New Canister Filter Recommendations Please

[Dxpert]

Hi, I'm planning to upgrade my filter with a canister type filter. I'm looking for suggestions and help picking the right one.

At current I have a 20 long very heavily planted with a Fluval u2 at one side and a Eheim surface skimmer 350 at the other. I'm going to remove the U2 and possibly relocate the 350.
My long term plan would be to upgrade to a ~120 so I'd like a filter that is future-proof and has the potential to be used as a secondary filter on the next tank.

Questions:
What turn over should I be looking for? - based on reading it seems like 10x is optimal.
What brand / model deals best with planted tanks? - assuming inline co2.
If I got a filter that gave me 20x or 30x turnover would there be any problems with putting a ball valve on the output of the pump to reduce flow before I upgrade to my next tank?

Bonus questions:
What brand of inline heater have you had good experience with?
What brand / type of inline diffuser have you had good experience with? 


-Mike

[charlie]

I`m bias to the Eheim brand Filters, as such I would suggest you get the model that best meets your long term plan of a 120 gln, the Eheim Pro 11 , eco 2236 & the classics are the only models I have ever used so I can only speak from personal experience with those models , they have all met my expectations & then some.
All of the above models I know you can throttle back the flow on the filter itself so no need for ball valves, I suspect the other Eheim models will be the same .

Inline heaters are great for minimising equipment in your tank, again I can only talk about the ones I use & those are the Hydor  in line, they are accurate & so far durable.
Regards

[exv152]

+2 on the eheim canisters. I have seven of them running currently and they are the best on the market imo. Also you don't need a ball valve on the classic eheims because they come with double taps that can be semi closed to also control the flow.  I also use a hydor heater on a large tank and I find it holds the temp very steady, excellent product.  

[Shawn84]

+3 on the ehiem filter as i have one running on my tank. Hydro make the best inline heater out there in the market so another +3 on that

[daworldisblack]

++ On Eheim filters and Hydor inline heaters. Since they've been covered, I'd share that as far as inline diffusers go the UP aqua Inline CO2 Atomizer is pretty sweet. I have it inline on my Eheim Pro II 2028 and got another one for my Eheim 2113 for my next set up. Some people have built inline reactors as well but this has been working great for me so far. There are complaints out there that they don't like the misting in the tanks (7-up look) but I find if I have it close enough to the output of the cannister itself and give it some length of hose to dissolve before getting output into the tank, the bubbles you see are greatly reduced. Having some bubbles going to plants directly isn't such a bad thing either and some prefer it. Its a matter of personal preference by personally I love this diffuser.

*EDIT: Rereading it perhaps you weren't looking for a co2 diffuser suggestion haha but now you know that if you have the UP aqua Atomizer it has been tried on at least 2 different hose sizes :p *

[angelcraze]

I have all Eheim canisters on my large tanks.  I love them, they are quiet, convenient to use and clean, and I think the german engineering forces pretty much all of the water to flow through the media.  The pro series is a little easier to clean due to the baskets you can put the different types of media in, and the self-priming feature.  Except the valve shutoff for my pro 3 2075 broke after only two years, luckily I was able to take it apart and jimmie it to work anyway.  There are more complex models out there, digital and such, but I guess that leaves more chance for more things to break.  My 2217 classic has been going for years, no problems.  Looks like Eheim is the winner.

[magnosis]

For what it's worth, I've only had one Fluval filter (304 I think?) and I didn't like it. It's a bad design inside, water can bypass the filter media pretty easily and the unit became quite difficult to prime after its first year of service.

I have two Eheim's and I like them. The smaller ecco is self-priming, but the bigger one (Pro II) is quite difficult to prime. It uses a big push button for that, but once I've pressed it down, it can take 30 seconds or so to pop back up which makes the priming process fairly time consuming.

Other than that, they are a breeze to clean & service, and I would buy them again without hesitation.

[sas]

Eheims here as well on my smaller tanks, can't beat them.
But on bigger tanks I like the FX5's.

[Mike L]

 I have an Eheim 2017  over 25 years old and still running. It was replaced in the line-up by the 2217. Difference is the impeller and they are now made in China and not Germany, I would still buy one today if need be.

Mike

[Dxpert]

Thanks for all of the tips! I'm going to go with an Eheim Hydor is also the right choice for the heater. As for the co2 diffuser, I'm torn between the UP aqua Inline CO2 Atomizer http://www.up-aqua.com./00-dm-page/00up_dm-co2-big.jpg and aq1000 http://www.aqua-medic.com/product/co2-reactor-1000/