I Did A Thing...help This Advanced Beginner With Filtration Advice

I just brought home my 38 gallon rectangular tank! I also have a glass top and a Fluval Plant 6500K 46 watt light. I've had a 10 gallon heavily planted setup running wonderfully for 6 months and plan to move my friends over and build a larger community tank (I'm thinking 2 pea puffers for the 10 gallon).

I've always had HOB filters but am interested in learning about cannister/external filtration because I specifically bought this tank for the dimensions due to the tight space it's in (see pic). I love HOBs but thinking I'd rather have a flush fit to the wall.

I have zero knowledge about canisters. I need power heads too, correct? Is there a place to get a crash course? Any suggestions for brands, or general cautions, warnings, encouragements?

Thanks!

 

I just brought home my 38 gallon rectangular tank! I also have a glass top and a Fluval Plant 6500K 46 watt light. I've had a 10 gallon heavily planted setup running wonderfully for 6 months and plan to move my friends over and build a larger community tank (I'm thinking 2 pea puffers for the 10 gallon).

I've always had HOB filters but am interested in learning about cannister/external filtration because I specifically bought this tank for the dimensions due to the tight space it's in (see pic). I love HOBs but thinking I'd rather have a flush fit to the wall.

I have zero knowledge about canisters. I need power heads too, correct? Is there a place to get a crash course? Any suggestions for brands, or general cautions, warnings, encouragements?

Thanks!

One piece of advice
If you have time and patience. Try to make diy stuff. On you tube videos by joey give you lot of of info and man this guy is really amazing and what can save is 75 % on the branded products and yet get the same or better performance and still fine tune as the situation demands

 

If you never had a canister filter, you might find the following video useful:

Even though it's about a specific brand, it can, in my opinion, be applied to the majority of canister filters out there.

As to the size and specific filter recommendations, I personally, aI'm for one that pumps around x4 times the volume of your aquarium per hour. As to a brand, it's probably best if someone from the US would comment on that, though you will not be disappointed in a Eheim's filter regardless Fluval seems to be a very popular choice too.

Although it is being mentioned in the video, I can point out that you will have to move the aquarium further away from the wall ( for the tubes ) or make holes in the side.

 

I know you want a canister, but just an idea so you could put it against the wall, you could put the HOB on the side instead of the wall. Just a thought.

 

A canister filter will allow you to get the tank very close to the wall.

You shouldn't need a power head.

If the canister filter you buy has a spray bar, I suggest using that.

I've always set mine up with the intake in one corner, and the spray bar on the opposite side wall.

The spray bar tube can usually be turned, so you can adjust the angle of the water coming out.

I usually run the spray bar with the outlets facing parallel with the water's surface. When I want to blow the detritus or other muck off the substrate, I can rotate the spray bar downward, so the current lifts everything up and it gets sucked into the intake.

Once a week, I rotate the spray bay to point toward the side glass at an angle. The current then flows down the side wall and across along the bottom of the substrate, back towards the intake . This will really blow around any detritus and uneaten food and allow it to get sucked in by the intake.

One suggestion I would make if you get a canister filter, is to buy 4 hose clamps that tighten with the turn of a screw. They can be placed where the hoses slip over the barbs of the valves and the pipes that go into the tank.

Although the chance of a hose slipping off would be rare, I installed them for cheap insurance.







Most brands are of canister filters are good. I would never pay retail on any of them.

If you sign up to receive emails from liveaquaria, Petco and Petsmart, they will often send you coupon codes for 20%-25% off.

Whatever brand you buy, I suggest picking up some food-grade 100% Silicone lube/grease. You can use it to lube the orings, gaskets and seals. This ensures leak free operation.

Home Depot has Danco Weatherproof Grease in the plumbing aisle for example.

Most leaks users experience from canister filters are from user error. People rush setting it up, or rush when they take them apart to clean. This leads to errors and then leaks.

Here is a video on how a Hydor canister is set up. Most cannisters are set up in a very similar fashion.

Here is another video on the order of how the media goes. Just substitute your particular bio-media for where Richard places his brand of media.

 

If you never had a canister filter, you might find the following video useful:

I wouldn't follow their advice too closely. You want all the mechanical filter media to come first. Bioballs on the bottom are okay as they're just being used to break up and even out the flow of water. I would put the foam pads next, coarsest on the bottom, finest toward the top, THEN comes the biological media. Putting mechanical after biological is just going to back up the muck into the biological media and clog it up.

I'd follow what the Pond Guru says in the video right above.

Unless you're very handy and love tinkering with things, I'd avoid the DIY route for what's just your second tank. You can get a better filter for less money that way, but there will be a lot of things to deal with and you've probably got enough on your hands just getting the new tank set up.

Fluval is a top brand. Their filters seem to be well designed and well executed. Sunsun appears to be a much cheaper Chinese version that tries to compete with Fluval. Some people seem to like their products a lot and they certainly cost a lot less. (This is not necessarily an indication of poor quality. The profit margin on some of these filters has to be enormous.) Some people swear by Eheim as the best of the best, but from what I've seen on video reviews it looks like the quality on their newer models leaves a lot to be desired.

The Pond Guru has a whole series of filter build out videos where he shows the proper way to put in the media. Unfortunately, a lot of the filters in the series aren't available in the U.S., but some of them are. He has a lot of Fluval videos so those will give you an idea of how they're made.

If money isn't a huge concern and you just want something you know will do the job, I'd suggest the Fluval 307 or 407. The 307 would probably be enough but the 407 would give you more filtration and allow you to put a bit more in the tank without having filtration issues.

 

With a good flow rate, you certainly don't need powerheads unless you want them. Having a turnover 10x the tank volume is a good start, when I did, I didnt use powerheads until a downgraded.


I personally love eheim. Had fluval, they great. But I'd swear by eheim if you can afford it. You really pay for what you get IMO.

 

I can't thank everyone enough for the wonderful insight and advice here. Thank you so much!