Canister Filter Reccomendation

[Alvon]

Hi Guys..

I have been out of the hobby for a while and looking to get back into it..

I have my cabinet in place and about to order a 4x18x24 Tank. Lighting and heating is sorted.

I used to run Eheim Classic Canister filters religiously however I feel there may be something better in the market now.

So just looking for some feedback on what you use, what you love, what hasnt worked and what you would suggest staying away from. Price is important but willing to buy the right filter.

Tank will have a colony of Xenotilapia Sp. and likely a group of Leptosoma for open water movement.

Thanks

Alvon

[sicj]

I always used Eheim or Fluval canister filters in the past and they pretty much lasted forever. 

I have tried some other brands but didn’t find them as long lasting. 

That is my experience. 

[Link2Hell]

Hi Alvon

have you considered a sump

best time to do it is if you are getting a  new tank made

as you can position the tank holes to where the sump will sit in the cabinet

if you are still considering cannister filters I use Eheim and they are ages old

so don't know what the new gen Eheims are like but my 2260 just goes and goes

lots of people have given the FX6 Fluval good reviews

[Slipshodman]

Hi Alvon,

I am a Fluval guy, FX6 is legendary filter in my mind, it's rock solid, possibly over kill on a 4ft so you could drop back to a FX5 (less flow, less money)

I do think it is a bit noisy in respect of the "hum" that you really notice when it turns it self off every 12 hours to purge air (great feature by the way) but having teh external dump line for water changes makes things easy too for simple water changes 

I haven't had experience with the Eheim's though but have had plenty of other cheaper canisters over the years and all other seem to fail after a couple of years and repairs and replacement parts seem futile due to price on them so you end up just buying another, and another 

 

Good luck 

[PlecoSam]

Eheim back in the day were brilliant, I have owned several of them, much better then the Fluval of the same era in my opinion (I owned Fluval as well).  Today though, Fluval are much improved and are probably of equal quality and ease of use to Eheim.  

I am like you Slips, have had a number of cheap canisters but found them poor quality and prone to failures, there are gems in the cheap crowd but knowing which are good is the problem.

[mdk54]

I have had a couple of FX5's (One of them since the late 2000's) and they have never missed a beat.

[MattG_Sydney]

I would go with a Fluval. I bought a 307 and I have been happy with it.. Cheap brands may not be as good in the long run.