# Best canister filter?



## Rocky&Roxy (Aug 2, 2009)

I want to put a canister filter on my 90 gallon. I have 2 piranha and an exodon. What would be the best canister to put on it? There are so many I'm not sure which one I should put. 
Any input would be appreciated. 
Thank you


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## mr_brixs (Jun 18, 2009)

Fluval FX5


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## Jackson (Jan 30, 2009)

Stay away from fluvals they are the worst.

Rena or ehiems. People like ehiems more because they say they are the best. I think Renas are awesome and do a better job at cleaning the water. 

I would buy an XP4 for a 90 gal


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## mr_brixs (Jun 18, 2009)

i had my fluval fx5 for half a year and crystal clear water for my 72gal salt water tank... may i ask worst for what??? water quality???


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## Jackson (Jan 30, 2009)

mr_brixs said:


> i had my fluval fx5 for half a year and crystal clear water for my 72gal salt water tank... may i ask worst for what??? water quality???


Worst because the parts give out fast. 
The stupid little plastic orange things that hold the screws in place break.
It has too many small plastic parts and that is a PITA because who wants to pay the prices they want to replace it. 
Once the clamps are on your tank you are not getting them off unless you cut them off if your tank is made of thick glass. 
They are so hard to clean. They make a lot of noise. 
They don't do much when it comes to cleaning the water. All the do is push a lot of water around. For bio filtration they are good for mech they suck.

I have had my 2 for about a year and a half. Worst buy ever. I wish I spent that money on 2 more Rena XP4's.

Plus your tank is not that big. they claim to be good on larger tanks and they are not good on larger tanks. I think they sell because the size makes people think they will do a lot of work.


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## mr_brixs (Jun 18, 2009)

hmmm i see.. ohh well maybe the next buy im gonna do i'll take one of your recomendation.. but so far mine still good and quiet...


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## xbacala (Jan 9, 2009)

go for Eheim

I think 2217 classic is the best for 90G.

I have 2 tanks.
100G with 2217: 5 years no problem
90G with 2215 + 2213: about 3 years no problem


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## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

I have only ever owned Eheims when it comes to canisters so I'm a little biased. I do like my eheims and would definitely recommend it.

I would like to eventually try a rena though. I hear good things about them all the time.


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## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

in general, most people had the best experiences with Eheim.


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## KnaveTO (May 13, 2007)

I have Eheims and Renas and can't really tell what is the difference everyone argues about. Pretty much the same in my eyes.


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## Jackson (Jan 30, 2009)

KnaveTO said:


> I have Eheims and Renas and can't really tell what is the difference everyone argues about. Pretty much the same in my eyes.


I agree just the price is a bit less on the renas 

I do think the renas do a better job when it comes to mechanical filtration


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## KnaveTO (May 13, 2007)

Jackson said:


> I agree just the price is a bit less on the renas
> 
> I do think the renas do a better job when it comes to mechanical filtration


I do remember having one of those old Fluval canister filters and I hated that beast when I had to clean it. The stupid O-ring caused an issue each time I tried to put it back together. And yes price is about the only difference for Eheim and Rena.

Eheim is German manufactured and Rena is French. There are a lot of hobbiests out there that have a mindset that if it is German it is made by the masters of Aquaria, not all have that viewpoint, but there is that school of thought.


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## clock906 (Nov 22, 2007)

KnaveTO said:


> I do remember having one of those old Fluval canister filters and I hated that beast when I had to clean it. The stupid O-ring caused an issue each time I tried to put it back together. And yes price is about the only difference for Eheim and Rena.
> 
> Eheim is German manufactured and Rena is French. There are a lot of hobbiests out there that have a mindset that if it is German it is made by the masters of Aquaria, not all have that viewpoint, but there is that school of thought.


Most of Eheim's filters are now make in China....

I prefer Eheim just because it looks better tho...I am not a fan of its green color, but it is still a lot better looking than the pukey blue color Rena use.


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## bigfishy (Jun 19, 2009)

I hate eheim, especially 2217...

How the hell you change the filter when its dirty???? they dont have a bucket for it, you have to take out all the media (its messy) just to get to the bottom to switch in the new filter pad 

I don't get why you people love it so much, its a hassle to change!!!!

$#^&@$%&&


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## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

I usually do a full cleaning of my Eheim 2215 (which is the same layout as 2217) once every 3 months. And to be honest, I actually like how you have to empty it to clean it, it gives me a reason to do a better cleaning of everything (rinsing the shaft, cleaning the impeller, rinsing the cylinders, squeezing the blue sponge in tankwater, gently rinsing the Eheim substrate and finally replacing the white floss pad). It basically forces me to do a good cleaning every time I decide to clean. To be honest, if I have a filter that I can easily just clean one thing, I would prob be too lazy and neglect a good cleaning of the other parts.

when you disconnect the Eheim (use the shut off valves that they give you, its soo much easier). Just put it beside 2 buckets, one for the tankwater rinses and the other for tap water rinses. Its not too pain in the @ss once you just get use to the cleaning regime. 

also I find the other models where they are separated by buckets, there is some flow bypass, which decreases efficiency. So I am totally on board with the 2215 and 2217 design where the water has to go through every layer before exiting.


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## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

bigfishy said:


> I hate eheim, especially 2217...
> 
> How the hell you change the filter when its dirty???? they dont have a bucket for it, you have to take out all the media (its messy) just to get to the bottom to switch in the new filter pad
> 
> ...


I don't mind it. Just be sure to have enough extra containers/buckets. You get used to it. Just like Hitch said, it kinda forces you to do a more thorough cleaning.

Like I said, I'll eventually try out rena filters just to be able to compare.


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## bigfishy (Jun 19, 2009)

Hitch said:


> I usually do a full cleaning of my Eheim 2215 (which is the same layout as 2217) once every 3 months. And to be honest, I actually like how you have to empty it to clean it, it gives me a reason to do a better cleaning of everything (rinsing the shaft, cleaning the impeller, rinsing the cylinders, squeezing the blue sponge in tankwater, gently rinsing the Eheim substrate and finally replacing the white floss pad). It basically forces me to do a good cleaning every time I decide to clean. To be honest, if I have a filter that I can easily just clean one thing, I would prob be too lazy and neglect a good cleaning of the other parts.
> 
> when you disconnect the Eheim (use the shut off valves that they give you, its soo much easier). Just put it beside 2 buckets, one for the tankwater rinses and the other for tap water rinses. Its not too pain in the @ss once you just get use to the cleaning regime.
> 
> also I find the other models where they are separated by buckets, there is some flow bypass, which decreases efficiency. So I am totally on board with the 2215 and 2217 design where the water has to go through every layer before exiting.





gucci17 said:


> I don't mind it. Just be sure to have enough extra containers/buckets. You get used to it. Just like Hitch said, it kinda forces you to do a more thorough cleaning.
> 
> Like I said, I'll eventually try out rena filters just to be able to compare.


I have all 3 brands

Fluval 104, Rena XP2, XP3 and Eheim 2217

I do my filter maintance every 2-3 weeks, that's why its bothersome if they all stick together in one big container


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## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

bigfishy said:


> I have all 3 brands
> 
> Fluval 104, Rena XP2, XP3 and Eheim 2217
> 
> I do my filter maintance every 2-3 weeks, that's why its bothersome if they all stick together in one big container


2-3 weeks? that is intense...


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## bigfishy (Jun 19, 2009)

Hitch said:


> 2-3 weeks? that is intense...


I don't know how bad yours going to look like in 3 months, but this is how awful it is in 3 weeks


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

That's nothing. The filter floss in my filters is usually chocked brown before I bother doing maintenance. Although I wouldn't recommend the same for anyone else.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

pretty happy with the rena's lately..


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## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

cleaning your canister every 2-3 weeks is pretty hardcore.

You make me feel lazy changing it every 3 months.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Unless the flow is becoming impaired, why bother cleaning a canister filter?

People who put faith in their filters for mechanical filtration need to just do proper maintenance. Water changes, python or siphon. Eheims are for biological filtration, anything else is just a plus.


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## aeri (Sep 9, 2007)

eheim 2260 is probably the best canister filter ever made. it has about 4.75gallons of filter volume. 

best bang for your buck is probably eheim 2217 though. that alone should be able to filter your 90G given that you don`t feed live food daily to your pirahnas.

i have no experience with renas.

fluvals suck. The FX5 has 1.5G filter volume...they`re ok for mechanical filtration. but they don`t do much for bio. every fluval i`ve had either leaked or had something that broke for no reason.


on the other topic, filter floss gunks up pretty quickly. that looks as if theres overfeeding with flake foods. all you really need to do is just change the filter floss every month or so. the rest of the media doesn`t need to be cleaned that often in order to maintain the bio.


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