Canister Filters...

[fischfan13]

Lets hear what Canister Filters you swear by, and which you believe are pieces of junk.
Lets hear which Canisters filters are lasting the longest, and which died on you in a short period of time.

[Afreakin]

fluval 304:rockon::flame:

Never any problem with them, and easy to maintain.

[mack74]

Well my favorite is the xp's. The are easy to clean and you can pack them good. Also like the fx5 but I hate the rest of the fluvals. My oldest is my ehiem 2013 at least 15 years old and still going.

[CJC]

Ehiem Professional Series by far the best. The old Fluvals are junk, never bought one since. I have an Ehiem thats close to 20yrs old, never a problem but is not nearly as easy to maintain as the Professional series, IMO.

[TOMMYN3D]

I have the old fluval 303 and never had a problem. It was my first canister filter about 15 years ago, the guy at Animals and Things in Woodbridge,NJ suggested it , I put it on my 55gallon for about 4 years never had a problem. I moved twice since then and I'll say it has atleast 12 years running out of the 15 years i had it . Since then i bought 3 other old style fluvals another 303 from (John) bovsbaitboxs and two 203 from EBAY... THEY ALL RUN GREAT.. I cant commet on anyothers like the marineland or XP'S ...never had a chance to use anything else.

[chris1932]

I have three Fluval FX5s, Never a problem as long as you use maten foam and not the Fluval for polishing. Will generate lots of pressure and flow through UVs and heater modules.
Fluval 205,305,405s also in my system again sponges stink but the filters work great.

[zcfish]

second the fluval fx5. so much flow kind of suck the poops in. double as a powerhead.

[Tito]

XP3's - powerful water mover, choice of return (spray bar, nozzle) easy to clean and disconnect, three media baskets, excellent water polisher, easy to start.

The cascade 700 and 1000 are also good water movers and great polishers but can be a pain to disconnect.

[nick a]

After fluval and ehiem copied the renas, their cans became quite a bit more maintenance friendly. Adding the integrated shut-off valves, squaring up the housing and using the better clamp/gasket arrangement made both lines better.

Over the years these are some of my observations.

Love the versatility of the Magnum HOT250/ hate all other Magnum cans (never used the C series).

Like all fluval cans from the x04---x05 series/thought the x03 and older series sucked. Never used the FX5--see below.

Modern ehiems are great but still pricey. the classics always were a PITA to me to maintain. Wouldn't waste my money on anything like the Pro 3E ("Intelligent" aquarium filter):neener: mechanical things can run for a long time and be repaired easily --electronics in a filter is just ridiculous gadgetry for the easily impressed.
Still use the 'classic' 2250 & 2260 and they seem like they'll run for another 20years which is why the FX5 hasn't been needed. I plumbed in my own disconnects and only service them twice a year so the PITA is tolerable.

Probably got 10 Renas running now. I liked the old pricing structure MUCH better. $150+ for an xp3 is outrageous. I think I got all mine for less than $100 each. Besides ease of maintenance, I like the simplicity of the design KISS! Making the 6x6 squares for DIY media is a breeze--try triming foam into perfect circles or some of the other shapes needed in other filters:rotate:
Over 7 years and never so much as replaced an impeller--pretty solid!

[steve0199us]

I think Eheims Rock! The Pro series!
The Classics are good and durable, it's just getting them started which is the annoying part..! :crutch:

[Heyguy74]

I like my eheims. The classics are great filters. I've never had a problem with them.

[ChrisG12887]

Well i have a fluval 305 and an eheim 2215 ......the fluval is ok i like the flow of it but i hate that darn pump and i just recent broke the darn pump but i found a better way to pump the water using the intake tube. As for the eheim, this came with my tank when i bought it and the guy said it was over 7 years old so by now its like 10 years and it works great!! soo yea eheim is prolly my favorite

[Bweb]

I like the Fluvals I have a 205 on my 29gal two 305's on my 55gal. an FX5 on my 75gal. and an FX5 Plus a 405 on my 125gal. they have a great turnover rate IME and hold plenty of media and the actual outer casing is very durable.

When I bought my 55gal the guy at my LFS talked me into trying a Marine Land C220 so I bought two since we all like to over filter the African tanks. His main selling point was that they come with all the media.

They SUCK Right out of the box when you first start them and they have no fish waste or mulm in them they have a very low flow rate no way they turn over the GPH they claim to they are so week the discharge does not even disturb the surface I would not recommend them. Plus the cans seem brittle.

I replaced them with the 305's and put one M/L on my 125 and one on my 75 for extra bio filtration That way if I need a quick tank set up I always have an extra filter.

[zebra7]

I've alway's been a fan of the " Classic " Ehiem design's, from the smallest to the largest. For reliability I believe they can't be touched by any canister on the market. Installed with quick dis-connect's I never found them to be difficult to clean, part of the job, :) I wish they had a bit more flow to them, but other than that I feel they are best. I also like the Rena's, but have only heard cries about their quality, and seem to be breaking down alot. NickA , I guess you've been lucky. Two of my friend's own pet store store's on the Island, and they both tell me people are alway's ordering part's for their Rena's.

[color]

Any kind of Fluval,Xp3 Xp4 and a cascade 300... Thats all I need...:)

Bought the big ehiem the 300$ one and it was garbage IMO very delicate and to sensitive but I hear they run forever when they run right...They do have great media which is in my xp4 right now....
Also the cascade canisters SUCK! pain in the a$$ to screw back on. IMO of course...

[triscuit]

I'm still running my Fluval 303 from 15 years ago, never replaced a piece (knock on wood). I bought an xp3 and loved the easy design and cheap price tag, but they're more expensive now. I've had trouble getting a good seal on the xp3 once or twice from media box misalignment, but only a temporary PITA. Never could justify the expense of an Eheim, but now have 3 more Fluval 404s and love them. Good flow, good price, easy maintenance and I have confidence that they'll run quietly for a long time.

[nyc2tanks]

I have had Fluvals and Eheim Classics and prefer the Eheims. With the quick disconnects, priming is a breeze but was always a pain with the Fluval. I also found the Eheims keep up a good flow right throughout the time between maintenance whereas the Fluvals would slow down due to clogging.

I also had a fry survive in an Eheim Classic which has nothing to do with the quality of filter but did amze me.:):)