Canister filters

[Dood Lee]

I am running XP3, Fluval 405 and a Ehiem 2028. My choice is the Fluval. Ehiem your paying for a name very limited on what you can put in as far as media is concerned, The Fluval and XP3, you can put what ever media you want in them no tube running down the side of them like the Ehiem. I found the Fluval a little easier to restart after cleaning. Althought I do find that you have to be carefull when removing the hose on the Fluval as the pressure seems to spray water out if you do it too quickly. I ams selling my Ehiem and going to replace it with 2 AC500's.
JMO

There is no rule stating that you can only use certain media with certain canister filters. I've used Renas, Eheims, and Fluvals with varying combinations of filter media.

[Dan S]

Hi,

Im currently using 2 Eheim 2128s on my 500 litre tank, they run silently, rarely need cleaning if, like previously mentioned you use a sponge on the intake, are reliable and the fact that they heat the water aswell is great as it one less item in the tank. Priming these may not be the best system out there but once you have done it a couple of times and worked out which is the best way to do it its fine. As for cost, if you search around the prices have come down alot here in england over the last few years and theres some good deals on them.

On my smaller tanks, upto about 200 litres i use the Eheim ECCOs and the priming system on those is brilliant, again they are also silent and reliable.

I also use a variety of media and it doesnt have any effect on their performance.

I wouldnt use anything else. This is just my own opinion from my experiences over the last 15 years or so.

Regards

Dan

[scolley]

Wow! This is a great topic! So here goes...

Canisters are great if for NO OTHER REASON, than they get unsightly filters out of the tank. As to which one, well...

I've got Eheims. An Ecco, two pro II's, and a classic. And that's the order I bought them in. I went for the low end new product, then an higher end new product. And all I've got to say is...

I wish I'd started with the classic. They are so quiet, reliable, efficient, that I'm sure I'd have nothing else now.

[poconogal]

My tank is similar in that it is 75g, with 6 discus, 20 cardinals, 25 cory’s (a mass adoption), one pleco, and 10 shrimp. I appreciate your advice about the XP3 filter. As it turns out I almost feel like deleting my original concerns about my Eheim, since I found a source for all the gaskets I wanted to replace, and for a reasonable price (Big Als). I was pretty frustrated with by leaking Eheim when I wrote the message, but upon reflection I feel it was really my own fault because (I now realize) the filter is over 6 years old and the gaskets and o-rings won’t last forever. From now on I plan to keep a complete set of gaskets and o-rings on hand and use a silicon-based lubricant every time I clean the media. Last night I replaced the gaskets and the filter is running (silently) and the tank is crystal clear again.

Brian

Good to know about a good source for the Eheim gaskets. I just bought a used Eheim 2028 to run on my 75 along with my XP3. (2 filters, more media!) I'm thinking that since its used, I may just go ahead and replace the gaskets before I start to use the filter.