Aquarium Canister Filters Pros and Cons: Are They a Good Fit For You? 

Comparison of HOB and Canister Filters: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-j36LGWY3j9A.html How Much Filtration Do You Need: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-aZZoxO6rUOI.html Fish Tank Filtration Playlist - Everything you NEED to Know: ru-vid.com?list... Also, our new shirts can be found at: www.primetimeaquatics.com/merch For the latest in the fish room check us out on Instagram primetime_aquatics

Canister Filter plus a sponge for the intake. The sponge catches the biggest stuff so you only have to squeeze it out every now and then. I use this for my canister and I have only taken it apart and cleaned it once in the past year and a half. So much easier to squeeze out the intake sponge once in a while then take the whole canister apart. Similar maintenance as a sponge filter.

Great video. I have 2 Sun Sun 302s on my 75 and 1 on my 46. Love them. Not top quality, but not expensive and they do a great job of keeping everything clear while not making a sound. Definately a little extra work to clean, but it's part of the process.

Like anything else there is always a time and place for everything. I have a Eheim canister filter on my 75 gal and love it. I have been using the same one for over 25 yrs. A true workhorse. I have used it with sponge filters and hob filters depending on what I keep in the tank. Absolutely love it.

You guys always make the most informative videos. I was on the fence about using a canister for my 40 breeder but now I am decided. Definitely going to use the canister!

Another good video with a lot of great information.

Never had a canister filter before. Bought a FX6 on Black Friday last year for my 125g that I'll be setting up when I move. I just installed and got it up and running on my 55g ( my current largest tank) to get the BB started and have it ready for my 125g when I go move. I set it in March or April and haven't cleaned it yet. The water in my 55g is more clear than it's ever been. I will be cleaning it at the end of this month and I'm sure it will be tedious and time consuming. I should probably get in the habit of cleaning it at least every two months. While I agree they are the most time consuming and tedious filters to clean, you don't have to clean them every week. Assuming your running a canister appropriate to the volume of your aquarium and assuming your not highly overstocked, you should only have to clean it once every 2-3 months.

I love that your fish room is set up as a room to be in and enjoy the fish; not just a bunch of racks in a highly impersonal space. I greatly appreciate how you always present information in a positive and informative way. You never come across as “I know everything.” I run FX series on my 2 larger tanks. I think for many people (myself included) the “prepackaged” options that canister filters provide as opposed to sumps is a big reason people choose canister filters in larger tanks. And certainly the number of tanks a person has running will affect the decisions they make. Thanks for adding the fish names in the B-roll! Keep the videos coming!

Love the canister filters. For my small shrimp tank i'm using a sponge filter. I have been in the hobby for almost fifty years and have seen many changes. Love your videos. Never to old to learn.

Thank you! Your video helped me to make an informed decision.

This was really helpful, thank you.

Man youve covered almost anything! youre always a go to for my Aquarium info!!! excellent videos! I cant think you enough!

I really am glad i started with your site. Love the pros and cons videos especially. I personally like canister filters but you made super points of alternatives. I probably will always use canisters on my corner tanks if for nothing but getting close to walls. Thanks for sharing 👍

Thanks for the comparison, as I was thinking about getting a canister filter or a hang on back ... too much maintenance for my four tanks, I’ll stick with my sponge filters! Love your videos, as you get straight to the point and don’t “waffle on” like so many ... you are very professional. - clear and concise!!! Well done and thanks for sharing your knowledge!

Thanks again for great info. 👍🏻

Soooo educational man love your videos and I recommend your channel to everyone that I know that keeps fish. Keep up the great content. Greetings from Puerto Rico.

My favorite filtration system for most tanks is still an undergravel filter with a HOB for some extra mechanical and chemical filtration. Very easy maintenance and unbeatable biological filtration capacity.

Great info for the one trying to decide! Keep up the good work

Love your vids. Down to earth advice explaining not everything pricey is suitable. This and the other video on expensive fish food helped me. Cheers

Great content as always.

My favorite set up for my 55 was a canister connected directly to the stacks of an under gravel filter. I alternated the sides where the input and output were on cleaning days. I used less biological and more filter and polish layers in the canister, because by using the UGs down tubes the entire gravel field became all of the active biological filtration I could want. As for leaking, the canister was kept in a bucket and checked, cleaned at least monthly with my cleaning, water change and reversing the flow. The concern over leaking and damaging floors / carpets is a pretty weak one as those floors, near tanks are going to receive drips and splashes constantly already, and worse case tanks can leak also. Anyone that hyper concerned about a leaking canister doing damage, probably shouldn't have tanks there at all.

Great video!👍 I never had a canister filter before but I have always wanted to try one. The only thing that is a big no from me is the leaking problem! I won't be able to sleep at night knowing it could leak anytime or I didn't screw the cap on properly..

A very informative school for thought. I have kept fish since 1975 and have used both internal sponge type filters and cannister. I have used Ehiem cannister filters for the best part of 25 years and find that they do an incredible job both in removing waste and circulating water. I use quick release connector taps which allow for the cannister to be removed quickly and simply. I do not find the cleaning of the media too much trouble however I admit it's a monthly job I do not look forward to doing. I also agree that if you reassemble it incorrectly you'll get a leak which is why after putting the thing back insitu I watch it for the first 10 minutes just in case. I only have the one tank with eight large discus and I think that if you are running just the one tank then a cannister is worth the effort. I generally think your advice is sound but possibly a little too much against the cannister.

Beautiful crystal clear tanks and fish!!! I’ve never used a canister filter mainly price for me. I’m a budget hobbiest. I’ve always used HOB filters and went to sponge filtration and DIY filters for my ponds with power head pumps and some floating bio media run by air pumps

Great video. My biggest problem i have with canister filters is bypass, leaks, and if you lose power the good bacteria dies very fast. Even the best canister filter have bypass which to me is a problem.

Great video! Gonna be doing a100-150 gal native fish tank. pros and cons really helps plan it! Subbed!

Great video as always. ..facts are facts, cons out weigh the pro's. HOB for me and my tanks. Have a great day fish nerds!

Awesome! Thank you

Great information

Thanks for your wonderful Channel. Excellent information and I love your presentation style. You're a gent. I've always run canisters, but I may well try a HOB next time I'm in the shop. Cheers.

I'm in process of building 300 litres aquarium and i wanted to buy a canister filter with 1500l/h flow. But after watching your channel i think i will go with 2 Aqua Clear 70 hob. 2 times cheaper. Saved me some money Jason, thanks and greetings from Poland ;)

I have a 65 gallon tank with 4 fancy Goldfish... I had two sponge filters and two HOB, they were working perfect with crystal clear water, only downside was the space the sponges occupied in the tank and the air pump noise made me crazy... I wished to buy a Canister but didn’t wanted to spend so much... So I made a DIY 2 feet Tall 4 inch PVC pipe filter with a 1500 lph powerhead... I put all the media from the two HOB and the two sponges in the pipe with additional Polyfill and Ceramic rings... I have attached the output to a Top filter outlet pipe with multiple holes, it works like charm abd there is waterfall sound only and no other sound. Thanks for the video...top notch content as always👍🏻👍🏻

I love my fx6 love love love it

Awesome info

Professor I don’t have a canister on any of my tanks,but have been thinking of one for my pleco breeding tank you gave me a lot to think about!

I use a Sunsun canister filter and an aqueon HOB on my 110gallon, and am reasonably happy with the results. I dont have a lot of tanks to clean so 15minutes once every two months spent cleaning the canister filter seems a small price to pay.

Although this video was posted three years ago, it was just what I was looking for as I decide on what filtration to use on my 180 gallon tank.

Good morning guys.. thanks Jason for some great information.. I've considered a canister for this new tank... But I think I will stick to HOBs.. I've learned so much great information on how to make them so much more efficient and running them with a pre-filter.. this is definitely the route I'll probably go.. and "no need to fix what ain't broke"😂😁 thanks for showing us the names of the fish too... Man they really pretty!! Thanks again and I hope you enjoy and have fantastic weekend!!!❤️🐟🌱🌿🙏

Love my Sun Sun 704b canister. An inexpensive sponge pre-filter attached over the intake slips off easily for squeeze cleaning and greatly reduces cleaning intervals for the canister to 3 or 4 time a year. It sits nicely inside a 12 gal plastic utility tub bucket with rope handles for easy lifting and any drip catching. A $13 water alarm sensor in the bucket loudly warns of a drip should one occur but never has. Used to have submersible power filters which were a pain. My tank is over stocked so I also run two sponge filters. This system works flawlessly for my 37 gallon.

Thanks for videos very useful actually Using a top mounted filter the same as back mounted filter but with two type of media could be a sponge and another is plastic fiber but i feel that plastic fiber is working better

Canister filters or sponge filters only for me. I've had heaps of different canister brands/models over the years but I keep coming back to the Eheim Classic range. So much faster & easier to clean than any other filter I've used.

Very helpful thanks :):)

I like the relative silence and longer maintenance intervals of a canister filter, and they allow the tank to look a bit more tidy. However, I have hardwood floors and rugs, and am apprehensive about leaks, so I use Seachem Tidal HOBs on my 3 tanks. I over filter by having two HOBs on each tank, so that in the unlikely event one fails, the other filter can still carry the full load of the tank. I don't run these at their full flow rate, but have the flow turned down a bit to approximately 50 percent, so with both running the overall flow is about what one would flow at maximum. The Seachem isn't noisy as long as the water level is kept high (near to top of the surface skimmer intake). It is more audible than most canister filters, but not to a distracting degree. We have a 75 gallon tank in the living room, running 2 Seachem Tidal 110 HOBs, and often watch TV in that room without distraction.

I’m in love with your lowboy in the background!!!!! 🙏😍

I love all the information you provide in your videos! I fell like I learn so many new things from you! I do have a question though, where is a good place to get sponge filters? I’ve looked at my local pet stores and they don’t have any!

Thank you your channel is alot more informative then many others, Still none the wiser what pump best on 75g chichid tank. I use two internal filters and the one the tank came with which is built in. I'll get there but any advise would be appreciated, thank you.

Of all the filters, i prefer the canister filter the most. The reason being, if properly set up, the ten or so minutes it takes to service and clean is well worth the time when you only have to perform the task once every two or three months. The biggest mistake some people do with the CF is to pack them full of filter media and improper sequence of the media. When set up correctly, loss of filtration efficiency isn’t very common. Personally, i like to keep the tank space “clutter” (piping, heaters, skimmers, etc) to a minimum without sacrificing good water flow from end to end of my tank. HOBs are a good option though if I need to polish the water a bit or add some periodic carbon treatment. I use an old Marineland HOT CF for that.

Canister filters r not my cup of tea. I have personally experienced several with leakage problems. Did everything possible to keep them from doing so to no avail. HOB is in my opinion by far the best in many ways. Price, clean up etc. Jason thanks again for the great video. 👍😎

It is interesting the differences in the hobby between USA and Europe. The HOB is the default filter of choice for the majority of Americans yet in the UK they are not just out of favour, they are not used at all. I have never seen one in UK and I have just checked several online retailers based in UK and nobody stocks them, not even one. The canister filter reigns supreme in UK. I would love to give a HOB a try but I can't even do that, not even by importing from US because you are all running on 110 volts, in UK we are at 220-240 volts. I am currently living in Greece and again I have never seen a HOB; I have seen a comment from somebody in Netherlands saying much the same thing, just not used in that part of the world. I have no explanation for this; if HOBs are as good as it claimed I don't understand why they are not popular across the pond.

I have three tanks ~ two with canister filters and one with an internal filter. I've tried two different types of sponge filters in my 70-litre tank and, quite frankly, they were totally useless and were replaced with the internal filter. My 70-litre tank has specific requirements due to the fact it houses Sumatran Bettas (B. falx). I do maintenance on my canister filters every eight weeks without any dramas. Neither canister is confined in a cabinet; they are placed beside each tank and stand in a shallow styrofoam box (to catch any dripping water during maintenance). 👍

Youve successfully talked me out of a canister for my new 69 gallon on the rack im building. I will also have 4 additional tanks on the rack, and they will be running sponges. I think I will probably just get a beefy air pump and run them all on sponges, maybe a powerhead for the 69, to increase the flow

Good info. Just got myself a lowboy myself and wondered if I should get a canister for it or a sponge filter. Definitely not going to go canister filter, but will go with the fluval u4 just to help get some water flow and will be planted and so thst I don't have to worry about leaks.

Thank you! I agree. The reason I have a canister, is because it's silent. My aquarium is in my bedroom, and I don't like sounds while sleep time. 👍🏻

In my opinion I like canisters over hob or sponge filters because u can go months before cleaning and it seems I am cleaning my hob and sponges every couple of weeks. Leaking is probably my only fear so I guess it depends on the user personal schedule what works best them. I would and not sure if u have already do a comparison to sumps and pros vs cons

Morning J & J!! Missed you!!

I have never used a canister, and do not plan to. I have a 150g lightly stocked. I agree with about not needing canister level volume for bio loads. You can run two low cost HOBs and maybe a third if you have an old one hanging around and pack one full of floss and change the floss or sponges every two weeks. Will give plenty of surface agitation and keep the tank clear and maint is easy.

Best advice I ever heard was if you have a tank over 50 gallon then get a canister/sump. If under, then a sponge/HOB/internals will be good enough.

I agree with the cleaning part. People do not clean the filter often enough. Since the dirt is hidden ir builds up so fast. It might cause long term damage to the water quality

I have tired all filters and personally prefer canister filters. With HOB and sponge filters I have to clean out every week to 2 weeks. And they are messy. I can never clean a sponge filter without getting a lot of the gunk back in the tank. With a canister filter I can let it run for months. Usually around the 3 month mark I pull it apart replace the filter floss and swipe out my purigen seacham bags. The maintenance is really not that hard at all. I have a fluvial and Eheim canister filters in a 20 Gallon and 17 Gallon high tech tanks. My water has never been clearer, less fish die off and way better flow.

I have a 40 gallon tank. 4 gold fish right now. I am getting between 6-8 white cloud minnows and 4-6 Kuhli loaches as well as a few live low light plants. I am going to put a large sponge filter in my tank. I was curious if I should also get a filter system like the penguin pro as well? Thank you sir. Your videos are superb and I am subscribed.

I think it depends on stocking. I run a sponge on every tank.... it's just good insurance if a filter dies. But on my larger more heavily stocked tanks... a 75 mbuba and a 125 SA I use a canister combined with an hob. Now this isn't so much for bio but more for look as these are displays. But if I had an 80 tank fish room the maintenance and cost would not make sense. As far as canisters go, i would highly recommend hydor as I've used many and this one has the best ease of maintenance vs cost. I will say I've never used a sun- sun as I don't like to use electrical equipment that's not UL rated, because a tank leak is a problem but a house fire is way worse.

Love fluvel fx6 have 2 of them on a 150 discus

I use Ehiem canisters to pump from one tank to another with overflows back to first tank. I use them also for Sump to tank pumps. Works well and they are quiet.

Has a new fish keeper I fell into the Trap of thinking I needed the biggest canister filter I could get I spent $300 on a FX4 that now looking back on it I could have spent in so many better aspects. I could have got a larger tank instead of 75 gallon, I'm embarrassed to admit I bought a Fluval FX4 before I even bought a test kit to test the water. should have bought a cheaper hang on the back of a Sponge Filter and the test kit and still would have had money left over. My advice would be to take a little bit of advice from all the RU-vidrs methods all the way from JLR** aquatics to kg tropics who loves his canisters. Some people like to tare apart there canister once a month so its not a negative to them. Great video!!!!!

After i clean my filter i run it in my yard using a bucket, that way i know the oring seal is good. Less mess and zero spill in the house

Fx6 canister the best ever!

No one ever mentions the distance between intake and outtake; thank you. I love canisters myself, but I use all types of filters in my 7 tanks. Each filter type works well and each has it’s niche where it works best. On the subject of sizing canisters filters, I find people tend to buy 3 or 4 or 5 times what they need. The number of fx-6s out there says to me it’s more about bragging then about need. (Not sure what there is to brag about, it’s not like it’s an Eheim... **ducks**) . Anyway, thanks for yet another informative video.

Thank you so much for the information about the canister filter, i almost buy one (sunsun) for my planing 45gallon tank...instead kf caniater filter, what if i run only one AquaClear 70 hang on back will be enough for my tank? Please advise. Thx thx 🙇🏻‍♂️

I love my canister filters. They are a little more difficult to clean but you have to do it less often. The noise of Hob's drives me nuts. I have had an aqua clear almost empty my 90g on the floor. I do like running smaller tanks on spounge filters.

I plan on trying one when I get my 125 gallon

I like canister filters myself but I only have 3 tanks. They do a great job. A 60, 75 and 125 gallon tank. I run 2 canisters on the 75 and 125 and 1 canister and an hob on the 60. With all the tanks you have there would be so much maintenance you would have to hire a staff to clean your tanks! Stick with air

I am only new to this but I selected a canister filter because I have 2 turtles and so only have the tank half filled to give them a dry area.

Any thoughts in running an under gravel variation with lots of biohome in bags above it in 1/2 the sump the other 1/2 is planted and everything is in my sump. I replace some cheap filter floss and 1 filter sock so far nitrates are good and doing this with a fairly stocked 225 gal cichlid tank.

Love the FX6 on my my bedroom Tank..... .. 6 feet away from my bed ......Ultra Quiet.....Yes I agree ...... Time to cleaning The FX6 ..... I was not Happy. ....... I’ve owned dozens of Canister Filters over Time & The FX6 is The Best. ....... Nothing comes close to it. .......You get what you pay for when it comes to Canister Filters.

I think I'll just stick to my fluval 50 honestly, you can get them at any pet store easily even in this current stocking crisis. the media is readily available/convertible, and for a larger tank you can just double up or use even cheaper sponge filters to supplement it. my current fluval motor needs to be kickstarted with a small tool like a dental pick because the motor "stem" dislodged itself, maybe I'll look for something quieter

Love them but only for having limited number of tanks. I get the big cheap Polar/SunSuns so I can use the $100+ I saved on packing it with some bomb media. It's a bit of water flow overkill for my smallest (40g breeder), but I just have both the inlet/outlet covered in sponge. Always looking for an excuse to use more sponge. By the way, currently watching your Podcast #1491 on the Joe Rogan Experience. :)

Thanks for the video, this was exactly what I needed! I am planning a low-boy style tank of similar size as yours (just a bit less deep, 15" instead of 24"). I've been toying with the idea of a mattenfilter on one side to keep it clean looking, but I'm not sure yet, I'm a bit afraid that dirt will settle on the other side. What would you suggest, considering the fish I want (mainly chili rasbora and otocinclus) will be small and not like high flow, so no wavemaker.

Totally agree about the myth of needing sooo much bio media that's making the rounds on the internet these days. IMO it comes from people like pondguru who are just trying to pitch a product they themselves have money invested in. I used to have an 80l tank with an internal filter that only had a handful of ceramic rings for bio filtration. Never had any spikes in ammonia or nitrite and still had low nitrate levels around 10 or 20 ppm

I am glad i saw this video, I just started the hobby a few months ago and i am using a canister filter at the insistence of my father and it's starting to ruin my enjoyment of the hobby. Including the problems mentioned here, my filter breaks apart every 2-4 weeks and i have problem starting it up (DIY Canister FIlters). As a grown adult, having to call my father to help me start the filter every time it breaks is really eating me up little by little. Now i feel like i either have to give up on Canisters or the hobby itself, glad i am not alone in hating canisters.

Thank you! And your video helped my decision to not go with a canister filter!

I have 2 penquin 350 bio wheels on my 50 gallon is that over kill or is it good for my tank I do have a lot of fish

I have an old fluval 303 which I stopped using bc it was such a pain to clean & then restart. You so right to point out that HOBs are much easier to run & maintain. I do have a question on another type of filtration. Are you familiar with sumps? I’m considering buying a 80 gallon acrylic (which I love) cylindrical aquarium with built in sump. I’m totally clueless on running such a system. The aquarium in question is featured in one of the King of DYI videos.

I used HOBs, sponges for years and years and years. About 6 months ago I got my first canister and now totally feel stupid I haven’t been using them all this time. They are vastly superior.

Pre filter on a canister filter is the way to go. Cuts down on canister maintenance big time. The FX filters are the best

Do you have a video link for active carbon please? Intending some pH reduction with peat moss. Would like to know if I really need carbon and if incompatible with peat balls. Many thanks guys. Learned so much from your videos. Newbie. Cheers.

What are you running in the low bow for the internal canister? My two largest tanks are 20 gallons. I put an eheim ecco pro 2234 on a tank that had a lot of breeding going on. Now that the breeding has stopped and stocking levels are back to normal, I'm seriously thinking of taking the canister off. My other 20 is a rimless tank with an eheim ecco pro 2232. I'm not keen on it. May put the internal filter that came with the tank in and augment with a seeded sponge. Biggest issue is what to do with all the seeded biomedia.

Only thing I don't like about the internal sponge filters is that you can't see how good the flow rate is through them. Cleaning filters too much can be just as bad (If not worse) than not cleaning them enough. With Hobs you get a flow rate indicator that tells you exactly when to clean them.

Canister filter is a very good and low maintenance filter but costly option. I have one made in China canister running in my South American biotope tank for more than a decade without much issues.

How high will a regular filter pump

Quick question, what are your thoughts on sharing a canister filter between two aquariums with t-fittings? I know there's the sharing of water between tanks but beyond that, if my filter can handle the total gallons, what are your thoughts? Thank you for your video.

Thanks for the informative video! I’m running 2 aquaclear HOBs (aquaclear 70 and 110) as well as a small sponge filter on my 75 gallon with 30 juvenile African cichlids (haps, mbuna, peacocks). Do you think It would be a good idea to add a canister down the line when my fish grow?

I've had awful experiences with canisters. I've had this one about a year on my 55g with a 6inch Raphael cat, three 4inch clown loaches and a handful guppies. The canister has always been loud, clogs up all the time, doesn't seem to keep the tank clean, and really is a pain to clean out especially when I'm having to do it twice a week or else it has zero flow. I recently switched back to a HOB and 2 sponges, within 24hrs the tank looks nearly spotless.

Yes your right I had the marineland 360 canister it started leaking . Ordered the seal rubber gasket . Was ok for a month. Started leaking again. I worked on it 3 days . Kept leaking . I threw it away. I bought the sun sun 302. It was a pain in the - - s to put together . I ran it 3 weeks the impeller made noise I fixed it . One month later the hose came off and flooded my living room . It cost me 2000 in damage . I will never run a canister filter again. Hob is the way to go I really like the penquin 350 s . I have had one on my 20 gallon in my bedroom for 15 years . I have never ever had a problem. Best to be safe , if you dont want leaks, floods or headaches buy hob filters . You will be glad you read my post.

So true. I'm not even sure what the recommended time frame is for cleaning canisters. I doing it 4 times a year, or ever three months. The truth is, I don't like cleaning any of the filter options because they're so messy. The sponge filters erupt the second you try to take them out of the tank. Power filters dump waste back in when you pull the pads to replace or rinse them. Canisters are a pain for sure, and they blow waste back in when you fire them back up.

I got a eheim 4+ an it was a game changer for me i got it for my 60gallion i know its alittle over kill but it has made my life alittle easier an seens i got it the water stay crisp an perfect all around but lol

As long as you have lots of plants and a cycled tank an airstone is sufficient to keep oxygen in your tank and you don't need a filter unless you want a mechanical. But keep in mind your stocking should be way less compared to when you have a bio filter.

Used canister filters for over fifty years never had a leak but I’ve never gone cheap always used ehiem or fluval

Now I have two medium sponge filter and one Fluval hang filter. But is to much space in the aquarium. And I want to buy the delta 60 hang canister filter. How I do the change. I want to keep one sponge filter and the canister, that is ok. And for the substrate I have Little Rock’s but I prefer sand, how I do the change?

What would you suggest for a in the tank canister filter for a 36 gal tank that has guppies, mollies, catfish, etc?

Sir,my 4feet tank i put it on the floor,can the canister filter be use with same height with my tank since my tank is on floor.?..usually people use it on below the tank.