filters-best and quietest?

[DirtyBlackSocks]

If you're worried about water movement with the canister's just install power heads and save yourself the trouble of having an extra filter to maintain and clean.

Canister's don't have insane flow rates, but the bioload they can handle is HUGE...

I think most are designed with either marine tanks (live sand filtration in the tank) or planted tanks in mind...

[geaston]

I used the Aquaclear as a back up on my 75 in my office but after a few months it got very noisey, so I changed to a Emperor 330 bio wheel. very pleased with it, but after a couple of months it became noisey as well.I cleaned it well put it back together noise.

What I found was there was wear on the rubber on the top of the impeller so I replaced the impeller no more noise. One of my techs was looking at the impeller and said I had wear on one side of the magnetic body , which means it was not spinning straight. The guys decided to play around with it and came to the conclusion that the filter was not hanging straight on the back, so they made a small wedge for one side glued in place and levelled it up.

No noise and no wear after 2 months, this may not be the answer but it worked for me.

As for canister filters I prefer the new fluvall series they have been very goodand the fluvall fx5 is a monster I have this on my 75 it is quite ciculates the tank about 4 times a hour . IT will turn over 607 gallons a hour. It may be over kill but my loach's are worth it

[loachfan]

I have a Rena XP3 on my 75 gallon. I find it to be easy to clean, easy to use and very quiet. I was so impressed with its performance that I bought a Rena XP2 for my new 33 gallon.

One thing I will say is that you will want to get one size larger than the box recommends (i.e. I could get an XP2 for my 75 gallon but went one size larger in order to have good filtration).

[crazy loaches]

When it comes to Rena I wouldn’t get anything less than an XP3 personally, I even have an XP3 on a 20g and its not too much. Also the Classic Eheims aren’t that much more expensive. The Pro2 and 3's are but the classics are probably still the most popular. For the flow the Fluval FX5 seems to have good reviews and can be had on the net for a good price.

I don’t have any noise comparisons with AC's but the XP3 is fairly quite. They often have some issues with trapped air but you can usually purge it just my tipping the canister slightly. If placed in a good closed cabinet you can barely hear it. It does make a slight 'whirring' noise. My Eheim 2026 however is much quieter, and I purchased it for the bedroom tank. Other than the price, I couldn’t be happier. And the kit I got from big als comes with all the media and the upgraded plumbing too. The XP3 you'll still have to get bio at least. There are minor things I like about the Eheim better, usually quality seems better overall, and just about anything that connects together has a rubber gasket instead of just a slip fit. The 2026 has a handy little flow meter built into the quick disconnect module which gives you indication if its getting plugged and need cleaned. I also like the slightly larger prefilter on the intake - my XP3 is always getting clogged on the intake. Overall I wouldnt hesitate getting either. Some of the Eheims come with internal heaters as well which some like.

The main common problems with either are usually leaking/broken quick connect fittings and usually is a user error where the hoses are to short or something placing stress on the fittings.

[janma]

I started to lean getting a Rena since they do seem quite a bit cheaper.

Something I've learned with this hobby is that you can't get cheap and good in the same package.

[Mike Lang]

I've used AC HOB's for many years and been happy with them, especially the big ones, although they do seem to be noisier than the old ones. I am currently using a Rena XP-3 on one of my tanks and am happy with it. It's easy to setup, easy to use and it's very quiet. Never used an Eheim, so perhaps they are quieter, but they are also much more expensive. With the canister under the tank, enclosed in my cabinet, I don't hear it at all, so I don't think a small difference in noise one way or the other would be noticeable. For the price difference, I'd go with Rena's unless it's going in your bedroom and it has to be absolutely silent. All pumps and motors are going to make some noise, but the good ones only hum and shouldn't be any problem....Hope that is helpful

[jv72]

Well, went to PetSmart last nite. The only Eheim's they had at all were the Ecco series. No Pros. And, the Ecco series was surprisingly cheaper than the Renas (my local PetSmart tends to have huge price swings at any given time, so maybe it was just chance). E.g., the Rena Filstar XP2 (rated for 75 gallons) was actually $10 more than the Eheim Ecco 2236 (rated for 80 gallons). So, I went with the Eheim Ecco 2236.

So far, seems pretty cool. It does hum and isn't totally silent, but a basic soft motor hum is less annoying than the rattling noise my AC was making...not any quieter, but less grinding. I really want to minimize the look of wires and contraptions, so for now I'm going to try only the new Eheim 2236 and avoid a supplemental HOB (if I go out of town though, I'll throw on the HOB as a backup in case of failure). No leaks and no problems setting up.

I think Janma was the only poster I saw who has one of the Ecco series Eheims. Anyone else have experience with these? Does it sound like I made the right pick? (seemed like a no-brainer since actually cheaper than the Rena, but then a part of me worries maybe the Ecco series is not as good as the rest of the Eheim series, but so far, so good)

Geaston, interesting what you found about the AC's. The noise issue does seem to involve the balace of the impeller. Now, in my recent case, it's been the brand new 'out of the box' ACs that were noisey, not the older used ones. but, when I took off the motor before going to PetSmart and looked at the impeller, it did look like it wasn't a perfect spin. Seemed slightly offbalace and was clearly the source of noise. Unfortunately, I'm not mechanically inclined and have no engineer resources at hand, so I returned it! I think you nailed the issue though.

Thanks so much for all the help...and feel free to still post if anyone has final thoughts on my choice or experience with the Ecco series.

[crazy loaches]

I dont have any experience with the Ecco's but it seems to be common thought on other forums that of course they arent quite as nice as the rest of the E's, much like the Rena, will do just about as good of job and save you some money.

I hope you checked out petsmarts website if thats were you got it... usually the prices on the web are significantly cheaper and you take in a print out and they will match. They often have sales online as well, I got an XP3 last year online for $75 with free s/h. I rarely buy something expensive like filters locally, except for petsmarts pricematch usually you can save a ton online. I think they want like $150 locally for XP3's thats double what I paid online.