Canister filter vs HOB

I don't think you are paranoid. Wood floors are expensive and easy to ruin with water. I have seen a few threads about leaky canisters, but I would not say it's common that they leak. When they do, it seems like a bucket would almost always contain it, IMO. That being said, I have also seen a few threads about leaky HOBs, (not sure exactly how these would leak with the overflows they have, though). So that may be a wash. I use HOBs myself, they're cheaper and maybe easier to maintain. I like the sound of running water. But canisters have a lot of benefits, as pointed out above. If there's room in your stand for a big bucket, I say go for it, try the canister. Home insurance typically covers water damage from aquarium accidents anyway (but who wants to file that claim). Good luck whatever you decide!

 

I don't think you are paranoid. Wood floors are expensive and easy to ruin with water. I have seen a few threads about leaky canisters, but I would not say it's common that they leak. When they do, it seems like a bucket would almost always contain it, IMO. That being said, I have also seen a few threads about leaky HOBs, (not sure exactly how these would leak with the overflows they have, though). So that may be a wash. I use HOBs myself, they're cheaper and maybe easier to maintain. I like the sound of running water. But canisters have a lot of benefits, as pointed out above. If there's room in your stand for a big bucket, I say go for it, try the canister. Home insurance typically covers water damage from aquarium accidents anyway (but who wants to file that claim). Good luck whatever you decide!

I've had two HOBs leak before. One by the pump and another along a seam. Both of these were really cheap filters, so that might be a cause.

 

My first filter 2yrs ago(upon returning to the hobby after 15 ur absence) was a canister and I loved it. Have 5 hob filters, and they're OK too. Leaking is not that common, and as previously posted a bucket would contain most leaks.

 

Hello fellow fishlore members.

Recently I have been pricing out and planning a 40 gallon breeder build. I was going to use an HOB filter but I have been told that canisters are better. I was going to use an HOB as I know a lot about them compared to canisters, but recently my penguin 170 has been making a ton of noise as when I cleaned the impeller and took off the lubricant, so i'm hoping that a canister will be a lot quieter. So my question is are canisters really better than HOBs? Also, how overkill can I go with my filtration because I love to heavily stock and I want the water to be super clean.

 

"Better" is a subjective term. Canisters typically provide more thorough filtration because they contain multiple trays of filter media, providing more surface area for biological filtration and mechanical filtration. They also tend to be quieter. HOBs are cheaper and easier to clean, however. So it depends on how you look at it. I prefer canisters for tanks larger than 20 gallons, because as I mentioned above canisters offer better mechanical/biological/chemical filtration. They can also be easily customized to your needs.

For a 40 gallon I would recommend a Fluval 306/406 (depending on stock). What fish do you plan on adding?

In terms of overkill, I usually look for around 7-10 times the turn over rate of the aquarium (I wouldn't go much above 10) an hour, depending on what's in the tank. For example, on a 40 gallon tank I want a filter with a gph of around 320+ gph. If it's heavily stocked, you'd probably want a higher gph.

So the formula I use is...

Size of tank in gallons x 7 to 10 (7 for smaller bio-loads, 10 for large bio-loads) = the GPH the filter should be around

 

"Better" is a subjective term. Canisters typically provide more thorough filtration because they contain multiple trays of filter media, providing more surface area for biological filtration and mechanical filtration. They also tend to be quieter. HOBs are cheaper and easier to clean, however. So it depends on how you look at it. I prefer canisters for tanks larger than 20 gallons, because as I mentioned above canisters offer better mechanical/biological/chemical filtration. They can also be easily customized to your needs.

For a 40 gallon I would recommend a Fluval 306/406 (depending on stock). What fish do you plan on adding?

In terms of overkill, I usually look for around 7-10 times the turn over rate of the aquarium (I wouldn't go much above 10) an hour, depending on what's in the tank. For example, on a 40 gallon tank I want a filter with a gph of around 320+ gph. If it's heavily stocked, you'd probably want a higher gph.

Thanks for the info. When I was researching canisters I was conflicted with what brand to go with because every one has good and bad reviews on amazon but it appears that fluvals are a bit of a favorite for people so I guess I'll take at look at those.

 

It really depends on the brand and model of the HOB or canister. I prefer to use HOB's because they are comparably easier to clean and don't take up much space. Some HOB's are really quiet, such as the Fluval Aquaclear series and Seachem Tidal series. Some HOBs are also self priming, so you don't need to prime it again after maintenance like canisters. The fluval aquaclear series and Seachem Tidal series also have customizable media baskets, so you can put any type of media in there that will fit.

Either a Seachem Tidal 110 or Aquaclear 110 will work on a 40 gallon, if you are using HOBs.

You can have as much filtration as you want, as long as the return flow isn't blowing the fish around and the intake isn't sucking the fish in.

 

Thanks for the info. When I was researching canisters I was conflicted with what brand to go with because every one has good and bad reviews on amazon but it appears that fluvals are a bit of a favorite for people so I guess I'll take at look at those.

I love Fluvals. One thing I will add though about Fluvals... they seem more susceptible to leaking. To prevent that, make sure you use aquarium safe silicone grease (Fluval sells some on their site) on the main gasket/O-ring that is attached on the motor head. Also, make sure you attach the O-Ring to the correct recess in the motor head (many people put it too high up on the motor head). When clamping it down, clamp one side down all the way, then the next. This will mitigate the chances of a leak greatly. Replace the O-Rings once a year. Most of the bad reviews from people with Fluvals, with having leaking issues, aren't installing or maintaining the filter correctly.

They're great filters. Some other favorable options are Hydor and Eheim.

 

The recommended minimum hourly output rate for HOBs are 10 times the total volume of your tank. Most brands will offer HOBs up to about 300-350gph which means they are only ideal for 30-35g tanks but probably nothing bigger. Certain brands make larger HOBs too but some people also find that such HOBs with higher output tend to make noticeable noise/hum.

Canisters provide more room for more types of different filter media and more for each kind. Therefore the recommended minimI'm hourly output for canisters is only 5 times the total volume. Eg. Tetratec Ex2400 has a huge total output of 634gph, which means a single canister filter of this type will be sufficient to handle a 125g (of course stocking and the amount/quality of filter media will still need to be taken inyo account as well).

TLDR, HOBs are really great IMO for tanks 30 gallon or smaller though it may not be great for anything larger (need multiples or bigger ones which could be more noisy, unsightly etc). I'd seriously consider canisters for anything larger than 30g.

 

Thank you for posting this as I am curious as well. I am thinking of switching to canister when I upgrade from my 55 gallon to 110g next spring.

 

Thank you for posting this as I am curious as well. I am thinking of switching to canister when I upgrade from my 55 gallon to 110g next spring.

Definitely a worthy upgrade, especially for larger tanks. I'm all about overkill when it comes to filtration. My school of thought is as long as the current isn't too strong for the fish, "overfiltration" is ideal.

For many 5 or 6 times the turn over rate for canisters is sufficient. But FME with large bio-loads I even try to aI'm for 8-10. Of course, the larger the tank the harder that will be to achieve. This is mainly only applicable for tanks around 55 gallons and smaller. For much larger tanks 5 or 6 times the turn over rate with canisters is usually fine.

Example: on a 29 gallon tank, with a canister filter, a 5 time turn over rate with a heavy stock simply isn't enough. That's only 145 gph (which calls for a Fluval 106). That filtration may not be adequate for a larger bio-load. With a 125 gallon tank, however, a 5 time turn over rate would be more ideal. So it really depends on several factors.

 

Definitely a worthy upgrade, especially for larger tanks. I'm all about overkill when it comes to filtration. My school of thought is as long as the current isn't too strong for the fish, "overfiltration" is ideal.

I would have to agree with that

 

Cannisters are quiet.
Quiet was a neccessity for my husband when setting up tanks in the house. I have two cannisters sitting in the living room, both less than six feet from his recliner and he can't hear either one of them.
Finding a quiet air pump on the other hand.... Not so much luck.

But you also don't have to worry about fish going up the output side of a cannister like you do with a HOB. If you have escape artist fish you may find that they will swim and jump up the stream of water as it is dropping back into the tank from the HOB and end up in the well of the HOB or outside the tank on the floor. Either way, not great.

 

Short and sweet, the canister to me is the pinnacle of fw filtration, I can go 6 months without maintenance ( on the filter), I have a fx6 and a Fluval 306. I'd recommend them.

The HOB. I find them good for if more regular maintenance is essential as they are easy to get to, also good for a lower budget or smaller tank, ( 20 gallon and bellow) just my take in a nutshell.

 

Canisters are quiet, hold more filtering media and don't have to be cleaned as often as an HOB. I over filter my tanks because I like lots of fish per tank. I have 9 -40 gallon breeder tanks, and use this filter on all of them.

 

It's a personal preference really. I personally like canisters more then HOBs. I clean my canister filter media once a week when I do my water change on my 40 gallon breeder, swish it in old tank water. I do a full canister cleaning once a month, this involves cleaning tubes, the impeller, the canister container, and impeller shaft. I like that I can customize the canister media and it can hold a lot of filter media. Mine is also quiet. I use a classic EHEIM 2217 it comes with a lovely spray bar that really gives the tank some surface agitation from one side to the other. I also put a prefilter on the instake tube since I have sand, and that makes it so the sand can't go into the canister.

 

Filtration is a very important thing to consider when looking at tanks and tank builds. But better is subjective like one of the previous posters mentioned. HOB filters can do a very good job of filtering a tank just like a canister but at some point, the hob filtration will become inefficient. Just like at some point the canister filtration can become inefficient. IMO 40 gallon is right around the point where you can do either an HOB or canister. HOB filters like an AC110, or aqueon 55/75 will be plenty of filtration for a 40b. You can also consider doing two smaller filters like 2 AC50's or 2 aqueon 30's. (personally I like having 2 filters on any tank larger than a 29 gallon but that's just me). I'm running an aqueon 55/75 on my 40 and it's doing the job

Canisters are going to be a bit more convenient. You can hide them under the tank. They are typically quieter (though I barely can hear my aqueon) than an hob. And usually you can find canisters with higher GPH for less than a high gph hob. That's why at some point (usually around the 75 -100 gallon mark) hob's become inefficient for the money. Similarly, sump tanks become more efficient for larger tanks of 150 gallons or larger. At some point when you need to think about purchasing 3 canisters a sump becomes more cost efficient than canisters do.

As for hob brands, IMO aqueon, aquaclear, and tidal make great hob's. aqueon is the cheapest but ime i've never had an issue with one (i've actually done better with them than aquaclears which comes more highly recommended). I personally would stay away from the biowheel type of filtration. They are loud, and are prone to clog and the biowheel is prone to stop spinning.

As for canisters, the big brands like eheim and fluval make great canister filters. But you'll pay a lot for the names. Other brands like hydor and sunsun do a great job as well and usually you can find them cheaper. I run sunsun canisters in my tanks and i've never had an issue. Look for them on ebay and amazon. For a 40b you can do either the 303/403 or the 304/404. The ones that end in 4 are larger, usually have more bins, and have a higher gph (525) than the ones that end in 3's (375)

 

I recently switched from a canister to an aquaclear 70 HOB on my 20 gallon. Really wish I spent the extra $$ on a canister. It is taking so long to cycle and it way more sensitive to cleaning than the canisters used to be.

 

It's a personal preference really. I personally like canisters more then HOBs. I clean my canister filter media once a week when I do my water change on my 40 gallon breeder, swish it in old tank water. I do a full canister cleaning once a month, this involves cleaning tubes, the impeller, the canister container, and impeller shaft. I like that I can customize the canister media and it can hold a lot of filter media. Mine is also quiet. I use a classic EHEIM 2217 it comes with a lovely spray bar that really gives the tank some surface agitation from one side to the other. I also put a prefilter on the instake tube since I have sand, and that makes it so the sand can't go into the canister.

So I cleaned the impeller on my Penguin 170 and now it's rattling because of what I assume is a lack of lubrication. How do you get around this? I put Vaseline on it but it still makes grinding noises.

 

So I cleaned the impeller on my Penguin 170 and now it's rattling because of what I assume is a lack of lubrication. How do you get around this? I put Vaseline on it but it still makes grinding noises.

You need a new impeller

 

So I cleaned the impeller on my Penguin 170 and now it's rattling because of what I assume is a lack of lubrication. How do you get around this? I put Vaseline on it but it still makes grinding noises.

It can be rattling for lots of reasons. I don't know specifically on your Penguins but on my EHEIM the impeller has to go in a very certain way. Certain parts have to match up. The O ring is sensitive too. Sometimes air bubbles also get trapped. I would first check for air bubbles, then the impeller, and O ring. Parts do sometimes need to be replaced too.

 

You need a new impeller

Thanks for the info. I was dreading buying a new one as I think the 170 is a discontinued model so parts are pretty expensive. I think i'm just going to stick it out till I upgrade my 20 to a 40 and put a canister on it.

 

I have a 55 gallon freshwater aquarium. I currently have 2 Marineland penguin 350s on the tank. Everyone in this hobby seems to love canister filters. I was looking at a canister filter last night at Petsmart. It was a Marineland canister that filtered 300 gallons an hr, where a HOB 350 does 350 gallons an hr. It’s also only a fraction of the price. Why would a canister filter be better than an HOB or even my 2 HOB filters?

 

Apparently, canister filters can hold more media than HOBs... and I think that's all.

HOBs are easier to do maintenance on, some HOBs are self priming and have customizable media baskets like canisters. HOBs also take up less space than canisters, since they just hang on the back of the aquarium, and don't need a place to put them under the aquarium.

Your current filters are enough for a 55 gallon, unless it is really heavily stocked.

 

HOBs need to have a 10x water rotation because they have less capacity to filter the water. Meaning there is less space inside for filter media.

A canister filter usually just needs 5x water rotation because of the extra filtration capacity. This means it's overall a more efficient filter.

Not everyone uses canisters, believe me. I have canisters on two of my tanks. One is a 55 gallon that is currently broken down. The other is a nano-canister on my 20 gallon. Most of my other tanks have sponge filters, and one has a sump.

The canister that you saw at PetSmart was probably too much canister for your tank. You could get away with a smaller one as you would need about 275 GPH for a canister, and 550 GPH for an HOB or set of HOBs. This is, of course, assuming your stocking is appropriate for the tank. If you're overstocked, you would need more filtration to help keep up with it.

 

I have a 55 gallon freshwater aquarium. I currently have 2 Marineland penguin 350s on the tank. Everyone in this hobby seems to love canister filters. I was looking at a canister filter last night at Petsmart. It was a Marineland canister that filtered 300 gallons an hr, where a HOB 350 does 350 gallons an hr. It’s also only a fraction of the price. Why would a canister filter be better than an HOB or even my 2 HOB filters?

Well for one the canister probably holds several times the media your HOBs do and will filter better at the same flow. They also tend to be more reliable, no possibility of losing siphon in a power outage and quieter.

 

You can go higher than 5x for GPH for canisters. Adding media reduces flow, so a little higher would be better to meet that 5x requirement. I have 396 GPH (before media) on my 55 gal.

 

in terms of maintenance costs, a canister has the advantage. I hate buying new filter pads for hob. I only have one hob that's not an aquaclear. And every 14 days or so I have to replace filter pads. and they're expensive. I opened up one of my ehiem canisters after 3 months, and I could've probably left it alone for another 3 months not cleaned. that's the difference. canisters have much more endurance and much less maintenance.

 

in terms of maintenance costs, a canister has the advantage. I hate buying new filter pads for hob. I only have one hob that's not an aquaclear. And every 14 days or so I have to replace filter pads. and they're expensive.

Maybe try using filter media such as sponges and ceramic rings, instead of wasting money on cartridges?

 

in terms of maintenance costs, a canister has the advantage. I hate buying new filter pads for hob. I only have one hob that's not an aquaclear. And every 14 days or so I have to replace filter pads. and they're expensive. I opened up one of my ehiem canisters after 3 months, and I could've probably left it alone for another 3 months not cleaned. that's the difference. canisters have much more endurance and much less maintenance.

your canisters sound nasty....I clean mines every month

 

Thanks everyone! In each of my Marineland penguin 350s each side has a filter cartridge. So there are a total of 4. In front of those are Fluval Polishing pads and the each filter has a bag of ammonia remover by fluval (my tank is new, 4 weeks) and then they each have a fluval sponge for bacteria to grow. I will remove the bag of ammonia and place ceramic rings where the ammonia bag is in about a week. Does that all sound okay?

 

your canisters sound nasty....I clean mines every month

I clean mine maybe every 6 months. It's just harmless muck in them.

 

Hi. I have a 55 with 2 Marineland Penguin 350 filter's on it. I don't use there cartridge's. I use blue sponge's and Fluval bio ring's. They do a great job!!!

 

Hi. I have a 55 with 2 Marineland Penguin 350 filter's on it. I don't use there cartridge's. I use blue sponge's and Fluval bio ring's. They do a great job!!!

Thank you!

 

I clean mine maybe every 6 months. It's just harmless muck in them.

And Lots of nitrates with it

 

Thank you!

Your welcome.

 

your canisters sound nasty....I clean mines every month

nope. And if they aren't at least somewhat dirty, then something is probably very wrong. There's a nice little thing called water changes. I do 2 a week. Keeps things running smooth.

 

You shouldn't need ammonia removing media. That's what your cycle is for. The ammonia removing media can actually hinder your cycle.

 

You shouldn't need ammonia removing media. That's what your cycle is for. The ammonia removing media can actually hinder your cycle.

It can hinder it?? Oh no! That is great, figured it would help the cycle!

 

First, I highly suggest not buying canister filters from pet stores. I've found the canisters on the shelves to be much more expensive than the exact same canister online. This topic has been discussed quite a bit but really there is no reason HOB's or canisters can do the job. But at some point canisters become more efficient than the HOB will. You can buy canisters with higher gph, more room for media, and thus having a more efficient filtration process for larger tanks. Tanks larger than 75 gallons is the tipping point in my opinion where it becomes more efficient to use a canister than an hob. That doesn't mean you can't use hob's on larger tanks and can't use canisters on smaller tanks. The same rule applies for much larger tanks like 180 gallons an up. At some point it becomes much more efficient to use a sump tank instead of a canister because sumps allow almost limitless customization and control of the output.