Best Canister Filter 2018

[tkeracer619]

Haven't used a canister filter for a long time. Wondering what everyone who uses them likes, what specifically they like about it, and what they don't like.

The last one I used (and still have) is a Magnum HOT350. Certainly they make better units these days

I'm replacing my two AIO QT tanks with two glass 75gals because the AIO sump sections are too hard to clean. Hoping to get something that is quiet, reliable, and easy to use.

In my previous thread I just assumed I would be using HOB filters but turns out I neglected to even think about the gap between the wall and tanks. I will only have about 1.5" with the new tanks. I do have space underneath both tanks so it looks like canister filters are my answer.

[tkeracer619]

Originally Posted by SumptyDumpty

If you can'd do a Hang on, opt for a Cobalt EXT canister.

I think they are around $87-96 online. The Cobalt inline 210 gph pump is very very quiet and can be in the AIO chamber as the canister is below. The canister has black shape foam that can be cut as easy as a Aqua Clear filter block.

The EXT canister has a rotating disconnect that hits a bypass that leaves your system (EXT 210gph pump) running while you change the canister to clean it.

[Dross]

I would probably use an Eheim 2217, but you will still want some additional water movement in a 75. Be sure to get the double-tap valves for quick disconnects. I use Eheim's on all my freshwater tanks.

[Nanook]

Fluval FX series are pretty sweet. I have an FX6 on my freshwater tank.

[tletourneau]

I like the Fluval's I've used everything from the 106 to the FX6. I am currently running a FX4 & FX6 on our 150 gallon freshwater tank and they work well.

[tkeracer619]

Thanks guys.

Any others?

Anyone use Penn-Plax? They seem to get good reviews.

[Bayareareefer18]

Originally Posted by tkeracer619

Thanks guys.

Any others?

Anyone use Penn-Plax? They seem to get good reviews.

When my 75 was a freshwater discus tank I was running an eheim pro 4+ 600 and loved it. Way better than the expensive POS fluval G6 I had originally gone with

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[tkeracer619]

My fish room current has 13 Ehiem pumps running. Definitely a fan of their equipment.

Certainly a little more expensive than the others but I assume you get what you pay for. Don't want to have to do this again.

[newbie2014]

I like the Eheim Classic 22XX series because their design allows no water bypass. 100% of the water has to go through the media. They're a pain to clean, though.

[jayball]

Originally Posted by newbie2014

I like the Eheim Classic 22XX series because their design allows no water bypass. 100% of the water has to go through the media. They're a pain to clean, though.

Yes, a serious pain to clean. I wish they had a couple baskets inside. One nice feature to look for is a canister with a priming button.

[SumptyDumpty]

Originally Posted by newbie2014

I like the Eheim Classic 22XX series because their design allows no water bypass. 100% of the water has to go through the media. They're a pain to clean, though.

Originally Posted by jayball

Yes, a serious pain to clean. I wish they had a couple baskets inside. One nice feature to look for is a canister with a priming button.

I'm not sure what media would be inside for your purpose, but the freshwater planted tank route would have almost exclusively various sponge.
Can you guys leave some details on what was the issue on them as the Eheim Classics look decent for a build quality etc?

Personally, I would take out as much internal pump components (impeller) as possible to get the noise if any out of the canister and hook up the best pump you could find that fits in the space and primes itself do to sitting in the water already.
The Idea of zero bypass is great, as I would not use anything too fine that would make the seals have a bad day due to the pressure.

I'm trying to find out how much bypass is in the Cobalt EXT canister and would like to modify the gaps to a minimum if necessary too.

[BFG]

Originally Posted by jayball

Yes, a serious pain to clean. I wish they had a couple baskets inside. One nice feature to look for is a canister with a priming button.

In that case , do what I did before , connect 2 eheim classic in series , 1 to house the filter wool and sponge while the 2nd canister houses the ceramic filter media . You only need to maintain the 1st canister filter that holds the filter wool and sponge . By connecting in series , you need to remove 1 of the impeller and use only a single impeller to work the whole loop .

Eheim Classic series are great , bought all of mine 2nd hand , you might need a new o ring seal and or a new impeller too ! Also , the impeller can be interchangeable with each other . If you need a stronger flow , get a higher model impeller or if the flow is too strong , change with a lower model impeller . I have tried with the 2211 and 2213 interchanging both and the 2215 and 2217 too but forgotten if its possible with 2213 and 2215 model .

Their Professional series is however , a pain in the rear , leaks from the priming button will see you reaching for the screwdriver to open the pump portion of the canister to replace a new o ring for the priming function , I'm really not looking forward to doing it . Sold off all my Pro series canister filter .

However , Eheim has this accessories called the Installation Set 1 for the intake hose and Installation Set 2 for the output hose . These 2 accessories has a cap that you can unscrew and add water , with a funnel , into the hose that has been connected to the canister filter to fill water to prime the canister filter . After filling the water into the hoses , screw back in the cap and turn on the power to the canister filter . Easy peasy !

Alas , even a branded canister filter will leak as time goes by but you can limit the damage water cause to your floor by placing the Classic series in a bucket , I use Ikea Samla container as it can house 2 Eheim Classic series canister filter ie 2 x 2217 connected in series easily . You can even fit a small to medium sized co2 tank together if you want to . Also , you will need 3 of the quick connector for a series connection , either get the Eheim ones or go the diy route with pvc connector .

Hope this helps !

[tkeracer619]

I was about to pull the trigger on some eheim pro 4+ canisters but one of the tanks is really high up. It made me nervous that I wouldn't get the required flow. They were also pretty expensive.

Settled on the Cobalt EXT canisters and will likely run an Eheim pump on them to push more water through. I liked that the pump wasn't built in. Didn't hurt that DFS has them for $66, the replacement foam for $2.50 each, and a 10% coupon code "SPRING10". Tax and everything came out to around $140 for two canisters.

I'm thinking I'll go with the CompactOn 2000 Eheim but already have two Compact 1000s I can try if the Cobalt pumps don't cut it.

Thanks, for the responses! It gave me things to think about. I watched a lot of cleaning videos of various canisters

[Abstract3000]

So just curious what exactly are you using a canister filter for? Is this a freshwater setup? Are you not going to use a skimmer or any sort of Refugium? What exactly do you intend to put in the canister filter?

[tkeracer619]

Goal is improved water quality in two 75gal QT systems.

Easy maintenance and instant cycling are important. After each batch of fish tanks and filters will be bleached. I have a large batch of pre cycled pond matrix to swap out each time.

[SumptyDumpty]

Originally Posted by tkeracer619

I was about to pull the trigger on some eheim pro 4+ canisters but one of the tanks is really high up. It made me nervous that I wouldn't get the required flow. They were also pretty expensive.

Settled on the Cobalt EXT canisters and will likely run an Eheim pump on them to push more water through. I liked that the pump wasn't built in. Didn't hurt that DFS has them for $66, the replacement foam for $2.50 each, and a 10% coupon code "SPRING10". Tax and everything came out to around $140 for two canisters.

I'm thinking I'll go with the CompactOn 2000 Eheim but already have two Compact 1000s I can try if the Cobalt pumps don't cut it.

Thanks, for the responses! It gave me things to think about. I watched a lot of cleaning videos of various canisters

I didn't catch the DFS until just now.
Thanks for the tip.

I didn't see the canister being sold any longer on DFS, but did see the cut sponges for $2.74 before any discount.
The other thing I noticed was the filter was in the "CLEARANCE CENTER - UP TO 75% OFF".

Hmm, I wonder if the filter is going to be around for awhile. I have 3.
Spare parts are great and love the idea that I can just plug a seeded/Bio-loaded Cobalt-EXT filter on a new project with the QD bypass and toss another one laying around back on to keep the tank running.
Most of the tanks I have run multiple redundant filters.

Lastly, I have teo ideas for the EXT canister.
#1. The Vectra DC pump laying around could be set on a low setting and work as the main driver on the Cobalt EXT canister ...maybe.

Option#2:
Can I use a Cobalt EXT pump as usual on the start (inside of tank), as well as a 2nd EXT pump on the output (inside of tank)?
- I think they may fight each other over time as one would likely be the dominant pump and toss something out of wack.


Rats!
They Sold Out of them!

[tkeracer619]

Yeah, I may have gotten the last two, ordered them around 2am last night. The lowest price I saw on google otherwise was around $85. $65 was just too good to pass up on.

There's no reason you can't use two pumps in series. It won't increase flow beyond their zero head pressure flow rating but it will increase the capable head pressure.

I think the vectra could be a good pump for it, certainly would let you dial in the flow.

[SumptyDumpty]

Originally Posted by tkeracer619

Yeah, I may have gotten the last two, ordered them around 2am last night. The lowest price I saw on google otherwise was around $85. $65 was just too good to pass up on.

There's no reason you can't use two pumps in series. It won't increase flow beyond their zero head pressure flow rating but it will increase the capable head pressure.

I think the vectra could be a good pump for it, certainly would let you dial in the flow.

Thanks tkeracer619.

Canister filter talk:
I was thinking about making a manifold (outlet) off a Vectra pump on a low 48x24x16 tank build and drive 2-3 of the Cobalt canisters with the M1 on low.
The M1 has a low feed mode that would be great.
I have a pipefish tank with live brine that get pushed a bit.
The right porosity prefilter on the intake with a plastic inner as a "skeleton" should keep the intake from collapsing in on itself.

I have a planted tank with white gravel that would hide the white Vectra pump.
The dark foam prefilters blend in like the dark driftwood.

-An off topic Canister/Hang-on filter topic you may like:

Regularly, I use a feed timer on my pipefish tank.
I has 3 buttons that will interest any of you with picky live foods that get into equipment like a skimmer box, Tidal Filter or other.
1. Touch SWITCH.
2. Press COUNDOWN (set minutes for duration).
3. Touch CONFIRM.

[tkeracer619]

Cool, yeah I need to do this to keep uneaten food out of the filter. Since these are QT's I tend to feed a bit heavy to try to keep the fish healthy. It's always a balance between food and water quality. With my all in ones it is a real pain to clean the filter in the back so it often sits there collecting detritus and food that goes down the overflow. The constant breakdown of food then lowers the ph in the tank which causes other issues. Going to set these up with a spray bar and try to get a good gyre in the tanks with a small powerhead. Now I have to figure out which powerhead I'm going to use.

[Dross]

I would be very careful about feeding a canister with a pressure pump. The canister do not take a lot of pressure. I think it is much safer to put the pump on the outlet line and pull through the canister. Not familiar with the Cobalt, but on most any canister you can just remove the impeller and use an appropriately sized external pump to pull through the canister.

[SumptyDumpty]

Originally Posted by Dross

I would be very careful about feeding a canister with a pressure pump. The canister do not take a lot of pressure. I think it is much safer to put the pump on the outlet line and pull through the canister. Not familiar with the Cobalt, but on most any canister you can just remove the impeller and use an appropriately sized external pump to pull through the canister.

The Cobalt EXT canister is new to me.
The Cobalt Ext has a bypass system that keeps the pump running in the tubes and you can walk away with the canister to clean it.

Thank you, I think I can fully agree to dragging water instead of pushing it through this particular canister containing the 4 foam slabs in the 4 media trays.
Can a submerged Vectra M1 or S1 DC model / COR15 somehow do the inhale/suction work is another question?
I would love the slow/low feed mode for a canister output.

I also would love to drive two Cobalt Ext model canisters from this pump idea.


Canister:
This project is for a Cobalt ext model canister with 4 trays stacked and 4 slices of square foam (simple square with a central hole).
It's a freshwater application.
The foam acts slightly as mechanical initially, but should be a great biological/light mechanical filter over time.

Last month ( in the photo below) we can see 4 fairly open pore hydro-sponges hooked up to 4 Cobalt MJ900 pumps.
The tank is being cleaned with the plants cleared out for the process.

This EXT model Cobalt canister will keep me from having to get at the hydro-sponges in the tank and wring them out every 1-2 months or so.
They seem to never clog due to the porosity.

I wonder if username tkeracer619 was onto something, adding your (username Dross) output-line pump theory, also using two Cobalt pumps in series or a great DC pump.

The catch is - it has to be dead silent.***
All filters on the tank were silent except the Tidal Sicce model 110 hang on unit.
The Cobalt EXT inline pump is dead silent or close to it.

I love having a room with flowing plants that wave like the saltwater project, but has almost no noise at all.
-it makes the trouble spots that arise easier to find, as well as make a reading room.




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