Difference between the following

[trout_pout]

Can anyone tell me what the difference is between them, if i was to get an external, would that Mean I would not need to keep lifting off the lid of the tank to replace the media?

 

[LittlePuff]

External filters are usually canisters that are completely outside the tank. Internal filters are the common ones, also called HOB=hang on back
Reverse osmosis is like a distiller that purifies water. It's a separate unit. you add the water to the tank.


Kim

 

[FishDan]

I'm not sure I'd consider a HOB an internal filter, but I think the question is to broad. An internal filter is one that is completely inside the aquarium, like this one. An external filter is a canister or HOB that mostly sits outside the tank, save for an intake tube and an output tube/"ramp" (on HOB filters).

\Dan

 

[cation]

I'm not sure I'd consider a HOB an internal filter, but I think the question is to broad. An internal filter is one that is completely inside the aquarium, like this one. An external filter is a canister or HOB that mostly sits outside the tank, save for an intake tube and an output tube/"ramp" (on HOB filters).

\Dan

I'd tend to agree with you, dan. When I think of internal filters I think of things that are fully submersible, like my Fluval internal. I might even go so far as to include UGFs and sponge filters, but HOB filters are just that - external HOB filters.

 

[SirMinion]

My Juwel filter is considered a HOB, and it hangs inside the tank submerged. therefore it's an internal filter.

Our Fluvel filter sits in the cupboard under the tank and just has the pipes in the tank, therefore it's external.

 

[cation]

My Juwel filter is considered a HOB, and it hangs inside the tank submerged. therefore it's an internal filter.

Our Fluvel filter sits in the cupboard under the tank and just has the pipes in the tank, therefore it's external.

I guess that makes sense, Sir M.! If it's an HOB that hangs inside, it's internal, but I'd still say if it's an HOB that hangs mostly on the outside of the tank, it's external. By the by, how do you like the Juwel HOB?

 

[FishDan]

Oops, I forgot to answer one of the original questions. If you get a canister filter, then no, you will not have to open the tank to change media. If you get a hang on back filter than maybe you will, maybe you won't. If you have a canopy than you probably will (and you may not be able to use a HOB filter anyhow). For an internal filter, than yes, you would need to open your tank to change the media.

I guess I consider a HOB filter as something more than a filter that "hangs on" to the tank somehow. Using such a loose deffinition I could call any filter a HOB, a canister filter intake and output tubes hang on the tank... But that's just semantics... At any rate, the types are often not so straight-edge different, and there are many "crossover" products that can probably fit in more than one category. I still think of any filter that is submerged inside the tank completely, or near completely, as an internal filter, even if it hangs on the tank.

\Dan

 

[SirMinion]

how do you like the Juwel HOB?

I think they're excellent. They come included with all juwell tanks.

They're neat, and compact and keep everything out of the way, even the heater goes inside the filter where the fish can't touch it.