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Hello,

I am currently researching what filter to get for my tank. I am 99% convinced I am getting a cannister filter.My question to you is which one? I am shooting for 7-10x turn over rate. Tank is almost 30 gallons its dimensions are 36x12x16. I am trying to get away with using the filter to provide the current in the tank. That way I dont have to use a power head.

I have narrowed the choices down to these 4:


One last question. When choosing a heater should I get the one rated for my tank size (100w for 30g) or the step above (150w for 45g)?

Thanks,
Jason

Hi Jason,
From experience I'd like to advise you this: get the Eheim and the 150 W heater. If all's well the prices of the heaters are the same - so that's no issue - and it's never bad to have some overcapacity.

Hi,
I would definitely choose an Eheim canister.
You can also consider 2215 or the pro series 2026.

Freshman wrote:Hi,
I would definitely choose an Eheim canister.
You can also consider 2215 or the pro series 2026.

Indeed. But the original post said:

I am trying to get away with using the filter to provide the current in the tank. That way I dont have to use a power head.

To do that, you need the biggest possible flow on the filter.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with using an oversized filter, and I believ it will create quite nice flow in that fairly small tank.

There is on the other hand a good argument to say that a separate powerhead is more easy to control with respect of current, and more importantly, direction of flow. It also allows for some separation between the filtration and the current in the tank.

I'm quite fond of the small Eheim water pumps, which are available for around £20 in the UK - that's equivalent to $40 US, but I'm not sure what the prices are in the US [not everything is priced in accordance to exchange rates - due to competition, shipping costs, market-share, and what have you].

--
Mats

I freely admit my bias towards the Eheim Canister Filters so I naturally recommend them highly.

In the interest of interchangeaability I choose to use all 100 watt Stealth Heaters. I use them on all tanks from my 4.5 gal spawning tank to my 29 gal. discus pair tanks.
I know the argument of how quickly an oversized heater can quickly cook a small tank but the reality is one useally discovers a defective heater too late regardless of it's size. Most of my tanks are twenty longs and for the 100 gallon system I use a 300 watt.
I just like to mindlessly grab a heater.
Going larger than the recommended size allows you to always use it on a larger tank if you aquire one. The prices are not that different beween a low and higher wattage heaters.

Hi Jason,
The Eheim Classics now come with a large single media basket. Mine came pre-filled, but I did have to take it all out to rinse off the considerable amount of dust from the media. Still, having it come already set up will leave no question on how to organize the media. This basket is not partitioned nor does it consist of interlocking smaller baskets as is the case with some of the other models. However it is easy to work with--you simply layer the media and rarely will you have to mess with it--all I ever have to do is lift up the basket and dump the water out of the cannister to get rid of larger debris--which is always successfully filtered out at the lowest level of media and due to suction stays in the canister when you pull up the basket. I probably wouldn't even have to do that if I weren't so clueless and could somehow figure out how to not overfeed my fish. There is no noticeable bypass.

And now they also come with two double-tap connections, one for the inlet, one for the outlet, so that you can detach the filter easily from the tank for maintenance. Anyway, I mention all this in case you'd come across some reviews saying what a pain Eheim Classics are to clean or to maintain. There are many such comments and reviews out there but they are outdated, and even if Eheim hadn't changed a thing, Apistomaster said to use media bags and you get same ease of use that way.

As a newcomer to cannisters I know I let those outdated comments scare me away from the Classic and got a Rena XP3, which just never worked well for me. Now I'm running the 2213 and the Eheim Ecco 2236 on my 40 gallon tank. I don't need to be running two, actually I think the 2213 could handle the tank all by itself, though it's the smallest of the Classics. But when I go to set up my second tank & divide my stock, I will have a fully cycled filter available to get off the ground running. (Ecco is also awesome--but Classics have stood the test of time which is why I had to try one when I decided I would go through with doing a second large tank eventually.)

One more bit of advice from a newbie, when you get a chance, keep spare parts on hand...maybe stuff like extra hoses or taps, clamps, even an impeller. Just in case you make a mistake setting something up or a mistake with maintenance, you don't want to lose all your carefully cultured media while you wait for spare parts to arrive.

When I set up my Eheim, somehow I really goofed and made the inlet hose too long, which made the flow slower than optimal. It was totally a freakazoid mistake--my two year old was running around and I guess I got distracted...who knows, with me. Anyway, I finally got around to shortening it, but in the process, did something to cause the doubletap to be leaky after struggling to get a stuck hose off. So, I have one on order. Fortunately, I have only a slow drip. Kinda like my brain. And I heard some people complain they blew a clamp. I personally don't see how, but just in case...I'm putting those on my next order. Classics, if set up well, shouldn't need too much maintenance, though. So don't be worried just because I'm incompetent & had to mess with mine.

Sorry if it's all too much information...that's my specialty, alas. But not a day went by after I got the Rena that I didn't bang my head against the wall wondering why I didn't listen to Apistomaster to begin with! I guess I let the lower price of the Rena and intimidation at everything about the Classic being for "experienced" aquarists scare me off. The Rena does have a solid feel to its components, and it does seem to work very well for a lot of people. But I had horrible bypass with it and I had set it up exactly as you're supposed to, with the Rena media.

My advice is not 100% dead on all the time is one good reason to not take mine or anyone else's recommendations without questioning it.

I have also made the mistake of leaving the hoses longer than necessary but I figure if things change I might regret cutting them shorter.

It really is a good idea to have critical spare parts on hand.

I recently managed to break the inlet hoses' double quick disconnect valve set and ordered a new one. $27.00 is pretty steep. That is one design feature that could be made more idiot proof. In the interim I just replaced it with a double ended barbed coupler and have just left it that way for now. I plan on getting a spare impeller for the Eheims.

Yeah, nobody is right all the time. But you've been at this for over thirty years, right? That counts for a lot.

I had totally forgotten to mention the little suction device that Eheim sells. I got one and am glad I did. It made priming the Classic easy--although to be honest I could not follow Eheim's instructions on priming to save my life. I did the best I could at making out the diagram. Basically all you do is before you put in the spraybar, you insert the suction device into the end of the outtake hose (after everything else is all set up) and you give the bulb some good squeezes to get the suction going. My initial mistake was I gave up too soon, thinking I was doing something wrong. I wasn't--it just takes a bit of work to get the thing going.

If for some reason you ever have to do some work on the filter or want to move it to another tank and you break the siphon, you will be glad you have this device.

If you are ordering from Drs. Foster and Smith online (and judging from the price you quoted, I'm guessing you are) the suction device can be found under Eheim accessories. It's not too hard to find on their site.

As for the high price of the double quick disconnect valve set, assuming it's the same part I'm thinking of and also recently broke, I found it on Marine Depot's parts site for $12.99. However, I'm using the connector for the 12/16mm hoses. The larger taps do get pricey!

I bred and raised my first tropicalfish in 1963. Age 11.
Then called Tilapia mossambica, Mozambique Mouthbreeder was the fish. Not the typical guppies. I have still seen them around sometimes in large Asian supermarket's live fish tanks! They get a foot long but will breed at less than four inches. Pretty cool to see their mode of reproduction for a kid. Opened a little fish shop while stil in the eighth grade.
It is with the Discus that I really begin counting. Bought some in 1967 and was breeding them and raising them July of 1969 during the same days as the first moon landing so it has always been a memorable time.
Wild Royal Blues spawning at the same time as "one step for a man..." I am probably still cross-eyed from trying to watch both at the same time.
I have never tired of watching discus go through their life cycle. Speaking of, I just discovered the Video button on Google. Typed in Discus spawning and found some good home movies of them spawning. One pair was wild Royal blues with a huge spawn. If you are squeamish don't type in; piranhas.

Thanks a lot for all the replies. You guys and gals have been a huge help.

I will post pics when I get it up and running.

Thanks,
Jason

The directional U-Tube return is far better than the spray bars Eheim supplies. Talk about losing potential flow volume. Spray bars are the way to go if you want to restrict the flow. Possibly Eheim's dumbest idea.

You know...I just found out that not all of the Classics now come with that internal media basket. Just the 2213. I found out when I was checking out a 2215 in a catalog. That catalog was the only place I'd seen it mentioned that the other models don't come with the internal basket. I'm sorry for the misinformation.