I just saw a new Caister filter being sold at Pet Warehouse. The brand is ViaAqua and the model i'm looking at is 750. I was wondering if it's any good. The price looks pretty cheap, the only catch is that the media is sold seperately. I was about to buy the Filstar XP3. But I guess i'll wait and see.
New Canister Filter on the market
- Thread starter ryuken168
- Start date
I have the 10 gallon tall Via Aqua tank, and I love it, it's silent, and, there costomer service rocks.. When I brought my tank home, I couldn't get the impeller to spin, so I sent an e-mail to the company, within 8 hours, they sent me a response telling me how to fix it, and if that didn't work, giving me a number I could call, and an address to send it back to..
Take a look at the thread from early April: Opinions on filters and heaters. There was a lot of suggestions there.
I went with the Rena Filstar 2X for my 55 gal.
I had not used a canister filter before, and was a hesitant because i thought canisters were only for the heavy duty fish keepers with massive tanks. But folks told me to check them out. So I looked at the big name filters with the big price tags. And I also checked out some of the no-name, less expensive models. Then I remembered what some people had said about Rena, so I checked out the Filstars.
The Filstars have the features that the big guys have, but for a lot less money (self priming, quiet, multiple media baskets)
And I don't feel bad about not having the BioWheel - I put a bunch of the ceramic rings in one of the baskets, the bacteria like that to.
The 2X wasn't that hard to install, (it helps if you read the directions) And as far as maintenance - it's great. The tubing comes off with a flip of a handle, and the top of the canister has 4 easy to use locks.
The only thing I wish it had is a quick disconnect for the power cord. But for $75, it's a champ.
(and no, I am not getting paid for these comments - but I will accept any and all monetary donations...
)
I went with the Rena Filstar 2X for my 55 gal.
I had not used a canister filter before, and was a hesitant because i thought canisters were only for the heavy duty fish keepers with massive tanks. But folks told me to check them out. So I looked at the big name filters with the big price tags. And I also checked out some of the no-name, less expensive models. Then I remembered what some people had said about Rena, so I checked out the Filstars.
The Filstars have the features that the big guys have, but for a lot less money (self priming, quiet, multiple media baskets)
And I don't feel bad about not having the BioWheel - I put a bunch of the ceramic rings in one of the baskets, the bacteria like that to.
The 2X wasn't that hard to install, (it helps if you read the directions) And as far as maintenance - it's great. The tubing comes off with a flip of a handle, and the top of the canister has 4 easy to use locks.
The only thing I wish it had is a quick disconnect for the power cord. But for $75, it's a champ.
(and no, I am not getting paid for these comments - but I will accept any and all monetary donations...
)
Looks like to me Rena Filstar could go a long way on a suite against this ViaAqua. They look a whole lot alike. But thats not my business. My advice to ya is go with the Filstar. I have a Filstar 3 on my fresh water 75 gal. tank and I love it. To prime, lift the latch and disconnect the valves from the top of the filter. Unscrew the cap on the inlet tubing. Fill with water. Put the valves back into the top of the canister and close the latch. It begins to fill the canister. Simple. An excellent filter for the money. Later, Hang*celebrate
i have both...
i have the filstar xp3 and eheim 2028. they are currently in use in a 40gal tank.
the plus on the xp3 is that they give you extra tubing, nice modular intake/outlet plumbing system. the most annoying is that the small suction cups to hold those tubing. priming for the first time uses funnel, afterward it's self priming.
the eheim, the plus is that it holds more media because it's larger, has extremely easy priming, all you do is press the big round button, no funnel, no filling in the intake tube. all you do is stick the inlet outlet to the tank, press it. it's got nice green inlet prefilter. the bad part is that the plumbing is not modular like the xp3, so it's not so flexible, you cant make it fit perfectly like the plumbing system in filstar.
if you think your xp3 is quiet, think again the 2028 is much much quiter.
i have some pictures
http://members.cox.net/mynetstat/canister
i have the filstar xp3 and eheim 2028. they are currently in use in a 40gal tank.
the plus on the xp3 is that they give you extra tubing, nice modular intake/outlet plumbing system. the most annoying is that the small suction cups to hold those tubing. priming for the first time uses funnel, afterward it's self priming.
the eheim, the plus is that it holds more media because it's larger, has extremely easy priming, all you do is press the big round button, no funnel, no filling in the intake tube. all you do is stick the inlet outlet to the tank, press it. it's got nice green inlet prefilter. the bad part is that the plumbing is not modular like the xp3, so it's not so flexible, you cant make it fit perfectly like the plumbing system in filstar.
if you think your xp3 is quiet, think again
the 2028 is much much quiter.i have some pictures
http://members.cox.net/mynetstat/canister