Powerfilter VS Canister Filter

bradttu

bradttu

Member
After searching this board and having no luck, I have decided to ask a question.
I am wanting to do something better for filtration. I currently have a Prizm Skimmer and a regular powerfilter. I know that alot of people use the bio-wheel set up, and others use canister filters.
Is one better than the other? If so, why? What brand and model would you buy?
Any advise is appreciated.
PS - I will be keeping my skimmer, I am just wanting to upgrade my powerfilter to something else.
 
legion

legion

Member
I have all three,
Prism Skimmer
Fluval 304
Emperor 280
If you have the money, I would go with a sump or a fuge.
Don't have the money myself, but from my research, one of these would do a better job. You may not even need another filter, many people do anyway. Even though I have both my nitrates sit at about 20-30. I want some corals and would like them to drop before I get any. Oh yeah, It may even save you money in the long run, you won't have to purchase filter media and cartridges all the time.
 
bradttu

bradttu

Member
I really don't think that I can go with a sump/fuge setup because I am somewhat restricted on space. If I DID set one up, I wouldn't be able to hide it under my stand. It would have to be out in the open.
If you had to do away with either your fluval or emperor, which one would you choose to keep? Why?
 
logan15

logan15

Active Member
i recently built my fuge and since i too dont have the space i built a side fuge but it is better than any powerfilter or canister filter The sand has now settled
 
krunk

krunk

Member
How does dual aquaclear 500's sound on 135 gallon? its going too house a huma huma, niger, powder borwn tang, eel, and a foxface. MAbey one more but its a big iffy.
I dont have the money for sump or canisters, plus my neighbor selling these two aquclears both for 25$
 
ocellaris_keeper

ocellaris_keeper

Active Member
KrUNK,
How about a filter free environment? a couple of powerheads, a protien skimmer and the Euro/American Deep Sand Bed method.
Since your tank is new - you could do it up right. Get your water params right - salinity, temp, even use your discarded water from your existing tank durinmg a water change to help speed things up a bit.
Put about 1" of playsand down and place cheap plastic tubing along the bottom across ways. Put a plastic screen on top of the tubing. Cover this with 1" of playsand and then 2" of live sand. this will give you a 4" Deep Sand Bed (DSB) that should function as your biofilter and a nitrate filter as well.
Add Some Live Rock - to your liking (you don't need much as the DSB will do most of the work)
Use one of your existing power filter for chemical filtration (remove all of the filtermaterial and buy Chemi-Pure Carbon filtration bags and put this into the filter- that's all you need)
And your done - This will give you an established tank in just a months.
 
dreeves

dreeves

Active Member
Before I set my sumps up...on my 90, I had an AquaClear 500 and Filstar XP3.
The 500 I took all the stuff out, except the basket, filled it with bio-balls and put the foam block back in.
The Filstar, I put the Filstar bio-stars in one level.
With the two...Amonia was never a problem.
The sump was the result of moving the filtration to the basement and adding flexability to the system. Also increased the water capacity...it had nothing to do with the bio-filtration.
 
krunk

krunk

Member
so when i get the two aq500's. take the stuff out and put bioballs in? Or should i just put bioballs in one?
 
dreeves

dreeves

Active Member
Depends on what you want filtered out. Keep one with bio-balls...and use the other one for you chemical/mechanical filtration. If you do this with the second one...the sponge provided will also perform well with the bio filtration.
If the one setup isn't enough...then do the other one with balls too. But it should be plenty with only one with the balls.
 
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