canister filter recommendation

[missavgp]

Hi, I am thinking about re-purposing my 25 gal to a salt tank and am looking for recommendations for which canister filter to get. I have been wavering between the Fluval 206, Aqueon quietflow 200, or the equivalent Eheim filter. I will open that can of worms and ask, what do you guys recommend?

[Jody]

I am not a giant fan of canisters for salt water as they often become nitrate factories, but quality wise, I would do Eheim, Aqueon and then Fluval..

Jody

[lucius]

Another approach you can take if you can't decide on which canister filter to buy is to look up how much replacement parts will cost you.  From the BA's online website, replacement impellers for example will cost the following.  Then you can decide if you are comfortable spending this amount on parts.

Fluval 206 - $19.99
Aqueon Quietflow 200 - Can't find any and looking at the manual on the Aqueon website doesn't indicate that there is one.  Not sure how the water gets pumped back into the tank?
Eheim Ecco 2232? - $59.99
Eheim 2211? - $33.99

[missavgp]

thanks for the info.
Lucius, that is a great way to figure it out, lol it's a lot like what I do when buying a new computer printer, who has the cheapest ink.

Jody, I have read a bunch lately about the nitrate issue with canister filters and while I agree, my issues are my tank isn't drilled and I have limited space to work in and no knowledge of how to either build or set up a sump. I know that this is an expensive branch of the hobby, but I am hoping to not break the bank either. I looked at the pre-made sumps and they are really expensive and they aren't even ready to use out of the box, needing return pumps, some form of filtration etc. and I am not sure about making my own and how that will work with the salt tank. and again, my tank isn't drilled so I would either need to do that or have a hob overflow...

The canister filter seems like an easier solution, I will just have to stay on top of my maintenance. I will research a little more about replacement parts.

as an aside, the benefits of and how to set up a sump would be a really interesting talk 

[Eackone]

I'm by no means a SW expert but is there a reason you want to run a filter?
Many (including myself) only use rock in tank as filtration.

[missavgp]

I had never heard of that....I guess I assumed it's a lot like a freshwater system where you really should be running a filter. how stable is a system without a filter? how difficult is it to keep everything running fine, bearing in mind that I want to use a 25 gal tank?

[Eackone]

My tank is fairly new so I can't comment too much but I've done research spread out over a year before diving into it.
I check parameters pretty religiously on all my tanks and I do a weekly water change on my 75gal SW tank, I started to stock it recently and I haven't had issues keeping it stable.

I can't speak on experience but perhaps with a 25gal you might have more trouble with keeping your salinity constant if you don't have an auto top off or top it off yourself.
Personally I see a noticeable amount of weekly evaporation on my 29gal FW which will impact your salinity in a marine tank

[matttimms49]

just chiming in on this one, all very interesting opinions so far  . I was wondering if anyone had heard any opinions on the Zoomed or Hydor Canister filters?

[BadTiming]

Research and go slow. Too many people jump into saltwater only to fail and then give up.  Before buying anything determine what its you want in your tank. Fish only, maybe some coral, SPS, LPS, Zoa or soft corals. All, will have different requirements as for water quality, light, water flow and $$$. Generally speaking canister filters aren't used for the reasons  mentioned. The Live rock with water flow will be your filter. Research.... I ran a 40B with no sump for many years and had SPS LPS and Zoa's all doing well. It had 40+ lbs of live rock an octopus skimmer, MP10, tek 6 bulb light with a reefbrite light. You will have failure's, we all have. The 40's been up shut down due to a lost battle with Vermetid snails, but that's ok 2 yrs planning the 120.

[tanksalot360]

From my experience with a 20g nano, I ran a Fluval 205, Koralia nano powerhead and an AquaC Remora nano skimmer. The canister was a nitrate factory and needed rinsed often even when flow remained unchanged. Some of the medias available might make the canister a more viable option: the chunkier versions of MarinePure claims to reduce Nitrate with an anaerobic centre, and carbon/resin media like ChemiPure, BioChem Zorb, Purigen, etc, can make for long lasting medias that remove more organics than carbon alone. The salt water did wear and tear on my canister, after a couple years the stainless screws on the motor housing were rusty.

PS. I find it funny that there is no universal consensus on the BEST canister filter for smaller tanks - is it because there are too many options or too many patents to skirt around? 50 years of developing an aquarium water filter and we still have to replace parts? ...Okay, I'll stop there.

[sniggir]

I don't know how to say this but DO NOT USE a canister filter on your salt water tank! As mentioned you should start with a good sand bed and roughly 1lbs of live rock per gallon. This will be you Biologic filter, getting a HOB skimmer will help alot as well.  I would spend a bit more time on resurrecting SW before you make the big financial leap, also need to think about what type of live stock you are going to want. NOTHING GOOD HAPPENS FAST is the montra so take your time and maybe start with a nice fish only. sorry if this wasn't what you wanted to hear but better than putting alot of $$$ and then watching our little fish friends and inverts die.

Pat 

[missavgp]

thanks everyone for all the great info. I have decided to go without using a filter and will be relying on the live rock and sand with a wavemaker/circulation pump. I made the jump and broke down the freshwater tank today, cleaned it and will be filling it with the sand and saltwater tonight.

I have researched this a lot as this is something I have been thinking about doing for a long time, I just hadn't come across anything about not using some sort of external filtration. A lot of sites make assumptions that people already know this, even when you are looking for that information.

I do thank everyone though, this was a great conversation with lots of info and things to think about