Going to canister filter from HOB

I have a 75 gallon tank and currently have 2 - HOB Marineland Emperor 400 filters on my tank. I am looking at switching over to a canister filter system. Any suggestions? Also what filter media is recommended for the canister? I have community tank with black mollies, neon tettras, pleco, assassin snails, cories, guppies, and a glofish.

 

It depends how much you want to spend. Fluval Fx4 will give you close to x6 water turnover for a 75 and they're pretty beefy, but expensive. Cascade makes some decent, cheap canisters as well. Most canisters come with a little bit of media as well.

For canisters you're looking at loose media like ceramic rings or bio balls.

My canisters all have lava rock from home depot in them instead. They're cheap, porous and work as well as any other type of media.

 

Are the Emperor 400's not filtering the tank well, or you just want to do away with the HOB's ?

Those Emperors have rather large reservoirs, perfect to pack media inside.

Here is a YouTube video with someone mod'ing theirs, by removing the spray bars and inserting vinyl hose to direct the water back down to the bottom of the reservoir, so water flows both from the sides into the reservoir and from the bottom-up.

He omited the bio-wheels and I think this quieted down the filter as well.

As for canisters, there is a ton of choices.

I happen to have a Hydor 600, which I would recommend to anyone. I found mine on clearance online, but their normal prices are slightly expensive. Good flow, simple design and they hold a lot of media.

I've also got a Fluval FX4 I got on sale from PetSmart. I think currently they are $199 in store (higher online). I've had zero problems with it. I also recommend them.

A good budget canister that a lot of people recommend on the forum is the SunSun 704b, aka Polar Aurora 525, both found on Amazon. If you go that route, get the option that contains no media for a few $$ less. Then get the pack of foam sponge pads of varying densities from the seller Aquaneat.

Those 2 models of canisters from Amazon have 4 baskets. If I had one, I would personally insert coarse foam pads in the bottom basket, a combination of medium density foam pads plus layers of Polyfil batting in the 2nd basket, then bio-media in the top two baskets (with bags of chemical media if needed).

Here is a video of the 704b (aka Polar Aurora 525)....

 

Save the money. Those filters are fine. Canisters can be a pain. The fx4 is a good filter just seems like overkill for a 75g. On my 90g I have a marine land 350 and a tidal 110. They do a great job. Just change the cartridge out for sponge and add some matrix in the front chamber. It will run like a canister.

 

Save the money. Those filters are fine. Canisters can be a pain. The fx4 is a good filter just seems like overkill for a 75 gallon. On my 90 gallon I have a marine land 350 and a tidal 110. They do a great job. Just change the cartridge out for sponge and add some matrix in the front chamber. It will run like a canister.

What type of matrix should be added to the front chamber?

Are the Emperor 400's not filtering the tank well, or you just want to do away with the HOB's ?

Those Emperors have rather large reservoirs, perfect to pack media inside.

Here is a YouTube video with someone mod'ing theirs, by removing the spray bars and inserting vinyl hose to direct the water back down to the bottom of the reservoir, so water flows both from the sides into the reservoir and from the bottom-up.

He omited the bio-wheels and I think this quieted down the filter as well.

As for canisters, there is a ton of choices.

I happen to have a Hydor 600, which I would recommend to anyone. I found mine on clearance online, but their normal prices are slightly expensive. Good flow, simple design and they hold a lot of media.

I've also got a Fluval FX4 I got on sale from PetSmart. I think currently they are $199 in store (higher online). I've had zero problems with it. I also recommend them.

A good budget canister that a lot of people recommend on the forum is the SunSun 704b, aka Polar Aurora 525, both found on Amazon. If you go that route, get the option that contains no media for a few $$ less. Then get the pack of foam sponge pads of varying densities from the seller Aquaneat.

Those 2 models of canisters from Amazon have 4 baskets. If I had one, I would personally insert coarse foam pads in the bottom basket, a combination of medium density foam pads plus layers of Polyfil batting in the 2nd basket, then bio-media in the top two baskets (with bags of chemical media if needed).

Here is a video of the 704b (aka Polar Aurora 525)....

Just thinking about doing away with the HOB filters. Wondering if it will help with my black and brown algae that seem to be attaching to decorations in the tank. Trying to think of anything that will help.

 

I use a combination of both HOB and canisters on all our aquariums but the 10 gallon betta. I have at least 10x the volume of water in the aquarium in GPH. As an example the 44 pent has 750 GPH in filtration. An Emperor 400 and an old Magnum 350.

Having two filters insures if one falls one is still running.

I use Marineland. For the last year I have been running three of the Magnaflow 360's and love them.

I have been using Marineland canisters for decades. I have two Mag 350's that are close to 30 years old and still running. The Magnaflow's seem to be at least are good and a major step forward in design and ease of maintenance.

I use carbon (many people take issue with this) bio balls and Seachem Matrix. The canisters are serviced every other week on rotation with the HOB. All filters have sponge pre filters.

 

Just thinking about doing away with the HOB filters. Wondering if it will help with my black and brown algae that seem to be attaching to decorations in the tank. Trying to think of anything that will help.

How many hours/day are your tank lights on?

 

Just thinking about doing away with the HOB filters. Wondering if it will help with my black and brown algae that seem to be attaching to decorations in the tank. Trying to think of anything that will help.

The filters are not the problem with algae. Something is out of balance in your aquarium. Over feeding, maintenance of filters, too much light, light of the wrong type. Any of these can cause an algae issue.

Even if the filters do their job you still need to export the organics. Whether the organics brake down in the aquarium or in the filter it dos not mater. It will feed the algae. The best way to handle algae (in my opinion) is three fold:

1. Control the light. Sunlight is a real problem.

2. Export the organics on a regular basis through maintenance.

3. Healthy thriving plants that out compete the algae for nutrients.

I hope this helps.

Edit: As an after thought, if this is a new setup and the brown algae wipes of easily you have an outbreak of diatoms. Common in new aquariums. They are said to feed on the silicate in the new glass. I have never had them but it seems common and will clear in time.

 

Yes algae is the result of different things and not from the filters. Unless your not cleaning them enough. Also water changes will help reduce algae. Put up some pics and we should be able to help identify what types you have growing. Do you have live plants.

 

How long has the tank been up and running. Every tank I have started will get diatoms soon after setup but after a few months the will stop.

 

How long has the tank been up and running. Every tank I have started will get diatoms soon after setup but after a few months the will stop.

Tank has been up for almost a year.

Yes algae is the result of different things and not from the filters. Unless your not cleaning them enough. Also water changes will help reduce algae. Put up some pics and we should be able to help identify what types you have growing. Do you have live plants.

no live plants just artificial. I replaced all the artificial plants now. The old ones were covered in black material and other decorations were the same.