Sat Feb 18, 2012 9:26 pm

I have never owned a fluval cannister. I've read far too many accounts of problems with them, so when I decided to go with a cannister, I bought an Eheim classic. Great filters! Very simple. Never had a problem. Very easy to maintain. I don't use fine sand, don't like it, but if you set the intake hose up off of the bottom you should be OK. Unless they're giving them away, I'd buy an Eheim 2217. Just my opinion though, I'm sure there are fluval fans out there?

Andywhite01
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Re: Tell me about Fluval Canisters- or Canisters in general

Post by Andywhite01 » Sat Feb 18, 2012 11:03 pm

We run 1 305, 2 404, and 1 fx5 in our house. The fx5 is on my new 6x2x2 planted loach tank and it has play sand as the top layer quite thick ontop of aquabasis plus to try to avoid it being dug up. I have put the intake about 8inches above the sand and it does not suck it up to much only when they stired it up and dug in front of it i have now put a small patch of fine gravel in front of it to avoid this.
The flow is very verible depending on what media you put in it trile an error to find what suits you.
The 305 and 404s are great but i always keep an eye on the main seal and when starting to look dry or cracked it must be changed. this seems to be the main gripe on the forums people expect somthing to run forever. I WOULD PREFERE TO CHANGE A £4 SEAL than come down to a flooded house.
I would go for at least the 405/406 (new model) because you have got 2 extra spaces for media to give you more options.

UVvis
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Re: Tell me about Fluval Canisters- or Canisters in general

Post by UVvis » Mon Feb 20, 2012 8:30 am

Make sure you pay attention to surface flow and aeration. Canister filters are great for maintaining a biological filtration and for planted tanks, but you can mount them in ways that do not allow for very good surface movement or aeration. If your plan is to replace hang on the back filters, keep that in mind as most of those filters do a pretty good job for both breaking the surface and aeration.

TrebleClef84
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Re: Tell me about Fluval Canisters- or Canisters in general

Post by TrebleClef84 » Mon Feb 20, 2012 12:41 pm

What do most people use then for filtration in larger tanks? We plan to upgrade to 90 gallons or larger at some point.
Last edited by TrebleClef84 on Mon Feb 20, 2012 12:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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zenins
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Re: Tell me about Fluval Canisters- or Canisters in general

Post by zenins » Mon Feb 20, 2012 12:45 pm

If you want a strong flow of water, then the Rena XP Filstar series is a good choice.

I have XP2's on my 50 gallon tanks and two XP3's on my 100 gallon tank.

I do have Eheims on smaller tanks because the flow is not as strong from them ...
Zenin

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monicalovefish
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Re: Tell me about Fluval Canisters- or Canisters in general

Post by monicalovefish » Wed Mar 28, 2012 9:42 pm

I have two types. I have the Filstar version and also the Eheim versions for my 75 gallon tank. The Filstar is a good filter but I found it wasn't handling the waste of my fish. I bought the mid range one and then decided to add a canister by Eheim. I use the traditional version of Eheim.

I can tell you this, buy the biggest version of either of these and you'll be happy. The more space you have for media (either chemical, sponges, or other stuff) the happier you'll be.

Oops. I forgot to add this...canister filters are extremely quiet compared to the type that hang. I actually panicked the first time I turned mine on and thought I heard a huge noise...um...it was the new air conditioning units that are behind my bedroom kicking on at the same time as I plugged in the Eheim. It was silent like a tomb.

Monica

P.S. Filstar is easier to clean as the traditional Eheim is layered. I usually use several buckets and pour each section out to prep them before putting it all back in. The Filstar has baskets which are nice. I did find one issue - I sometimes get micro bubbles from the Filstar while I've never had that issue with the Eheim.

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