Best canister filter for these needs

[BettaCrew]

Hello. I love researching things but sometimes get stuck in the details. I have researched 5 brands of canister filters and am now stuck.

I have used Fluval Aquaclear 20 filters for my 5g tanks for some time now. I have recently combined my 5g tanks into one 14g rimless cube. I have honey gourami, sparkling gourami, rabbit snails, nerite snails, and ghost shrimp. Plants include anubias petite and marimo moss balls. I will be adding corkscrew valisneria (and root tabs) for background plants. I have sand substrate d/t the rabbit snails.

Which brand/ filter would be best?

My wish list:

Ability to reduce flow for feeding time. The sparkling gourami tend to like food that doesn't zip around like mad on the surface (or maybe that's just my guys).

Aesthetically pleasing tubing (on top of tank, behind, inside) since I can see behind the tank into the living room as I come in the front door. Even at 5f1in, I am taller than my tank and stand. I will be able to see the tubing going into a tank that is clear and pretty... black tubes are not pretty... just aren't... although I realize they prevent algae growth d/t less exposure to light.

I would like to hide the heater in the filter but am willing to do an inline (hydor). Would the valisneria hide a heater or am I going to be fighting a losing battle to grow it because of my sand substrate?

Filters I am considering:

Oase Filtosmart 100
Like: Hidden heater/ Spray bar (do I even need one?)/ Somewhat clear tubing for back of tank (at least less of eyesore than straight black)/ Parts of inside tank tubing are clear/ Not a lot of mess when disconnecting hoses

Dislike: Flow path through unit (would this truly be efficient or a waste of money)/ Blue on intake and output at top of tank (me being picky)/ Last stage has media loose around heater area (I'd think that would be a pain to clean unless I could get it into a mesh bag so I could lift it out)

Fluval 307
Is this model way overkill? Maybe 207 instead?
Like: Fluval brand has been good to me/ Baskets are super nice/ Flow through unit/ Not a lot of mess when disconnecting hoses

Dislike: Black tubes that are bulky looking (top, back, inside of tank) not aesthetically pleasing at all/ Cannot adjust flow for feeding (or would the aquastop allow it enough to not send food flying?) ( would the spray bar food the flying food issue with Fluval?)

Sicce Whale 120 or 200

Like: Baskets/ Flow through unit/ Not a lot of mess when disconnecting hoses/ possible ability to put in inline heater (hydor)

Dislike: Dark gray on top of tank (maybe would blend in visually instead of sticking out so much)/ Gray and black tubing on back of tank/ Frail looking primer/ No heater in pump (would this tubing allow for an inline hydor?)

Hydor 150 or 250

Like: Color of hoses (top of tank and back)

Dislike: Cannot change flow rate for feeding/ No heater inside (would this tubing allow for an inline hydor?)

 

[carsonsgjs]

Lots of choices here! Im a fluval snob myself, so id always go with that. To answer your question on that one, I have the 206 (older version of the 207) and you can lower the intake/output by using the grey lever attached to the aquastop valve. You can either lower it or stop it all together. I use a spray bar with it too so the output isnt too strong and is distributed evenly across the tank. Not sold with the filter itself so is an optional extra!

 

[Fisch]

I am with you in regards to esthetics. I only can speak for the Fluval as I habe the 306 on my 55gl, this is just food for thought. I tried to exchange those ugly bulky black hoses, only to notice that the nice clear ones just kink and build algea and finally look more gross than the black ones. The ribbing really helps to bend these hoses over the rim without obstruction of flow. The design is thought through. As I have the light bar in front of the tubes, they are a bit more hidden as well.
Another option would be to get clear glass tubes for the visible parts (lily pipes), though they maybe a bit more fragile, but they look really nice. I believe you can get rainbars/spraybars with these as well.
The rest of the black tubing behind the tank would disappear behind the vallisneria.
The aquastop, though designed to reduce flow, is not designed to stop the flow as the impeller still turns. If I want to stop water I pull the plug on the canister.
Inline heater works great with the canister, though it is a bit of a pain to connect it without leakage. I have an ISTA Heater and it works without flaw since I started a year ago. When I cleaned the filter the last time, I was astonished how little buildup I had in the heater. Backdraw is that it adjusts temp in celsius, which does not allow as much for fine tuning.
I am curious about other input...

 

[GlennO]

Gouramis don’t like much water movement so if you set the tank up accordingly you shouldn’t have to be adjusting the flow at feeding time. Direct the outlet so that it’s baffled. You can’t go wrong with the Fluval ‘07’s.

 

[Dechi]

I would choose the Fluval. 307 is not necessary for such a small tank. Either 107 or 207 will do. A Fluval is for life, because you can buy all parts separately and rebuild it completely. You can’t go wrong with that filter.

Oase and Sicce and Hydor are good brands also but when I looked at least, parts are hard to find and expensive.

 

[Cherryshrimp420]

I think 5g is too small for the U tubes and rainbars that come with canister filters. You may have to cut them shorter. The flow would also be overkill....so you gotta run at lowest settings

 

[Fisch]

I think 5g is too small for the U tubes and rainbars that come with canister filters. You may have to cut them shorter. The flow would also be overkill....so you gotta run at lowest settings

I may be wrong but I was under the impression this is planned for a 14gl tank. For a 5gl tank I would agree with you.

 

[Cherryshrimp420]

I may be wrong but I was under the impression this is planned for a 14gl tank. For a 5gl tank I would agree with you.

He said he combined the 5g tanks together? So the height would still be a 5g height I assumed....

 

[Fisch]

He said he combined the 5g tanks together? So the height would still be a 5g height I assumed....

We may have to wait for confirmation...

 

[Jonmott]

We may have to wait for confirmation...

Unless you can produce a 14 gallon rimless cube from 5 gallon tanks id say you were right

 

[Fisch]

Hello. I love researching things but sometimes get stuck in the details. I have researched 5 brands of canister filters and am now stuck.

I have used Fluval Aquaclear 20 filters for my 5g tanks for some time now. I have recently combined my 5g tanks into one 14g rimless cube. I have honey gourami, sparkling gourami, rabbit snails, nerite snails, and ghost shrimp. Plants include anubias petite and marimo moss balls. I will be adding corkscrew valisneria (and root tabs) for background plants. I have sand substrate d/t the rabbit snails.

Which brand/ filter would be best?

My wish list:

Ability to reduce flow for feeding time. The sparkling gourami tend to like food that doesn't zip around like mad on the surface (or maybe that's just my guys).

Aesthetically pleasing tubing (on top of tank, behind, inside) since I can see behind the tank into the living room as I come in the front door. Even at 5f1in, I am taller than my tank and stand. I will be able to see the tubing going into a tank that is clear and pretty... black tubes are not pretty... just aren't... although I realize they prevent algae growth d/t less exposure to light.

I would like to hide the heater in the filter but am willing to do an inline (hydor). Would the valisneria hide a heater or am I going to be fighting a losing battle to grow it because of my sand substrate?

Filters I am considering:

Oase Filtosmart 100
Like: Hidden heater/ Spray bar (do I even need one?)/ Somewhat clear tubing for back of tank (at least less of eyesore than straight black)/ Parts of inside tank tubing are clear/ Not a lot of mess when disconnecting hoses

Dislike: Flow path through unit (would this truly be efficient or a waste of money)/ Blue on intake and output at top of tank (me being picky)/ Last stage has media loose around heater area (I'd think that would be a pain to clean unless I could get it into a mesh bag so I could lift it out)

Fluval 307
Is this model way overkill? Maybe 207 instead?
Like: Fluval brand has been good to me/ Baskets are super nice/ Flow through unit/ Not a lot of mess when disconnecting hoses

Dislike: Black tubes that are bulky looking (top, back, inside of tank) not aesthetically pleasing at all/ Cannot adjust flow for feeding (or would the aquastop allow it enough to not send food flying?) ( would the spray bar food the flying food issue with Fluval?)

Sicce Whale 120 or 200

Like: Baskets/ Flow through unit/ Not a lot of mess when disconnecting hoses/ possible ability to put in inline heater (hydor)

Dislike: Dark gray on top of tank (maybe would blend in visually instead of sticking out so much)/ Gray and black tubing on back of tank/ Frail looking primer/ No heater in pump (would this tubing allow for an inline hydor?)

Hydor 150 or 250

Like: Color of hoses (top of tank and back)

Dislike: Cannot change flow rate for feeding/ No heater inside (would this tubing allow for an inline hydor?)

So with all the information, what did you decide? Just curious

 

[pagoda]

I have 4 aquariums...3 x 60 litre and 1 x 80 litre...and all 4 run Tetra EX600 Plus external filters, absolutely no issues whatsoever with them. Two of the 60 litre are tall hexagonal and the other two are longs, the longs are a little creative on the positioning for the intakes but both works perfectly (even if they did cause alot of swearing when priming after initial installation)

I read various things about the 600 having leaking issues but so far mine have been as good as gold, although as a precaution all are sat in their own dark grey buckets which are for my peace of mind, not for any real concerns. All 4 of the 600's are totally silent, one is beside the bed and I do not hear it at all. They are good value, have 5 stage filtration and most importantly the fish seem more than happy, especially the mischievious Danio's and Cory's.