Power filter to compete with my Eheim canister?

[heathernoll]

I just set up a 55 gallon Malawi rift tank with an Eheim Pro II 2026 canister filter, which I absolutely love. I can't even hear it! I'm currently setting up another 20 gallon, but I'm not sure that it's completely necessary to fork over so much money on such a filter for such a small tank. I am reluctant to buy another power filter since I’ve spoiled myself on the silence of the Eheim. I had an Aquaclear 110 on my 55 along with my Eheim, but I don’t remember it ever being quite as it quickly sucked up so much sand that it started grinding, so I took it off. Can anyone suggest a nice filter for such a small tank that could possibly compete with the silence of my Eheim, or should I just give in and put up with the noise of a power filter?

 

[bigredspecial]

Hmmm... Personally I feel the AC's are as good as you can get for HOB's, but to each their own.

One option, is Eheim... they also make HOB's now. I havn't seen one, but have heard a lot of good things. Not sure how big they get, so you'd possibly need two of them on a 50. It's an option anyway.

 

[prettypleco]

Eheim makes the liberty HOB. You would definitely need two as they are rated only for 35 gal each. Although one would do the job if very lightly stocked. It is quiet and efficient. I too also like the aquaclears and never had a problem with them. Perhaps you had the inlet to close to the sand.

 

[photopro2000]

Greetings heathernoll,

I am not as much of a fan of the AquaClear filters as others seems to be. I find the AquaClears do not filter out enough of the really fine particles for my tastes. I have a 55 gal saltwater tank that I use a Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Rena Filstar XP-2 canister filter for the main filtering along with an AquaClear 70 power filter that I keep filled with Seachem Matrix Bio Media for an organic filter. This combination works very, very well for me. For your smaller tank you could run the Filstar XP-1 ($59.95 at Big Al's online) for the main filtering and one of the smaller AquaClear filters (model 50, $15.99 at Big Al's online) as an additional bio filter. Should keep your water sparkling clear and the Filstar canister filters are extremely quiet, too.

Best regards,

Tom W

 

[Viciente]

I am using an Eheim Professional 2222 on my 20G. I have it all plumbed up using the additional installation kits (1: Intake 2: Spraybar). Works great. Dead silent. Decent flow without it looking like there is a storm raging in my tank... I can't say enough good things about it... Also that way you can use the same Effimech and Effisubstrat that you would buy for your Pro II...

That's the way I'd go... But it isn't as cheap as a power HOB filter.

 

[turtlefish]

The AC does a little poorly in the area of FINE mechanical filtration. I dont like how they put a huge sponge in for mechanical AND biological, by the time all the bacteria colonizes on the sponge you'll need to wash it or else the crud on it will decay...I like to run a dense layer of filter floss, a bag of carbon, and a bag of biomax on mine. Works great. For your 20 gallon I would recommend either an aquaclear or the new penguins. The new penguins are graet and noise reduced, they alos look much better.

 

[Lotus]

I run a lot of Eheim Liberty filters. I'm pretty happy with them. They really are very quiet.

 

[bigredspecial]

A lot of people knock on AC's for their mechanical filtration, but I don't find this to be the case. Maybe as they are sold, but with two sponges instead of one, they're good.

Just to be safe, I have two sponges(One is finer than the other, they made them this way for a very short time), and when I insert them, I place them a bit off center(front to back), placing them a little to the front. This seals them against the front of the filter, and prevents debris from going around instead of through them.

I also place some filter floss on top of the sponges, for extra fine debris.