What filter 38g

[freshwaterfishlover]

I've had my 38g for about 3 maybe 4 weeks now and have not got around to buying a filter.


I was thinking about a canister filter, but I found out they are $95-$125. I do not want to spend that much. I was wondering what Filter would be the best "10" rating for a $55-$60 range. Again it is a 38g tank.


Side note this is my Filters on my other tanks

5g bio wheel- though tank is not up and running and probably will give it away free.

10g- Whisper 5g-10g

20g Frog tank- Whisper 10g-20g

20g Crayfish tank- Whisper 20g-40g

29g- Aquaclear 40g-70g

[gm72]

Aquaclear 110. Knockout filter, but a cannister would be best.

[cocoa_pleco]

either the aquaclear 110 like GM suggested or a fluval 305 cannister

[Rue]

I'm voting for the AC!!!

[Greg Menke]

All the canisters will work about the same as far as filtering goes- with some exceptions like the HOT which seems to offer a much finer filter than the rest support; one vendor's sponge is about the same as anothers, and all that happens is water is pumped thru it. Generally the difference between the cannister filters seem to be ergonomics and to some extent quality of materials- the amount of noise they make does enter into it.

I bought an Ehiem 2217 for our 55. Seems fine, filtering capability is nothing special but its quiet and media changes are relatively convenient. If I bought another, it'd be a HOT with the paper filter- which seems to allow you to filter out much smaller stuff. The tradeoff being the media packs off more quickly. I'm increasingly inclined to pick up a small HOT with the fine filter and polish that way- the Eheim isn't doing it.

And btw, all the filter vendors will attempt to sell you vastly overpriced coarse and fine sponge media. Skip all that crud and go to a craft store and buy a bag of the poly fill used in pillows. Wash it first, then stuff the filter with it- the Ehiem's design works well for this. When it gets dirty, pluck it out give it a rinse and back into service. I bought the official $5 Eheim coarse and fine sponges, packing the filter stiffly with the poly fill works better.

Regards,

Greg

[cocoa_pleco]

eheims do sound pretty good.


I like my chinese canister and my fluvals. Both are dead silent. The only bad thing about the chinese one is the output is a spraybar, and the canister filter itself is recommended for 200g tanks, and i have it on a tall hex tank. I just skipped the spraybar and have a plastic stick as the output

[Greg Menke]

I'm ambivalent on the spraybar. It does seem to mix the tank pretty well. When set vertically it tucks away next to the intake and heater but its an eyesore when set horizontally. I will give Ehiem full credit for their nice tubing and quick disconnect valves, very pleasant to work with. But I imagine most of the other vendors use decent stuff too.

At first I thought I might care about priming features, but I find I don't and I'm happy to not have the extra stuff in the way.

Greg

[Lady Hobbs]

My 55 has two HOTB.....the Emperor 440 and a Penguin 350. It needs a canister but so far, these two have worked for me but I also keep the tank very clean with water changes and vacuuming weekly. Without a canister, you have to. My other 3 smaller tanks all have Penquins and do a good job but I will buy an AquaClear 100 the next time to give it a fair shake. I like the ratings it's getting, the quietness it claims to give and the amount of water volume it pumps. The bio-wheels mean squat to me. I've removed them from all my filters.

Greg Menke......I actually buy pillows on sale on WalMart and remove the inside for filter floss. It's heavier and catches lots of fine particles. You get a ton of the stuff for around $2.50 when pillows are on sale.

[Greg Menke]

We had an Aquaclear 70 at first, I thought it worked fine. We didn't much care for the little waterfall, OTOH the tank ledge was obtrusive enough that it kept the unit relatively high to the water, so the tank had to be nearly full to the brim for the waterfall to be quiet. Priming it entailed pouring a couple glasses of water into its reservoir, not a big problem. I would've kept it but was under the impression that a canister would filter a lot better- which is not the case- any of the filters with sponges & filter pads will work about the same. Its true that the Eheim holds a lot more filter media, perhaps thats an advantage- longer between changes & smaller mini-cycles but thats entirely conjectural on my part. Certainly the Aquaclear hanging on the back of the tank makes for quite dry media changes, the Ehiem has to be disconnected and put in a bucket to catch the (limited) spill when the head comes off.

I like the idea of cutting open pillows- the case being a handy bag for the unused media.. lol

Greg

[Lady Hobbs]

Just don't get feather pillows. LOL

When I finally break down and buy a canister, I imagine it will be a Fluval. I just like the idea of separate baskets for the media.

[cocoa_pleco]

im just waiting to sell the 20g and the hex tank so i can rip the chinese canister and the fluval 205 off of them and put the fluval on my salt tank and the chinese filter on the 55g

[zackish]

some one reccommended this to me...the xP1 for $67 dollars plus shipping so probably about $75....

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[Lady Hobbs]

I never hear of anyone using the Cascade canister, the Marine or the Filstar. I wonder why.

[hungryhound]

I never hear of anyone using the Cascade canister, the Marine or the Filstar. I wonder why.

the Cascade or marine canister I cannot vouch for, but I use a "Rena filstar XP3" on two of my tanks so you do know one person who does. :sbiggrin:

It is a descent canister, but it can be a little noisy (of course the fan on my light is louder, so it is all relative).

I would not suggest a xp1 for a 38 gallon tank. I am using the XP3 on a 46 and 30 gallon tanks and would not want a smaller canister.

[freshwaterfishlover]

Since you guys all recomanded Aquaclear, I was thinking Aquaclear 70. What do you guys think. Is that enought for a 38g or should I go with Aquaclear 110?

[Greg Menke]

The Aquaclear 70 circulated water fine in our 55, not too briskly at the other end of the tank though. The sponge was pretty coarse, I think you may find that it overflows (back around the inlet tube into the tank- not onto the floor) instead of filtering if you put too dense a pack of media in it. OTOH, you might experiment and try stuff like cutting a sponge to fit the filter media unit. Loose stuff like the poly fill will need to be bagged or it'll wash out. If you put 2 layers of media in, then you can cycle out the bottom dirty one, put the new one in on top- should help keep the bacteria colony in place. I bought 2 full changes of "official" Aquaclear media, their sponge media seemed to do the most.

btw- if you find algae is colonizing the suction tube, a scrub brush for baby bottles will clean it right out- recommend that you clean the brush before using it to clean bottles..lol


Greg

[gm72]

The 110 will serve you much better than the 70, although the 70 would be adequate for your size tank. Overfiltration is king. Most of us here use at least twice as much filtration as that volume for which the filters are rated. For example, I have AC 30s on my 10 gallon tanks, and dual 70s on my 40 gallon long.

The 110 allows much greater media volume as well. I have my Aquaclears with the stock sponge on bottom and bags of ehfisynth on top. You could also use any name brand bio-filter media. Knockout, just great filters.

[freshwaterfishlover]

I went tonight and bought an Aquaclear 70. It was 41.99. Aquaclear 110 was 67.99. For some reason I can not get it to work. I built it and added water. It still makes this roaring motor sound and it does not filter. Can anyone tell me what they think it maybe or what the problem is.

[gm72]

Your impeller is grinding. Make sure the intake tube is well seated. Make sure the intake is below the water line. Make sure you filled both sides of the filter with water before starting.

[cocoa_pleco]

either the impeller is grinding or you didnt shove down the intake hose enough

[zackish]

Isn't the aquaclear 110 and 70 a HOB?

[Greg Menke]

Pour a few glasses of aquarium water into the filter reservoir- enough to cover the pump intake. Ensure the intake tube is fully seated down into the intake recess, its easy to cock it up on the side of the recess. Once things start working, you should see water surging up the intake tube, help it out by pouring another glass of water into the pump- eventually it'll prime.

Greg

[freshwaterfishlover]

I fix the problem. The perpelor had come off.

[RobbieG]

Isn't the aquaclear 110 and 70 a HOB?

Yes they are

[Rue]

...butting in to nitpick!

In a filter it's called an impeller because it's the part of a pump that rotates...impellers have short blades...

...vs. a propeller which converts rotational movement into thrust...and have long blades...