I just got back into the hobby, I bought a 110G tall tank off a friend, it came with two old Eheim canister filters. I plumbed one into a home made under gravel filter, I am really happy I did that. It had a huge amount of media and it only processes microscopic pieces bits rather than large chunks, does a great job. The other one I plumbed in with a home made spreader arm for the return water so it slows down the high speed return flow, it also has a home made intake with sponge pre-filter, works great. AND...no sound at all. I like that too. Tons of filtration, zero nitrites, zero nitrates, zero ammonia. That might change as the fish get bigger, but for now, three months in, it's perfect.
I KNEW IT! You don't even have to get into brands because even listening to all the pros and cons are exactly how I wound up choosing the brand that I did and the size that I did. Really it's best for people to do the research for their own needs but with this podcast out there people will be able to listen to it and make their decision. When I originally bought my canister filter it was one of your videos John that taught me how to move my tank from one apartment to another and I was able to do it because I had that filter and I didn't have to worry about the substrate because I had it. So you guys are doing great work. Thanks so much. ❤
And also- I have an eheim 2215 which I first bought for a 46 gallon bowfront. I didn't open it for 3 years & it caused zero problems. You're not an idiot. I had to look it up I thought I had the thing hooked up wrong. I thought there might be some kind of monsters growing in there. HAHA
I have hang on back filters, sponge filters, and canister filters. The canister filters are the most quiet of the three. However, I did have a leak in a Fluval 206 that made a mess on my hard wood floors. I was home and caught it before it became a catastrophe, but I work 12 hour shifts with long commute times, and if it occurred while I was at work, that would be beyond bad. My Fluval 406 has worked really well, but I have never been comfortable with the way the top and the bottom fits together. The Seachem Tidal 55 works well most of the time, but if the water level gets down a little bit in the tank, it becomes the noisiest filter that I have period. I have had the motors on the Seachem Tidal and the Fluval FX4 stop working. I had to replace the motor on the Tidal, but I was able to take apart the motor housing on the FX4, and it started to work after the reassembly. Fluvals use of O rings to seal up everything gives me some insecurities. Still I enjoyed the discussion very much.
My tip for air pump noise; I use knitted plant hanger baskets and suspend my air pumps from the ceiling. It has cut down the noise in my fish room considerably.
Great podcast. I've run canisters for 15+ years on my 46 gal bow front. About a year ago I had a filter failure and water on the floor. Fortunately, I was home and could shut it off quickly. That scared me so I decided to try HOB - I have a Tidal 55 and Penguin 375. I really don't like them. I have constant water sounds like a waterfall, no matter how full the tank and my tank is not as clean. I'm getting ready to set my Fluval 307 canister back up again. I love the Fluval and don't find it difficult at all to clean...and I don't have to clean it as often - usually every 2 months. I'm setting up a 20 gal long and will be putting the Fluval 207 on it. I love the ability to slow the flow if needed and I added a spray bar as well. Thanks for a great show of pros and cons!!
Loved that episode. Personnally I have 2 fx6 and a 07 that the handle broke..still works but it's not as fun to prime...which makes me appreciate the fx series more. hehe I breed fish, as an extention of the hobby which also helps to support it, I have a rack of 10 tanks for my fry ranging from 2 1/2 to 7 gal. and they are on a sump system, 2 reasons. 1. Water stability, having more volume of water and the sump itself is 50 gal .I breed BN pleco which are messy but also gouramis that I feed hardboiled eggyolk..which is messy too so having that extra water and filtration sure helps. 2. Heat, unfinished basement can't heat a ''room'' and having 10 heaters makes no sense. Once the fry have grown to a certain size, they go to one of my 125 tanks with a fx6. Love canisters...but whenever you leave the beaten path, I feel that sumps are often the way to go.
Canister filters are the best, they have plenty of flow and filtering power all in one plug. The only problem I see is perhaps the location of the tank, type or fish and maintenance when things break isn’t cheap But rest assured every brand new part if used correct will last years.
Just installed an FX6 on my 240 gallon a week ago. Loving it ! Quietest filter I’ve ever had. On the other end of the tank, I still have my Eheim 2215 that has been carried over from my 2 previous tanks over the last 12 years. I prefer to have at least 2 filters on tanks longer than 4 feet. I’ve had my share of hang-on-back filters and they were annoying. I’d still use canisters even on a 40 gallon (of course not an FX series). Canisters are not fun to maintain but at least I don’t have to mess with them nearly as often as HOBs
I have Sun Sun 704b running on my 65 since June 2021 not to bad for the lower spectrum on canisters. Once again Gentleman I appreciate the "Tank Talk ,Nerd Talk" long live the Tank Talk Podcast.
I have a canister filter on a 3.5 gallon tank. It's at the top of a shelf so the length of the hose reduces the flow to a manageable level for that size tank.
Great subject. I have multiple canisters of different brands they all have their pros and cons, although I use all of the different types of filters canisters, HOB,box,sponge, under gravel, deep substrate no filter tanks, all different uses. For my situational use and testing ❤
You had me at "hardwood floor" LOL I just bought a budget canister filter and right now it lives in a 5 gallon bucket LOL Before I oiled the O-ring it just pumped water on my floor!
I have a canister filter on my 10 gallon betta tank. I also put an inline CO2 diffuser on it to see if I could. Since the filter would blow that poor fish into oblivion I purposely put a bunch of filter floss and a ton of sponges in there to slow the flow for the little guy. Works really well and he's able to swim around and not be blasted against the glass.
I listen on Apple Podcasts, but RUclips is the only way to leave you guys comments. My comment is that I love listening to you two guys together. You make a great podcast team. You’re my new “Click and Clack the tap-it brothers”. Thanks for the great topics and conversation!
I have one pro on the canister that hasn't been mentioned. I've been running my Oase Biomaster Thermo for a year and a half, and did a maintenance on it just to see how things were going and it could have gone another year and a half. The reason for this? Weekly cleaning of the pre-filter on the canister. The total maintenance time on my Oase is less than 4 minutes, pull out the pre-filter, clean the sponges under the sink, put back in, and turn on. Most of the time it starts up fine, but now and then I have to press the pump 1 or 2 times. And all is good. I would take this canister over any HOB or other canisters, easiest filter I've ever worked on.
👍🤠 John, sometimes I listen to you and Lisa while doing stuff around the house with headphones, a couple times I was looking around thinking I have water running somewhere. I’ll pause so I can find it and it goes away. Doesn’t bother me now I know what it is. Must be loud in there. Love these podcasts.
I have a canister on my 40b. Its the sicce eko 200. I love it. Easy to hide the intake and return and gets good flow across the tank so theres no dead spots. I also always have air in my tank so I also run a small sponge filter. I know people have mixed feelings about maintaining a canister filter but for me it is so much easier than a hang on back. There's no water dripping all over the place as you pull the basket out there's no having to siphon the water out of the back of the hang on back to get all the crud that fell out of the basket. You can just carry the whole canister to the sink and deal with all of the ich directly in the sink. For me I love that feature.
I have a 75 with a 207 and a 307 on it. Its probably overkill, but i love the flow its created. I have the inputs on either side of the brace with a heater in between. The outputs are at either end pointing out from the corner towards the front.
Speaking of large like a 5 gallon bucket, you guys should do an episode about DIY filtration. I’ve always loved making DIY filters from air driven to big DIY canister filters for my stock tank ponds.
I haven’t listened to this yet. I’m caught up on all the rest of y’all’s videos. I save them for while I’m working during the week and listen on Spotify. Thank you guys for doing this podcast. I appreciate you.
I have a 20 gallon long and a sun sun canister filter that someone gave me at work. Some people would say it’s overkill to put such a beast on a small aquarium but I have my reasons. Ever since I got it my aquarium has been more quieter cause like John when I’m trying to sleep that vibration from the air pump drove me crazy as my tank is in my room. It hits very different now, complete silence. Secondly, my maintenance has went from twice a week to pretty much once a month or when I notice a rise in nitrates or nitrates, but that is rare same applies with my ammonia. When it comes to surface agitation on my canister filter, I had to make a few modifications to make the flow more tolerable for my small fish it works great and it’s nice to see the plants moving like in a river. My only pet peeve is getting the angle right so everyone isn’t blown around and I have noticed that oily film crap in the spots where the canister filter flow can’t reach also my fish keep gasping for air even when I crank it up to the max. Any suggestions?
Would it be safe to say, a spray bar would be better for nano fish with perhaps a tall plant "wall" to help soften the flow return? I didn't even think about not being able to adjust the flow of a canister. 😮 you two have given me something to think about. The aqueon corner tank with an actual point stinks. But! I got it for free with a canister.
I recently set up a 45 gallon Clear for Life acrylic in my living room. I am a long time HOB person but needed this one to be quiet. I strayed over to the dark side and installed an Oase Biomaster Thermo 350. It’s silent……….and the pre-filter design is pretty cool. Priming is easy………..no “canister elbo”……….
I am a huge proponent of silent tanks but always run sumps. The key to a silent sump is a 3 standpipe system. Look up beananimal style overflow. One standpipe is full siphon, one is a slight trickle and the other is an emergency drain. Run the pipes to just below water level and they are perfectly silent. My 300 gallon sits 10 feet behind the coach in our main room. The stand is open right now since we are still finishing the facade. The tank is absolutely silent.
Sumps can be very quiet. Mine is every bit as quiet as any canister is. So it’s very possible. It just depends how it’s configured. I have a herbie drain. (Full siphon) it’s absolutely silent. And a quiet dc return pump. You can’t hear it in the next room at all.
Maintenance on hang on backs take for ever on my tanks i would clean a canister over a hang on the back any day. To completely remove a HOB to clean it properly, check your impellers that fail so often, sucks so much. Just a quick manitenance on a HOB filter sure simple but taking it off the tank disconnecting the intake tube, cleaning out the impeller area, nit to mention scrumbing the algae off the filter box because guess what the HOB sits right next to the lights.... I dread my HOB deep cleans. Most canisters do have flow control. Shut the the hoses off pull the canister out crack it open rinse it off put back together, connect the hoses open the lines let it fill then plug in.
I've seen a few FX6 owners with heavily stocked American cichlids, and if set up correctly and the flush valve properly used they just change a polishing pad every 4 months and only break it down like every 18-24months
I love canister filters. I have them on a 12g, 15g, 22g long and 40 breeder. One 40 breeder has the Shark Pro700. John, I know you were talking about the Cascade Canister filter not priming lol. I have a Cascade 1500 on my other 40 breeder with my EBA's and had no trouble priming it and it has a handle like a bucket which makes it easy to carry to my sink for maintenance;)
I'm starting to think canisters need to be considered for nano tanks too (granted they may need smaller ones), simply because they add extra water volume to help stabilize parameters. Another benefit of canisters is, ironically, space limitations. I put one on my 10g because the internal filter I started with wasn't doing what I needed, and the location of this tank doesn't allow room for a HOB. Using a canister allowed me to run hoses through limited clearance and hide the filter under the tank. Bonus is that the intake/outflow also takes up less space inside the tank than the internal filter. I really really wish fluval would make another canister a step smaller than the 107 for nanos.
Great back and forth on the subject. It was like watching Federer and Nadal go back and forth. I know my issues with canister was the exact scenario you brought up. The hose came loose, spill a lot of water all over a blew out my filter. Ended up with a very unhappy wife.
Great Podcast guys! I was wondering if you guys could discuss the different types of tanks. I know some are acrylic, glass and glass framed. Maybe the pros and cons of both. Heat dissipation, scratches, weight, structural integrity, cost and if lids have to be custom made. I've been told that acrylic is better for very large tanks.
Im a big fan of canister filters myself. HOB are my second favorite. Both cause there is a minimum of equipment in the tank. Maintenance of canisters is easy. I only rinse everything about once a year max. Sometimes once in 2 years. I have Eheims and Oases with prefilters and i clean the prefilter once every few months per filter. Maybe 5 minutes each time is what it costs me.
My personal reason for running a canister is esthetics. I hate the way hang on backs or sponge filters look and I don't like bubbles in my tank. I'm running a penn plax cascade 1000 on my 55 with only 8 or so very small fish and it's the clearest it's ever been since switching to a canister from a HOB. Might just be coincidence but I'm chocking it up to better filtration and flow.
I have a 125 with a Fahaka puffer, and over the past 6 years i have used a few different filtration methods. Some out of curiosity and some out of necessity. The only type of filtration i have no experience with is a sump, but other than that it's pretty much all the same in my experience. As far as water quality goes. Ammonia, nitrite etc
I got a Tetra EX 1000 filter for my 29G and filed it with tons of biomedia, extremely satisfied with it. Fish are happy and water quality has never been better. They way it comes out of the box with coarse sponges and plastic media is not good though.
Iv just set up my first canesyer filter iv left 4 sponge filters in there that have been in the tank for 2 years to help speed up the process for my new canister filter . Is this a good idea and how long should i leave the sponge filters in there for before the media im the canister filter is teady to be on its own ? Thanks.
For big tanks I would go sump hands down. I've had canisters I hated them.😅😅😅 last time I ran alot of aquariums my big ones had sumps. Easy to maintain, more media space than you could ever use, and you can greatly add to your total water volume.
I live in a Condo with a 250 and 125 gallon aquariums, 2-FX6 and a Emperor 450 on the 250 and 1-FX6 and a Emperor 450 on the 125, and the loudest thing in the Apt is the Eco, Air Pump
Hello John and Jason from Dubai. I love your show, thank you for everything you do for the fish-crazy community and sharing your knowledge and expertise. Could you please help me with a problem I have been dealing with for over a week now. I have a new Sunsun canister filter (4 drawers) in my 33 gallon heated community tank with lid, (have had it for 3 years or so), in air-conditioned room, not in direct sunlight. Lights on 4 hrs in morning, 4 hrs in afternoon. Suddenly the water was getting hotter than usual so I switched off the heater thinking it was faulty. Still, the water was not cooling off below 77 F even without the heater, (2 other tanks in the same room are keeping to their regular temp, including a cold water tank without heater that is 71 F). So I got this new Sunsun filter, but water still not cooling (around 77 F still no heater). I switched off the U/V light in the filter, no change. Is the motor of the Sunsun the problem & what do you recommend I do? The water temp is ok for now but am afraid that I could run into other problems with the filter if the motor is faulty.
Canisters for 55 gal and up, hob 20-55gal and sponge filters for 15 gal and under. Canisters are virtually silent if set up correctly, I like the hob on my 55 cause it lets me know when I need to add water cause of evaporation and I also like the sound of bubble from air pumps (as long as the pump isn’t louder than the bubbles). Canisters over sumps because of how quiet they are, but if I had a designated fish room in the basement or a room off my house I would definitely have sumps on my big tanks.
I know this is an older video but hopefully you see this. Probably a very simple answer and i'm just over thinking it, but what is safe to use to lube the o-rings / gaskets on canisters like to Fluval 07 series besides their near impossible to get in my area and over priced tiny tube of fluval silicone lube?
My son has a 40 gal turtle tank that is filled all the way up with a ramp for the turtle to get out and stocked with tropical with a marineland 470. I’m switching over to a 75 with the same setup, but lightly stocked with African Cichlids. Between the heavy bio-load of the turtle, and the cichlids, which FX filter would you recommend? I was leaning towards the 4, but is that enough? Or a 407?
Actually, based on my experience on canister filter maintenance, you shouldn't really maintain it once a week cuz there's ONE aspect of the canister that you can hurt and damage every time you take it apart: the rubber O-rings. This is especially if you don't know about lubricating O-rings, since they will actually shrink and lose their ability to stop water from leaking out. My advice is to maintain canisters around every 1~2 months, and lubricate the O-rings every single time you do maintenance to prolong its lifespan
I like using a mix. On most of my tanks I have at least 2 HOB filters and a canister. On my one 6 foot tank I have 3 HOB filters and three canisters and a sponge. Admittedly, 2 of the canisters are there just to be seeded for when I set up new tanks.
@rolfkarlsson276 Me? I was definitely not kidding. I have since reduced what I have on the 210, but at the time I made the above comment, I had the following filtration. • 1 Fluval FX6 Canister Filter • 2 Marineland Magniflow Canister Filter • 1 AquaClear 110 Power (HOB) Filter • 2 Marineland 350 Power (HOB) Filters • 1 Large Aquarium Co-Op Sponge Filter • Aqueon Circulation Pump 950 gph (not technically filtration, but it adds to the water movement) I have recently moved all the Marineland filters to a new 130 gallon (another 6 footer) tank.
I hate hang on the back filters. They are loud and need to be cleaned too often. I don't mind the time it takes to clean my canisters, because I only clean them every other month.
I have a lot of problems with my biomaster thermo 250. Purging air, grinding noises, low flow. I ended up modifying the internal intake tube by adding more holes after reading suggestions online. That helped with the flow issue. Bought lubricant for the o-rings. Checked all my connections. It still spits out air bubbles and is really loud. Can’t figure out why. Emailed oase customer service with no responses on how to fix it. Wish I went with another fluval. Love the fluval canisters. Perfect, quiet, easy filters. Hate the stock tubing they come with though.
Getting canister filter going is super easy all off them. Use Some double shut off valves for more ease. For the first time plum it up complete and suck on the exhaust side its fils itself up wait 5 minutes and plug it in done. If you use the double shut off valves and you want to close them take the filter off clean it and put it back on open de valves wait 5 minutes and youre good to go
Canister Filters are much more efficient for the size and not that difficult to clean. Plus you don’t have to do maintenance as often due to their much larger Effective Filtration Area. Size them on 29g thru 135g.
Hey I saw some information talking about negative effects of too high of flow speed over media for the proliferation of beneficial bacteria, is there any truth to that?
I used to have cannisters years ago same with sumps. And not a fan. Yes they have there advantages, but just not in my fishroom. Even when i had 240s and a 310 i didn't run them. I actually gave the ones that came with the tanks away. yes they work just not a fan. I actually still have one. An fx4. It makes a great flower pot😂
Aqua One Aquis Canister Filter 1250 Series II Using this tank for two years now. Easy to setup and quite to run.. Only thing to do is improve the filtration to finer filters pads and add and extra kilo or more of bio media. Best to price match or get on sale. '
I use two FX 6's on my indoor turtle pond because that's what worked out best for that. As for my aquariums and filtration, I am 100% a sump guy. All day everyday, to me nothing beats a sump and what you can do with it. In my aquariums filtration means a sump and plants, lots of plants. When people look at my tanks they say what's your secret and I point to the plants. I could have no bio material in my sump (I do have bio material) and just use the sump to house equipment and move water and my tank would be just fine. The very best filter for an aquarium has and will always be plants, the more the better. When it comes to my tanks the main thing I concentrate on is growing healthy plants, if my plants are thieving then everything else in the tank thieves. Oh and a sump is way way easier to maintain than a canister filter of any size, trust me.
John speaks. Internet *Boom* Lisa: Stink eye :) Also TV quote based on something you said "I drink and I know things" Back to the topic. I had one external canister filter that was a name brand and not too much. I ended up tossing it because every time I went to clean it, regardless of the order I did the disconnects, it would spill half it's contents on the floor and run into the basement. With an almighty "YEET" it went into the trash and I bought a Shark PRO in it's place. It was very quiet though. Granted it might of been overkill for a 20g long. If I had a 125,+ it would be in the basement on concrete and near the pipe to get rid of flood water so not a big deal. At that point I would go canister or sump as I would have Oscar(s) in it and don't need them rearranging the filter. Speaking of Custom Aquariums, I priced out a 150 with a sump and stand. Nothing fancy (steel stand, upgraded the pumps) and when I looked at that total...wow I paid less for cars. I know they are worth it but it is a bit of sticker shock.
Yep - I pulled down an entire side of the fish room - went from 35 tanks down to 5, but added canisters for those five - electricity usage actually went up.
Wow. I have an fx2 and didn't notice that much of an increase. The Fluval 07 series have ecotec low power usage. They say the 107/207 power usage is equivalent to an led bulb.
@@icarlsw34 There may have been more at play than I realized. This was seven months ago and the electric bill has come back down some, but for a few months running, we were sitting at or around $300 a month and that was without running the Central Air.
@icarlsw34 Yeah, I didn't do the math. I knew what our electric bill was before I plugged it in. I know what it was after I plugged it in. I'm sure there were other factors, but when I unplugged it, the bill did come back down. Again, coincidence? Probably. Did my wife give me the "told ya so" speech? Yes. Yes, she did.
I disagree with the canister con argument with Angels. I have run canisters on my angelfish tanks for decades now. They dont mind remember angels are found in rivers. Yes they like the slower moving areas but your canister is not producing a flow over the entire aquarium like the flow that exists in the amazon river.
I've responded with 125G as the tank volume to adopt a canister. This is because I like to have full tank volume filtration redundancy, and the max HOB filtration volume available is 110G. Running two HOB filters with 110G capacity (in reality it's lower) does not give you that complete tank volume filtration redundancy. I agree that there are other drivers to consider a canister, but in my case, that was the decision factor.
Guy on the left said in a previous video that “you don’t need an FX6 for a 75gal full of goldfish and white clouds”. I’m using a Fluval Tidal 110 and now four (instead of two before) 10 inch sponge filters(each sponge filter rated at 150gal) in my 75 with five large goldfish and 20 white clouds. What do I not know?
My 125 has fx6 and 4. My 110 has fx6 and 407 with a skimmer. My 90 has fx4 and 307 with skimmer. I spend about and hour cleaning a fx6 every 8 to 10 months. Jason spends more time than that on a hob
The Aquael Hpermax 4500 is far superior to the FX6. The FX6 is a great filter but it has fallen behind. It's pretty much unchanged for decades. The Hypermax has far more flow but more importantly far more media space. It also has dual outlets and inlets, the flow is adjustable with the press of a button, a pre-filter and the impeller is easier to access. It also fits in most cabinets as the body is tapered. It's just slightly more expensive than the FX6. But be aware there are three versions. I'm talking about the base model here. Not the WI-FI with heater or Bluetooth versions. You pay a lot extra for those models. Gimmicks in my dinosaur view. 😊
For external canister filters Sicce has the new Space Eko line and the older Whale line. For the internal canisters they have the older Shark adv, and new Shark Pro. I think John is referencing the Space Eko.
Sponge is sponge, buy it in a big sheet from the pond department and cut to size. Chemical media is only as and when required. Problem solved? I think so.
I just got back into the hobby, I bought a 110G tall tank off a friend, it came with two old Eheim canister filters. I plumbed one into a home made under gravel filter, I am really happy I did that. It had a huge amount of media and it only processes microscopic pieces bits rather than large chunks, does a great job. The other one I plumbed in with a home made spreader arm for the return water so it slows down the high speed return flow, it also has a home made intake with sponge pre-filter, works great. AND...no sound at all. I like that too. Tons of filtration, zero nitrites, zero nitrates, zero ammonia. That might change as the fish get bigger, but for now, three months in, it's perfect.
My Sunday night shift reward awaits me for my drive home. Thank you!
Woohoo!
FYI, the flow rate on the 07 series from Fluval can be throttled with the Aquastop valve.
Yeah, it’s nice
I KNEW IT! You don't even have to get into brands because even listening to all the pros and cons are exactly how I wound up choosing the brand that I did and the size that I did. Really it's best for people to do the research for their own needs but with this podcast out there people will be able to listen to it and make their decision. When I originally bought my canister filter it was one of your videos John that taught me how to move my tank from one apartment to another and I was able to do it because I had that filter and I didn't have to worry about the substrate because I had it. So you guys are doing great work. Thanks so much. ❤
And also- I have an eheim 2215 which I first bought for a 46 gallon bowfront. I didn't open it for 3 years & it caused zero problems. You're not an idiot. I had to look it up I thought I had the thing hooked up wrong. I thought there might be some kind of monsters growing in there. HAHA
I have hang on back filters, sponge filters, and canister filters. The canister filters are the most quiet of the three. However, I did have a leak in a Fluval 206 that made a mess on my hard wood floors. I was home and caught it before it became a catastrophe, but I work 12 hour shifts with long commute times, and if it occurred while I was at work, that would be beyond bad. My Fluval 406 has worked really well, but I have never been comfortable with the way the top and the bottom fits together. The Seachem Tidal 55 works well most of the time, but if the water level gets down a little bit in the tank, it becomes the noisiest filter that I have period. I have had the motors on the Seachem Tidal and the Fluval FX4 stop working. I had to replace the motor on the Tidal, but I was able to take apart the motor housing on the FX4, and it started to work after the reassembly. Fluvals use of O rings to seal up everything gives me some insecurities. Still I enjoyed the discussion very much.
My tip for air pump noise; I use knitted plant hanger baskets and suspend my air pumps from the ceiling. It has cut down the noise in my fish room considerably.
This is genius. I'm moving soon and will absolutely be doing this!
@@feliciaheater5548 also, no more check valves!
@@CritterStyle I'm not worried about anyone but myself. The noise bothers ME
I put the air pump on top of a used magic eraser
I sit my air pump on top of a sound dampening panel. Like $5 on the devil😂
Great podcast. I've run canisters for 15+ years on my 46 gal bow front. About a year ago I had a filter failure and water on the floor. Fortunately, I was home and could shut it off quickly. That scared me so I decided to try HOB - I have a Tidal 55 and Penguin 375. I really don't like them. I have constant water sounds like a waterfall, no matter how full the tank and my tank is not as clean. I'm getting ready to set my Fluval 307 canister back up again. I love the Fluval and don't find it difficult at all to clean...and I don't have to clean it as often - usually every 2 months. I'm setting up a 20 gal long and will be putting the Fluval 207 on it. I love the ability to slow the flow if needed and I added a spray bar as well. Thanks for a great show of pros and cons!!
This is the one I’ve been waiting for!
Loved that episode. Personnally I have 2 fx6 and a 07 that the handle broke..still works but it's not as fun to prime...which makes me appreciate the fx series more. hehe
I breed fish, as an extention of the hobby which also helps to support it, I have a rack of 10 tanks for my fry ranging from 2 1/2 to 7 gal. and they are on a sump system, 2 reasons.
1. Water stability, having more volume of water and the sump itself is 50 gal .I breed BN pleco which are messy but also gouramis that I feed hardboiled eggyolk..which is messy too so having that extra water and filtration sure helps.
2. Heat, unfinished basement can't heat a ''room'' and having 10 heaters makes no sense.
Once the fry have grown to a certain size, they go to one of my 125 tanks with a fx6.
Love canisters...but whenever you leave the beaten path, I feel that sumps are often the way to go.
Canister filters are the best, they have plenty of flow and filtering power all in one plug. The only problem I see is perhaps the location of the tank, type or fish and maintenance when things break isn’t cheap But rest assured every brand new part if used correct will last years.
Just installed an FX6 on my 240 gallon a week ago. Loving it ! Quietest filter I’ve ever had. On the other end of the tank, I still have my Eheim 2215 that has been carried over from my 2 previous tanks over the last 12 years. I prefer to have at least 2 filters on tanks longer than 4 feet. I’ve had my share of hang-on-back filters and they were annoying. I’d still use canisters even on a 40 gallon (of course not an FX series). Canisters are not fun to maintain but at least I don’t have to mess with them nearly as often as HOBs
I am not a huge canister filter fan. I have a 125 and 180 that I’m running multiple AquaClear 110s HOB on. So far so good.
I have Sun Sun 704b running on my 65 since June 2021 not to bad for the lower spectrum on canisters.
Once again Gentleman I appreciate the "Tank Talk ,Nerd Talk" long live the Tank Talk Podcast.
I have a canister filter on a 3.5 gallon tank. It's at the top of a shelf so the length of the hose reduces the flow to a manageable level for that size tank.
Love the podcast. So informative & lots of fun too. Thank you John & Jason.
Great subject. I have multiple canisters of different brands they all have their pros and cons, although I use all of the different types of filters canisters, HOB,box,sponge, under gravel, deep substrate no filter tanks, all different uses. For my situational use and testing ❤
Yet to set up a sump system and overflow system auto water changes
You two are the best thing since sliced bread. I really needed to hear this comparison.
You had me at "hardwood floor" LOL I just bought a budget canister filter and right now it lives in a 5 gallon bucket LOL Before I oiled the O-ring it just pumped water on my floor!
I’m with you John fx filter is just the best, but yet again an awesome podcast guys
I have a canister filter on my 10 gallon betta tank. I also put an inline CO2 diffuser on it to see if I could. Since the filter would blow that poor fish into oblivion I purposely put a bunch of filter floss and a ton of sponges in there to slow the flow for the little guy. Works really well and he's able to swim around and not be blasted against the glass.
I listen on Apple Podcasts, but RUclips is the only way to leave you guys comments.
My comment is that I love listening to you two guys together. You make a great podcast team. You’re my new “Click and Clack the tap-it brothers”. Thanks for the great topics and conversation!
I have FX6 on a
55, 120 & 125
Running the new
In line UV filter
I have one pro on the canister that hasn't been mentioned. I've been running my Oase Biomaster Thermo for a year and a half, and did a maintenance on it just to see how things were going and it could have gone another year and a half. The reason for this? Weekly cleaning of the pre-filter on the canister. The total maintenance time on my Oase is less than 4 minutes, pull out the pre-filter, clean the sponges under the sink, put back in, and turn on. Most of the time it starts up fine, but now and then I have to press the pump 1 or 2 times. And all is good. I would take this canister over any HOB or other canisters, easiest filter I've ever worked on.
👍🤠 John, sometimes I listen to you and Lisa while doing stuff around the house with headphones, a couple times I was looking around thinking I have water running somewhere. I’ll pause so I can find it and it goes away. Doesn’t bother me now I know what it is. Must be loud in there. Love these podcasts.
I have a canister on my 40b. Its the sicce eko 200. I love it. Easy to hide the intake and return and gets good flow across the tank so theres no dead spots. I also always have air in my tank so I also run a small sponge filter. I know people have mixed feelings about maintaining a canister filter but for me it is so much easier than a hang on back. There's no water dripping all over the place as you pull the basket out there's no having to siphon the water out of the back of the hang on back to get all the crud that fell out of the basket. You can just carry the whole canister to the sink and deal with all of the ich directly in the sink. For me I love that feature.
I have a 75 with a 207 and a 307 on it. Its probably overkill, but i love the flow its created. I have the inputs on either side of the brace with a heater in between. The outputs are at either end pointing out from the corner towards the front.
Speaking of large like a 5 gallon bucket, you guys should do an episode about DIY filtration. I’ve always loved making DIY filters from air driven to big DIY canister filters for my stock tank ponds.
I haven’t listened to this yet. I’m caught up on all the rest of y’all’s videos. I save them for while I’m working during the week and listen on Spotify. Thank you guys for doing this podcast. I appreciate you.
Good stuff!! Personally I love sponge filters because they’re easy to maintain and HOB’s if I needed the extra filtration.
I went with our boy Jason's recommendation on my 55, the tidal 75. Also got a small wave maker and 1 sponge filter.
Love this Podcast guys!
I have a 20 gallon long and a sun sun canister filter that someone gave me at work. Some people would say it’s overkill to put such a beast on a small aquarium but I have my reasons. Ever since I got it my aquarium has been more quieter cause like John when I’m trying to sleep that vibration from the air pump drove me crazy as my tank is in my room. It hits very different now, complete silence. Secondly, my maintenance has went from twice a week to pretty much once a month or when I notice a rise in nitrates or nitrates, but that is rare same applies with my ammonia. When it comes to surface agitation on my canister filter, I had to make a few modifications to make the flow more tolerable for my small fish it works great and it’s nice to see the plants moving like in a river. My only pet peeve is getting the angle right so everyone isn’t blown around and I have noticed that oily film crap in the spots where the canister filter flow can’t reach also my fish keep gasping for air even when I crank it up to the max. Any suggestions?
Air stone and Weekly water changes will help.
Great informative podcast !
Running Eheim canister. And those have realy good adjustments options. Thought u could adjust the flow on Fluval FX aswell on both intake and outflow?
Would it be safe to say, a spray bar would be better for nano fish with perhaps a tall plant "wall" to help soften the flow return? I didn't even think about not being able to adjust the flow of a canister. 😮 you two have given me something to think about. The aqueon corner tank with an actual point stinks. But! I got it for free with a canister.
I recently set up a 45 gallon Clear for Life acrylic in my living room. I am a long time HOB person but needed this one to be quiet. I strayed over to the dark side and installed an Oase Biomaster Thermo 350. It’s silent……….and the pre-filter design is pretty cool. Priming is easy………..no “canister elbo”……….
Coffee and TankTalk at 5am! Life is good!
I wait until about 7:00 am or so, but same objective
I am a huge proponent of silent tanks but always run sumps. The key to a silent sump is a 3 standpipe system. Look up beananimal style overflow. One standpipe is full siphon, one is a slight trickle and the other is an emergency drain. Run the pipes to just below water level and they are perfectly silent. My 300 gallon sits 10 feet behind the coach in our main room. The stand is open right now since we are still finishing the facade. The tank is absolutely silent.
You know I’ve been waiting for this one
Sumps can be very quiet. Mine is every bit as quiet as any canister is. So it’s very possible. It just depends how it’s configured. I have a herbie drain. (Full siphon) it’s absolutely silent. And a quiet dc return pump. You can’t hear it in the next room at all.
I have to agree with Jason, sumps just work well for me and I don’t mind the noise
Maintenance on hang on backs take for ever on my tanks i would clean a canister over a hang on the back any day. To completely remove a HOB to clean it properly, check your impellers that fail so often, sucks so much. Just a quick manitenance on a HOB filter sure simple but taking it off the tank disconnecting the intake tube, cleaning out the impeller area, nit to mention scrumbing the algae off the filter box because guess what the HOB sits right next to the lights.... I dread my HOB deep cleans. Most canisters do have flow control. Shut the the hoses off pull the canister out crack it open rinse it off put back together, connect the hoses open the lines let it fill then plug in.
I've seen a few FX6 owners with heavily stocked American cichlids, and if set up correctly and the flush valve properly used they just change a polishing pad every 4 months and only break it down like every 18-24months
I love canister filters. I have them on a 12g, 15g, 22g long and 40 breeder. One 40 breeder has the Shark Pro700. John, I know you were talking about the Cascade Canister filter not priming lol. I have a Cascade 1500 on my other 40 breeder with my EBA's and had no trouble priming it and it has a handle like a bucket which makes it easy to carry to my sink for maintenance;)
I'm starting to think canisters need to be considered for nano tanks too (granted they may need smaller ones), simply because they add extra water volume to help stabilize parameters. Another benefit of canisters is, ironically, space limitations. I put one on my 10g because the internal filter I started with wasn't doing what I needed, and the location of this tank doesn't allow room for a HOB. Using a canister allowed me to run hoses through limited clearance and hide the filter under the tank. Bonus is that the intake/outflow also takes up less space inside the tank than the internal filter. I really really wish fluval would make another canister a step smaller than the 107 for nanos.
Great back and forth on the subject. It was like watching Federer and Nadal go back and forth.
I know my issues with canister was the exact scenario you brought up. The hose came loose, spill a lot of water all over a blew out my filter. Ended up with a very unhappy wife.
Great Podcast guys! I was wondering if you guys could discuss the different types of tanks. I know some are acrylic, glass and glass framed. Maybe the pros and cons of both. Heat dissipation, scratches, weight, structural integrity, cost and if lids have to be custom made. I've been told that acrylic is better for very large tanks.
Im a big fan of canister filters myself.
HOB are my second favorite.
Both cause there is a minimum of equipment in the tank.
Maintenance of canisters is easy.
I only rinse everything about once a year max.
Sometimes once in 2 years.
I have Eheims and Oases with prefilters and i clean the prefilter once every few months per filter.
Maybe 5 minutes each time is what it costs me.
My personal reason for running a canister is esthetics. I hate the way hang on backs or sponge filters look and I don't like bubbles in my tank. I'm running a penn plax cascade 1000 on my 55 with only 8 or so very small fish and it's the clearest it's ever been since switching to a canister from a HOB. Might just be coincidence but I'm chocking it up to better filtration and flow.
I have a 125 with a Fahaka puffer, and over the past 6 years i have used a few different filtration methods. Some out of curiosity and some out of necessity. The only type of filtration i have no experience with is a sump, but other than that it's pretty much all the same in my experience. As far as water quality goes. Ammonia, nitrite etc
I got a Tetra EX 1000 filter for my 29G and filed it with tons of biomedia, extremely satisfied with it. Fish are happy and water quality has never been better.
They way it comes out of the box with coarse sponges and plastic media is not good though.
I'm considering using a canister with a 75g I'm planning. I'm still on the fence on whether it's worth the extra cost over a HOB.
For heavily stocked tanks it can be worth it - Jason
Does the canister have to be below the tank? I have a small canister for a nano size, 17 gal and an 8 gal. tank I want to set it next to the tank.
It can often work next to the tank, but usually or above the aquarium.
Iv just set up my first canesyer filter iv left 4 sponge filters in there that have been in the tank for 2 years to help speed up the process for my new canister filter . Is this a good idea and how long should i leave the sponge filters in there for before the media im the canister filter is teady to be on its own ? Thanks.
The FX6 is essentially a quiet shop vac turned into a filter. Absolute unit.
For big tanks I would go sump hands down. I've had canisters I hated them.😅😅😅 last time I ran alot of aquariums my big ones had sumps. Easy to maintain, more media space than you could ever use, and you can greatly add to your total water volume.
I live in a Condo with a 250 and 125 gallon aquariums, 2-FX6 and a Emperor 450 on the 250 and 1-FX6 and a Emperor 450 on the 125, and the loudest thing in the Apt is the Eco, Air Pump
Hello John and Jason from Dubai. I love your show, thank you for everything you do for the fish-crazy community and sharing your knowledge and expertise. Could you please help me with a problem I have been dealing with for over a week now. I have a new Sunsun canister filter (4 drawers) in my 33 gallon heated community tank with lid, (have had it for 3 years or so), in air-conditioned room, not in direct sunlight. Lights on 4 hrs in morning, 4 hrs in afternoon. Suddenly the water was getting hotter than usual so I switched off the heater thinking it was faulty. Still, the water was not cooling off below 77 F even without the heater, (2 other tanks in the same room are keeping to their regular temp, including a cold water tank without heater that is 71 F). So I got this new Sunsun filter, but water still not cooling (around 77 F still no heater). I switched off the U/V light in the filter, no change. Is the motor of the Sunsun the problem & what do you recommend I do? The water temp is ok for now but am afraid that I could run into other problems with the filter if the motor is faulty.
Canisters for 55 gal and up, hob 20-55gal and sponge filters for 15 gal and under. Canisters are virtually silent if set up correctly, I like the hob on my 55 cause it lets me know when I need to add water cause of evaporation and I also like the sound of bubble from air pumps (as long as the pump isn’t louder than the bubbles). Canisters over sumps because of how quiet they are, but if I had a designated fish room in the basement or a room off my house I would definitely have sumps on my big tanks.
Place Sponge intake filter
FX6 can go 6 months or more with out needing to be cracked open.
Just need to ring out the intake sponge
The sump on my waterbox salt water aquarium is dead silent. I haven't experienced the noise that John is talking about
I know this is an older video but hopefully you see this. Probably a very simple answer and i'm just over thinking it, but what is safe to use to lube the o-rings / gaskets on canisters like to Fluval 07 series besides their near impossible to get in my area and over priced tiny tube of fluval silicone lube?
My son has a 40 gal turtle tank that is filled all the way up with a ramp for the turtle to get out and stocked with tropical with a marineland 470. I’m switching over to a 75 with the same setup, but lightly stocked with African Cichlids. Between the heavy bio-load of the turtle, and the cichlids, which FX filter would you recommend? I was leaning towards the 4, but is that enough? Or a 407?
I might go with the FX4 - Jason
@ thank you.
Actually, based on my experience on canister filter maintenance, you shouldn't really maintain it once a week cuz there's ONE aspect of the canister that you can hurt and damage every time you take it apart: the rubber O-rings.
This is especially if you don't know about lubricating O-rings, since they will actually shrink and lose their ability to stop water from leaking out. My advice is to maintain canisters around every 1~2 months, and lubricate the O-rings every single time you do maintenance to prolong its lifespan
Sorry just to add on: use food-grade silicone grease to lubricate O-rings
I like using a mix. On most of my tanks I have at least 2 HOB filters and a canister. On my one 6 foot tank I have 3 HOB filters and three canisters and a sponge. Admittedly, 2 of the canisters are there just to be seeded for when I set up new tanks.
Cant tell if you are joking or not
@rolfkarlsson276 Me? I was definitely not kidding. I have since reduced what I have on the 210, but at the time I made the above comment, I had the following filtration.
• 1 Fluval FX6 Canister Filter
• 2 Marineland Magniflow Canister Filter
• 1 AquaClear 110 Power (HOB) Filter
• 2 Marineland 350 Power (HOB) Filters
• 1 Large Aquarium Co-Op Sponge Filter
• Aqueon Circulation Pump 950 gph (not technically filtration, but it adds to the water movement)
I have recently moved all the Marineland filters to a new 130 gallon (another 6 footer) tank.
I like to put another hang on back on my 80gal
I hate hang on the back filters. They are loud and need to be cleaned too often. I don't mind the time it takes to clean my canisters, because I only clean them every other month.
I have a lot of problems with my biomaster thermo 250. Purging air, grinding noises, low flow. I ended up modifying the internal intake tube by adding more holes after reading suggestions online. That helped with the flow issue. Bought lubricant for the o-rings. Checked all my connections. It still spits out air bubbles and is really loud. Can’t figure out why. Emailed oase customer service with no responses on how to fix it. Wish I went with another fluval. Love the fluval canisters. Perfect, quiet, easy filters. Hate the stock tubing they come with though.
Getting canister filter going is super easy all off them. Use Some double shut off valves for more ease. For the first time plum it up complete and suck on the exhaust side its fils itself up wait 5 minutes and plug it in done. If you use the double shut off valves and you want to close them take the filter off clean it and put it back on open de valves wait 5 minutes and youre good to go
Canister Filters are much more efficient for the size and not that difficult to clean. Plus you don’t have to do maintenance as often due to their much larger Effective Filtration Area. Size them on 29g thru 135g.
Just bought my first canister filter for my 75 gallon tank
Hey I saw some information talking about negative effects of too high of flow speed over media for the proliferation of beneficial bacteria, is there any truth to that?
I used to have cannisters years ago same with sumps. And not a fan. Yes they have there advantages, but just not in my fishroom. Even when i had 240s and a 310 i didn't run them. I actually gave the ones that came with the tanks away. yes they work just not a fan. I actually still have one. An fx4. It makes a great flower pot😂
My 75g salt water has an Eheim canister, a Tidal 110 hang on the back, and an under gravel filter with two power heads on it.
Aqua One Aquis Canister Filter 1250 Series II
Using this tank for two years now. Easy to setup and quite to run.. Only thing to do is improve the filtration to finer filters pads and add and extra kilo or more of bio media. Best to price match or get on sale. '
I have 20 tanks. Only use one canister . Hob and sponges for all of the others
John the interwebs may never recover after what you said infront of the largest Fish related podcast ever. LOL
I use two FX 6's on my indoor turtle pond because that's what worked out best for that. As for my aquariums and filtration, I am 100% a sump guy. All day everyday, to me nothing beats a sump and what you can do with it. In my aquariums filtration means a sump and plants, lots of plants. When people look at my tanks they say what's your secret and I point to the plants. I could have no bio material in my sump (I do have bio material) and just use the sump to house equipment and move water and my tank would be just fine. The very best filter for an aquarium has and will always be plants, the more the better. When it comes to my tanks the main thing I concentrate on is growing healthy plants, if my plants are thieving then everything else in the tank thieves.
Oh and a sump is way way easier to maintain than a canister filter of any size, trust me.
I have a classic eheim on my 35 gal and love it!
John speaks. Internet *Boom* Lisa: Stink eye :)
Also TV quote based on something you said "I drink and I know things"
Back to the topic. I had one external canister filter that was a name brand and not too much. I ended up tossing it because every time I went to clean it, regardless of the order I did the disconnects, it would spill half it's contents on the floor and run into the basement. With an almighty "YEET" it went into the trash and I bought a Shark PRO in it's place. It was very quiet though.
Granted it might of been overkill for a 20g long. If I had a 125,+ it would be in the basement on concrete and near the pipe to get rid of flood water so not a big deal. At that point I would go canister or sump as I would have Oscar(s) in it and don't need them rearranging the filter.
Speaking of Custom Aquariums, I priced out a 150 with a sump and stand. Nothing fancy (steel stand, upgraded the pumps) and when I looked at that total...wow I paid less for cars. I know they are worth it but it is a bit of sticker shock.
Eheim 2262. Holds considerably more media than fx6.
Canisters are definitely expensive to run. Adding an FX2 jacked my electric from $240 and month to over $300
Yep - I pulled down an entire side of the fish room - went from 35 tanks down to 5, but added canisters for those five - electricity usage actually went up.
Wow. I have an fx2 and didn't notice that much of an increase. The Fluval 07 series have ecotec low power usage. They say the 107/207 power usage is equivalent to an led bulb.
@@icarlsw34 There may have been more at play than I realized. This was seven months ago and the electric bill has come back down some, but for a few months running, we were sitting at or around $300 a month and that was without running the Central Air.
@@Whips_World The fx2 is only 27 watts. Should only be about $35 a year to run.
@icarlsw34 Yeah, I didn't do the math. I knew what our electric bill was before I plugged it in. I know what it was after I plugged it in. I'm sure there were other factors, but when I unplugged it, the bill did come back down. Again, coincidence? Probably. Did my wife give me the "told ya so" speech? Yes. Yes, she did.
I disagree with the canister con argument with Angels. I have run canisters on my angelfish tanks for decades now. They dont mind remember angels are found in rivers. Yes they like the slower moving areas but your canister is not producing a flow over the entire aquarium like the flow that exists in the amazon river.
Me too!
I've responded with 125G as the tank volume to adopt a canister. This is because I like to have full tank volume filtration redundancy, and the max HOB filtration volume available is 110G. Running two HOB filters with 110G capacity (in reality it's lower) does not give you that complete tank volume filtration redundancy. I agree that there are other drivers to consider a canister, but in my case, that was the decision factor.
Guy on the left said in a previous video that “you don’t need an FX6 for a 75gal full of goldfish and white clouds”. I’m using a Fluval Tidal 110 and now four (instead of two before) 10 inch sponge filters(each sponge filter rated at 150gal) in my 75 with five large goldfish and 20 white clouds. What do I not know?
The word you're looking for Mr. Professor is habituated to the sounds
I went from a Fluval 406 to a Oase 250 bio master. ❤❤
中国最棒的过滤桶，我感觉是尼特利2号蓝牙智能控制过滤桶！！变频水泵，正压过滤桶，可以容纳10升的伊罕石英球，还可以装一个类似于欧亚瑟的前置全棉过滤桶！ 11:26
That sounds like a nice set up!
Are sumps loud?
They can be a little louder than a canister, but not too bad depending on how you set them up.
Some company Should Make some tray with wheels for cannister filters
My 125 has fx6 and 4. My 110 has fx6 and 407 with a skimmer. My 90 has fx4 and 307 with skimmer. I spend about and hour cleaning a fx6 every 8 to 10 months. Jason spends more time than that on a hob
I’ve had as many as 11 tanks running at one time with canisters. I’m down to 6 tanks now - 3 with canisters, 1 AIO, 1 sponge filters and 1 sump…
I like tidal seachem 110.
Solid filter!
The Aquael Hpermax 4500 is far superior to the FX6. The FX6 is a great filter but it has fallen behind. It's pretty much unchanged for decades.
The Hypermax has far more flow but more importantly far more media space. It also has dual outlets and inlets, the flow is adjustable with the press of a button, a pre-filter and the impeller is easier to access. It also fits in most cabinets as the body is tapered.
It's just slightly more expensive than the FX6.
But be aware there are three versions. I'm talking about the base model here. Not the WI-FI with heater or Bluetooth versions. You pay a lot extra for those models. Gimmicks in my dinosaur view. 😊
Did Sicce release the new canister filter you discuss at 58:00?
For external canister filters Sicce has the new Space Eko line and the older Whale line. For the internal canisters they have the older Shark adv, and new Shark Pro.
I think John is referencing the Space Eko.
Can't believe John referenced size so many times without saying "that's what she said"
Step brother’s movie quote at 17:16? Correct if I’m wrong, just the way he said reminded me of it 🤣
Did we just become best friends?........... YEP!
Lovely
I skipped the canister filters for 6 foot plus aquariums straight to sumps. Aeasthic wise, it was much better, and imo much easier maintenance.
I like seachem Matrix
Another con. If the refill media cartridges/baskets/sponges are expensive. Very expensive in the long run.
Sponge is sponge, buy it in a big sheet from the pond department and cut to size. Chemical media is only as and when required. Problem solved? I think so.