Recommend Me A Canister Filter

[HaileStorm]

HI everyone! I'm looking to upgrade my tank to a 55 gallon soon. I currently have a 23g that runs on a Tidal 55 and a Sunsun HW-603b. Will those suffice for a 55g?

I'm all for over filtration so I'd also like a stand-alone canister filter for a 55 gallon to supplement the two I currently have. Problem is, there are so many brands out there with ridiculous prices.

Kindly recommend me one that won't make me bankrupt

Thanks in advance!

 

[AquaticJ]

Well honestly, if you want one that isn't going to break, ya gotta cough up some dough. A coworker of mine bought a cheap one off Amazon and it leaked all over her floor. I use Fluval brand canisters and I have nothing to say but positive things!

 

[HaileStorm]

Well honestly, if you want one that isn't going to break, ya gotta cough up some dough. A coworker of mine bought a cheap one off Amazon and it leaked all over her floor. I use Fluval brand canisters and I have nothing to say but positive things!

I see, is the EheI'm Classic 250 any good?

 

[Mike1995]

I see, is the EheI'm Classic 250 any good?

heck yea!! I have owned and still currently use the ehiem classics. Very very good canister. Quiet. Very easy to clean. And is designed so water goes bottom to top so that very little organic matter or particles can escape back in the tank. You can put whatever media you want. Flow isn't as high as some other canisters but ehiems are low power users so very efficient. Only down sides I've ever had is the green tubes. Kinda ugly looking. And the cost of ehiem brand replacement media.. Kind if pricey.

I've also have had very good experience with aquatop forza canisters. It's NOT those ones that look like sunsun canisters. They're completely different. From my personal experience, they're unbelievably quiet, even when they need to be cleaned. The tubes, intake/outtake are all color coded so you can't mess anything up. The flow is great! The parts in the tank are all black so not to noticeable. Easy to prime. They come with a normal output tube thingy and a spray bar so you can have either one.

 

[Swampgorilla]

Well honestly, if you want one that isn't going to break, ya gotta cough up some dough. A coworker of mine bought a cheap one off Amazon and it leaked all over her floor. I use Fluval brand canisters and I have nothing to say but positive things!

Strongly disagree ... proud owner of no less than FOUR cheap-Chinese canisters which have never broken in spite of YEARS of use and abuse. I'd rather buy TWO of them than spend the $$$ on one of the more expensive ones (and I'm not poor and probably have more aquarium gadgetry than 80% of the people on this forum - so if it gives me an advantage - I buy it. I don't see the advantage of the "big names" other than a few bells and whisltes, which quite honestly confuse things).

Not saying that Fluval, et al ... aren't great filters ... they're pretty and all. But filtration really is a simple process and the more room for media you have - the better. You can buy way bigger canisters from the cheap guys at a MUCH LOWER cost than you can from the expensive guys.

 

[DarkOne]

I have 4 Fluval canisters (206, 306, 406 and FX4). They have better plastics than the Chinese made canisters. Parts are readily available online or most LFS. Those were the 2 main reasons I went with Fluval over other brands.

Like Swampgorilla, many people have excellent experiences with Chinese made canister so go with what you're comfortable with.

 

[Swampgorilla]

It's very hard to recommend a canister (expensive or cheap) to someone who's new to them.

We all want different things from our filters. Some like paying for pre-made media inserts, because they're convienient. Some want to put their own media into the canisters. Some like trays ... some like the old EheI'm style that has no trays. Some like loud ... some not so loud. Some like large canisters, some like small. Some like a certain canister "footprint" that matches up to their specific living environment. Some like aethetic looks - some don't care.

If you're going to be a normal fishkeeper - then I guess you can buy an expensive one and use it within it's parameters and you're fine.

But if you're going to be a "tinkerer" ... someone who may eventually want to hang U/V's on the back end of throttled-down canisters, or you're going to "experiment" with nitrate reduction schemes involving large amounts of medias like MATRIX or BIOHOME ... then ...

In that case I think you should consider your first filter to be a STARTER FILTER ... something you will learn on to help you tweak in the ideas of the canister you really want. In that case, if you buy an expensive filter and you decide it's not the direction for you - you are out some serious cash.

 

[grump299]

Use what ever one you are comfortable with. I would suggest that you use two on your tank and you can alternate them when cleaning and reduce the chance of shocking your cycle. I use a fluvel 304 and fluvel 404 on my 75 gal freshwater and have no problem at all water is clear.

 

[Colt Frost]

A good Filter for the 55 would be a Sunsun HW304b. That's what I have on my 135. Along with another filter of course.

 

[Thunder_o_b]

I have 3. Nuf said.

 

[AquaticJ]

Strongly disagree ... proud owner of no less than FOUR cheap-Chinese canisters which have never broken in spite of YEARS of use and abuse. I'd rather buy TWO of them than spend the $$$ on one of the more expensive ones (and I'm not poor and probably have more aquarium gadgetry than 80% of the people on this forum - so if it gives me an advantage - I buy it. I don't see the advantage of the "big names" other than a few bells and whisltes, which quite honestly confuse things).

Not saying that Fluval, et al ... aren't great filters ... they're pretty and all. But filtration really is a simple process and the more room for media you have - the better. You can buy way bigger canisters from the cheap guys at a MUCH LOWER cost than you can from the expensive guys.

All of my canisters are loaded with Matrix instead of the bio media that it comes with.

 

[matt 63]

Magniflow 360 is really good just a little expensive, or a Penn plax 1000

 

[86 ssinit]

Ok I’m with swampgorilla. The sunsun product is a great bang for the buck. Plus they throw in a uv steralizer on there b models. I’m using a 303b on my 90 with other filters and it’s great I clean it once a month. Been using canisters for 25 years and have used a few. There all basically the same. No problems with any I’ve used. Older ones just wore out. I allways use at least 2 filters. I like an hob with the canister so I can clean that once a week and if one breaks down you have the other.
Check out the pondguru on utube he does a great job explaining canister filters.

 

[HaileStorm]

I just read all the replies now, a big thank you to everyone who contributed

I decided to go along with the EheI'm Classic 250. I think this will work great along with my Seachem Tidal 55.

I would've gone with the Classic 350 but it might be too much for my 23g at the moment. Plans to upgrade to the 55 is still distant anyway (maybe next year?) and the Tidal 55 gives a generous 250gph flow so I don't think I'll need the 350.

 

[AquaticJ]

Judging the gallons per hour are gunna be different with hang on back filters. The recommended GPH for hang on backs is 8-10x your tank size, so if it was just that filter you’d want 550 GPH (for the 55g). With canisters the recommended GPH is 5-6x your tank, so you’d want 330 GPH with that alone. Together you’re getting about 330GPH. I honestly don’t know how to calculate if you’re getting enough filtration because it’s split up hahaha. As far as I know, the Tidal is a great HOB filter, so I think you’re fine. I trust Seachem more than any other company. Wish they made canisters.

 

[HaileStorm]

Judging the gallons per hour are gunna be different with hang on back filters. The recommended GPH for hang on backs is 8-10x your tank size, so if it was just that filter you’d want 550 GPH (for the 55g). With canisters the recommended GPH is 5-6x your tank, so you’d want 330 GPH with that alone. Together you’re getting about 330GPH. I honestly don’t know how to calculate if you’re getting enough filtration because it’s split up hahaha. As far as I know, the Tidal is a great HOB filter, so I think you’re fine. I trust Seachem more than any other company. Wish they made canisters.

I see, I didnt know the required gph for hobs were different from that of canisters. I'll probably get the 350 sooner or later. I got my 250 a few days ago, it works great!

But I have to say, the Tidal 55 holds its own. Since it has so many intakes, most visible debris hardly passes it. They get sucked right in especially when passing through the skimmer grate. It's just so efficient.

However, I do love the media capacity of my 250. I can fit so much more than I could in my Tidal 55. Mine didn't come with the Substrat Pro so I'll probably just get some Seachem Matrix for my bio media.

 

[AquaticJ]

Yeah I use Matrix as my bio media!