Your Experience With Canister Filters!

[Luke.]

tell me about your experiences useing or hearing success with them in reef tanks with fish,

I know sumps the way to go but I believe you can and could get away with one with caution! Let me know if you use one or have had one on your tanks.

 

[derrick orosz]

fail

 

[TORX]

It can be done, but with a lot of work. If taking the thing apart every 2-3 days, cleaning it and replacing the floss, then a canister is for you. Excessive maintenance will probably lead to leaks in the canister as well.

 

[Shooter000]

+1 torx, nitrate factories if you don't clean them often, very often!!

 

[EricTMah]

I agree with torx as well.

But if you clean once a week with no exceptions. Then you'll be fine. I have a few clients reef tank who have been on canisters for many years successfully. But they require cleanings every week when I perform water changes

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[MrHermit85]

I used one for 6 months when my skimmer bombed out and didn't have the extra cash for a new one. Started to get heavy cyano and gha even though I tried keeping it clean. Probably because I cleaned it once a week instead of every few days like people suggest. (Who has time for that) bought a new skimmer and swapped them out and 1 month later my tank is doing great again.
It is also way easier to empty a skimmer cup than clean a canister filter every few days.... IMO

 

[Luke.]

I used one for 6 months when my skimmer bombed out and didn't have the extra cash for a new one. Started to get heavy cyano and gha even though I tried keeping it clean. Probably because I cleaned it once a week instead of every few days like people suggest. (Who has time for that) bought a new skimmer and swapped them out and 1 month later my tank is doing great again.
It is also way easier to empty a skimmer cup than clean a canister filter every few days.... IMO

So I guess if I was running a canister with a good skimmer the combo should help take the weight off the canister filter ?

 

[reeferkeeper420]

I just wouldnt run one.

 

[TORX]

Maybe a better discussion would be, why do you want to run one? We have no sponsors running our site, so we can say the good the bad and the ugly. What are you looking to get out of running a canister filter?

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[jeffopentax]

I ran a canister on my old 135g with about a dozen fish and some random corals for around 8 months iirc. Aside from gha (which i later found was due to leaching rocks), everything was happy happy. I even had a large seahare for about 6 months. There were some fish fatalities, but only within the first couple weeks being added. Quarantine may have prevented that! I only switched to sump because i was getting an "oil slick" on the water surface. By the way, i never cleaned my filter once in the entire time I was running it [emoji15]


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[Hong]

I don't have a sump, haven't incorporated it into the system yet.

I have a 35 Gallon tank, that I have on an Fluval 405 canister. I try to clean it once a month. I've been battle GHA from the get go, and it's actually getting better.
Right now I do little WCs every day, and a 10% on the weekend... until I get my skimmer back up and running. I feed fairly light. I have about 6 fish, with a bunch of coral frags.

 

[Sewerat]

A canister filter if used with the ceramic pellets only would be no different then a sump with love rock.

The difference between canister filter and sump if we all stop and think about it it simply the ease of maintenance. And what in a sump needs to be maintained, filter socks, if you don't have filter socks you don't have anything to clean in the sump daily. So a canister without those foam filters would be not much different.
I see a sump as two things, more water volume allowing less water chemistry fluctuations. And for a location for all the equipment to go, outside of the DT. Some canisters are a self contained but don't allow any place for a protein skimmer.

So yes I feel a canister would and can be an effective filtration unit under the right circumstances. But you would need to set the filter up correctly, and still require a skimmer or perhaps run skimmer less and some really good live rock.

 

[Luke.]

I just wanted other people's option on this , I have a 40 gallon with a filstar (small up to 40 ish gallons I believe) and I do 10% every week and a half , I've been lazy and it's been a good month and a half since I touch the canister lol.. I got a flash light and looked inside the filstar and seen a shit ton, I mean a shit ton!! of feather dusters and. A few Pinapple sponges now inside my canister I use 4 things, 1 cotton filter ,1 black filter mesh, and nitrate and phos remover and I was worried my nitrates were through the roof i checked and they are no more then 0.5 and corals have looked great for months so im honestly confused on how my canister isnt a nitrate box atm :s

 

[Hong]

Good points Sewerat.

I do have quite a bit of live rock in the DT.
To clarify, in my canister I have Seachem Matrix, and carbon. I don't have filter media or floss. Since it is self contained, I have to settle for a HOB skimmer.
From what I've read, nitrate may be a problem, but phosphate is the one that you have to keep close an eye on. Depending on what you keep in your tank.
GHA is a good indicator of phosphates..

 

[EricTMah]

A canister filter if used with the ceramic pellets only would be no different then a sump with love rock.

The difference between canister filter and sump if we all stop and think about it it simply the ease of maintenance. And what in a sump needs to be maintained, filter socks, if you don't have filter socks you don't have anything to clean in the sump daily. So a canister without those foam filters would be not much different.
I see a sump as two things, more water volume allowing less water chemistry fluctuations. And for a location for all the equipment to go, outside of the DT. Some canisters are a self contained but don't allow any place for a protein skimmer.

So yes I feel a canister would and can be an effective filtration unit under the right circumstances. But you would need to set the filter up correctly, and still require a skimmer or perhaps run skimmer less and some really good live rock.

You're mostly correct. But there is a major difference in sump vs canister with ceramic pellets.

The way most canister filters are physically designed is its problem. With the pump located at the top with both inlet and outlet located within inches of each other. So what happens when the top layer of a canister begins to plug is that water will by pass the "media" and gets returned back to the system. I have personally seen a canister that seemed to be running(water coming out of the spray bar). But when I opened it. It had gone anaerobic. Rotten egg smell. Death. This caused the tank to have very elevated no3 and po4.

Another major difference other than, like you said. Is ease of maintenance. Which is true. A sump, you can easily spot and see any build up of excess food or waste in general. In a canister, you can't physically spot it. Out of sight, out of mind for most average hobbyists. Which also causes unwanted nutrients.

You can have a perfectly healthy system running off a canister. Like what Sewerat said, you can't let the maintenance on it slide. Even with ceramic pellets. You should open the canister and give the pellets a rinse with tank water. Or they will clog. Or change the filter floss.

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