Cannisters for dummies?

[trigger11]

Hello All,
I just recently aquired a cannister filter and I know nothing about them really. I have tried doing a search but really wasnt able to come up with much.
Could someone please recommend a place where I could do some research on them? Like, the basic principle of how they work. What kinds of media you can use and all of that stuff.
Thanks in advance for assistance.

 

[anonome]

What brand? This would help with the maintenance. All canisters are set up differently.

 

[trigger11]

This particular one is a fluval 304. Seems like there is an in line and and out line for the plumbing although I do not know how to tell the difference. Also, I dont know if the in line is something that would pump the water from the tank or if it has to be used like an overflow for a sump. Sumps are something I am familiar with. These cannisters on the other hand are greek for some reason.

 

[am00re34]

the way to tell what is in and out is to look at where the tubes go into the canister filter. there usually is a arrow going up and down. (down obviously in the inlet and up is the outlet)
I have never used a Fluval since i have a Ehiem (but they work the same). For filters and media there are several choices. The most common is some sort of carbon either through a carbon filter or carbon pieces in a mesh bag. I know Ehiem has a media that is hexagon shaped and one that it tube shaped. These are used like bio-balls for biological filtration. Ehiem also has a rock like media which works much like Live Rock in its a porus rock that is also a biological filtration.
What you do is if your working from the bottom up you would but a media (your choice), a foam or mesh filter, another media, foam filter etc. until you run out of space. I also used carbon as my last, but i dont know if thats required or not.
If Fluval doesnt have thier own media and filters you can buy any brand since they all work. Also, i would suggest not getting a "pre-cut" filter pad since they are about 10x the price of a large sheet of filter media and you can just cut it to size.
Any questions let me know since i've had my ehiem for about 6 years now. I now only use it for carbon and phosphate remover and as more flow, i did use it with all different media in my freshwater days.
Also, all you need to do to start it is usually prime it (get water in the canister and a syphion effect going from the tank) then plug it in. There is a pump built in the canister filter which will pump the water back into the tank.

 

[trigger11]

Thanks for the info.
So looking at the equipment the previous owner had for this tank they had a HOB overflow with a U-tube. Do you think that is what they used to get the water to the cannister? The tank is a 55G all glass which has not been drilled.
If so, what would happen if the U-tube stopped syphoning for some reason? If the cannister runs out of water does it shut off?

 

[am00re34]

thats possible that what the u-tube was for, but if set-up from the box there is a tube that is the intake and a tube for the outlet. so there would be no use for that.
i dont know for the fluval, but on my canister filter if there isn't syphion it just runs and tries to pump out water. Wouldn't cause any water leakage or anything, but may wear out the pump in the filter. My experiance has always been however that the syphion always remains unless you detach the hoses and empty the lines.

 

[trigger11]

Ahh ok. I'll look around the piles of stuff I inherited and see if I can find how this other tube part will look. Guess I will check online and see if I can find a manual for this thing. A picture of how it is supposed to be set up would help. Thanks again.

 

[am00re34]

i went to yahoo and typed in fluval 304 and did a image search and there were several pics of it set up on tanks and drawings of how it works.
good luck! just so you know probably 99% of the people here will tell you not to use it if you have Live Rock in your system. But they do work great for additional filtration if you use the sponges, just remember to clean them regularly (once a month or so). they also work great for things like carbon or phosphate remover.

 

[trigger11]

You bring up a good point. My thinking was going to be to use this cannister with a 40G Hex tank setup. I would have about 50lbs of LR in there. How come you wouldnt want to use a cannister with LR? I also have a Whisper 40 HOB filter so maybe I will just stick with that. For the most part this tank would be FOWLR. I would have a few corals in there but not very many. Just hardy stuff like GSP and shrooms.
I really appreciate all of your advice.

On a side note- I did find a manual for the cannister so if I do decide to use it somewhere at least I have a chance of getting it hooked up right.

 

[am00re34]

The reason people say not to use it is the reason for canister filters is mainly biological filtration. thats what LR is for, so most people would say take the 100-300 you would spend on your canister filter and get LR.
in my situation and yours we already have them so might as make as much use of them as we can.
One thing i do notice is if you have a sand bottom the filters suck up a lot of free floating sand particles and they collect in the canister. just make sure to keep the amount that is collected under control so it doesnt cause your pumps to fail from trying to push water through sand as opposed to air.