Best Canister Filter?

**Surfdog** · 06-12-2012, 06:23 PM

Originally Posted by jtrain252

I have just purchased a MArineland c220 for my 29 gallon, and it is pretty easy to use, has a nice flow, and it is not DEAD silent but its pretty freaking quiet.

ITs my first canister filter and i am loving it at the moment

Cool! Good for you and I hope you have many years of use. Did you buy from PetSmart? They Lifetime warrenty it???

**Goes to 11!** · 06-12-2012, 06:24 PM

Enjoy your new canister man!

**Fishguy2727** · 06-13-2012, 01:33 AM

In Canada the pricing may be skewed since both will be imported. In the U.S. Fluvals run cheaper than Eheims, sometimes dramatically so.

I don't think a canister has any place in a modern marine aquarium, so a saltwater only store having anything to do with any of them says something to me. A modern reef tank is very natural, relying on live rock and a refugium for filtration (along with a skimmer). I would never recommend a canister for any marine tank. They trap debris and turn in to nitrate factories way too easily. The customers and clients I have had try to use them on reef tanks almost always realize it is a waste. BEFORE this turns in to a huge debate about canisters on saltwater tanks I do understand that many people use them without issues. In my experience this is mainly with predator/fish only tanks where the reduced lighting will help prevent the extra nutrients from turning the tank into an algae farm. It also requires the aquarist to maintain them very frequently (some do it every week to prevent nitrate problems).

There has to be a reason why those stores like Eheim and Rena, yes. It is the same as many others, they haven't used the recent lines of Fluvals. Like others they learned to hate them when they weren't above and beyond the others, which they are now (or at least were with the 05 line, I don't like the 06 line).

**jtrain252** · 06-13-2012, 06:09 AM

no i bought it at a small shop it was 99 at petsmart but 79 where i got it.......hopefully i dont experience any leaking issues lke some people do.............

**tiffykubi** · 06-17-2012, 12:39 AM

I use fluval canisters on 2 of my tanks and I love them. I have a 205 and a 406. Good water quality, easy maintenance, and super quiet. If budget is a concern for you, get one of the 05 series vs the 06 from Amazon and you'll get a good deal. The difference between the two series is not that different in my opinion.

**jtrain252** · 06-17-2012, 05:32 AM

Well for the Marineland having the WORST media i have had no issues with it what-so-ever. Now i kept the sponge first, bioballs second biomax third and then their media with a floss pad.......Whether or not the balls are fully submerged they will still achieve some form of bacteria. and in my 29 gallon the flow is fine. not violent but by no means weak. you can definatey see the current flowing. Their outtake tube is a little dumb with the square "speaker
" but other then that i love it. And i only paid $79 at local fish store.......as compared to the $200 Petsmart wanted for a fluval.

**Fishguy2727** · 06-17-2012, 12:34 PM

With other biomedia compensating you may not have any issues with the bioballs, but they are a waste. That same volume in your filter is better used with a biomedia designed for submerged use so that much more bacteria can live in that same volume.

Put your floss right after the sponge, before any biomedia. This will keep the water cleaner so the bacteria are dealing with the cleanest water possible and not being clogged by the debris that isn't being taken out until after the biomedia.

**Lady Hobbs** · 06-17-2012, 02:15 PM

I think all canisters should come with a spray bar. It costs them just pennies to toss one in and gives us the option of using it or not......like power filters gives us an additional tube extension?

Last time I thought of getting a spray bar for my Fluvals, it was $12.95 ordered separately. But at least I didn't get those bright green ugly tubes. Why in the world do they make tubes that color that stick out like a sore thumb? They may as well be hot pink.

**Fishguy2727** · 06-17-2012, 02:36 PM

I have never thought about it like the intake extensions, that is a good point.

Hagen has really dropped the ball lately. Between bright white in-tank hardware on the 06 Fluvals, horrible intake strainer on the AquaClears, pricing, no spray bar option at all for the FX5...

**Lady Hobbs** · 06-17-2012, 03:07 PM

I guess they think we all want the tank hardware showing up like a sore thumb. What I noticed when I went to buy a spray bar that there was a separate price for the plug. What good is a spray bar if the end of it has no plug? I don't know if the original spray bar come with a plug and that separate one was just a replacement or if it actually come without one and had to be purchased separately.