Canister Filter

[nabilbb]

Ok here is my story,
I have 50G Discus Tank, used to be heavely planted for long time, then I was tired with the problems that comes with gravel and plants. last week I went BB. I used to use EHiem pro. 2 and meriland 280 filter. now I don't use the conister filter anymore coz it is a pain to clean. I also use sponge filter. but my water is not that clean without the conister

Any Advice?

[David Rose]

Eheim is a great filter generally. What do you find difficult in cleaning it?

That said, I'm a fan of Rena XP3 and love mine for ease of cleaning. Too bad you're in AB because you could pick up one of Ricardo's for a great price: http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?95911-55g-teardown.-Co2-Hagen-Glo-Hydors-Xp3-s-and-more&p=884942#post884942

[iziko22]

I've Ferplast 1100 and Atman EF 4. I prefer the Atman due it's price and it's easy to clean an care.

I know it is made in china filter but it's doing great job for me.

[Jhhnn]

If you use a sponge prefilter on the canister, it'll seldom need cleaning, and the prefilters are easy to detach & clean in a bucket of tank water. Comes with adapters-

http://www.kensfish.com/product3021.html

[Chicago Discus]

If you use a sponge prefilter on the canister, it'll seldom need cleaning, and the prefilters are easy to detach & clean in a bucket of tank water. Comes with adapters-

http://www.kensfish.com/product3021.html

I use pre filters on all my filters and it works great. My first love is the Eheim filters but I also use aqua clear hang on with a pre filter and I'm having an affair with Mr. Clear at the moment he gets the job done pretty fast and clean ups a breeze..........LOL.......Josie

[tannin]

I am wondering what the cannister is actually there for, if you use a prefilter? Is it just a pump with a place to put in biofilter media?

I ask because I have no prefilter on my cannister, but have 2 grades of filter material inside - coarse to get the big stuff, and fine to polish the water. Most times cleaning the filter is a 5 minute job to replace the fine filter material (which is in the top basket just before the return, and easy to change)

Maybe if the OP did that he wouldn't need the in-tank sponge filter even.

[nabilbb]

If you use a sponge prefilter on the canister, it'll seldom need cleaning, and the prefilters are easy to detach & clean in a bucket of tank water. Comes with adapters-

http://www.kensfish.com/product3021.html

I like this idea Jhhnn

[ExReefer]

I've had those ATI kits fall off my filter intake and that's dangerous for your fish. Now I just use the sponge from the ATI Filter Max and slip it over my Eheim intake. I wedge a small piece of corse sponge inside the ATI sponge plug up the bottom. It looks cleaner this way and if somehow the sponge fell off the intake, you still have Eheim intake strainer in place to protect the fish.

[ExReefer]

I am wondering what the cannister is actually there for, if you use a prefilter? Is it just a pump with a place to put in biofilter media?

I ask because I have no prefilter on my cannister, but have 2 grades of filter material inside - coarse to get the big stuff, and fine to polish the water. Most times cleaning the filter is a 5 minute job to replace the fine filter material (which is in the top basket just before the return, and easy to change)

Maybe if the OP did that he wouldn't need the in-tank sponge filter even.

Yes, it just becomes a biofilter this way. The prefilter sponge is the mechanical filter and needs to be risned off periodically. For me, having ample filtration on my show tank allows me flexibilty between WC's. On my fry tank, there is little filtration and no flexibility on WC's.