Internal Vs External Filter

[T1KARMANN]

my advice would be get a smaller internal and a external

internals are great for removing small particles

 

[adamgreen240]

yeah external for bio and a internal for polishing the water

 

[SuperColey1]

Do you guys have problems with your water clarity? I see no reason why an internal should be better. I have no internal just the external and my water is crystal clear. All I have in my filter are ceramic rings, bio balls and coarse foam!!!

If you do have problems then there is a product called Purigen which helps with clarity.

AC

 

[raptorrex]

Do you guys have problems with your water clarity? I see no reason why an internal should be better. I have no internal just the external and my water is crystal clear. All I have in my filter are ceramic rings, bio balls and coarse foam!!!

If you do have problems then there is a product called Purigen which helps with clarity.

AC

i don't seem to have any problems with water clarity, unless its time to clean the filter/s. but i do have two cannisters on my 50g tank (Eheim 2224/hydor prime 30). as a wise sage once said " crystal clear water, is not always good". or more correctly, just because your water looks good, does not mean it is, for your fish! But is this all, really, about clear water? to me it is not. filtration (good) is about far more than that.
we have seen here, just, how hard it is at ascertain a, correct ish, flow rate for cannisters on sale. never mind the dwell time, or correct media for your set up.

some of what we have got here, is the exact way 5 of the manufacturers, of cannisters, measure and rate their products. armed with this it is clear that, not all 1200lph filters. are indeed 1200lph(well none really). there are two who stick out, Aquis and Eheim. both give a power head rating and a (with media) filter rating. which has to be more informative than rating the cannister whilst empty of media!!

 

[SuperColey1]

some of what we have got here, is the exact way 5 of the manufacturers, of cannisters, measure and rate their products. armed with this it is clear that, not all 1200lph filters. are indeed 1200lph(well none really). there are two who stick out, Aquis and Eheim. both give a power head rating and a (with media) filter rating. which has to be more informative than rating the cannister whilst empty of media!!

I agree with most of what you say here. Water Clarity is not an issue to many. Water quality should be an issue for all. However if I spend money on something that should be nice to look at (especially when in the aquascaping side of things) I want it to be crystal clear and if it weren't then I would have Purigen in the cannister already.

I also agree with you that it is more helpful and informative to have head flow and with media flow readings, The problem I have though is that I these are in no way representative of 'actual' flow into the tank. For example according to thelink in the OP their professional 2222 says 500lph for both pump output and filter circulation! the next model up is the 2224 is 700/500. so in essence you buy a better filter for the same filter circulation? What do these figures mean?

Eheims internal figures are much closer to the 50% with media whereas their externals are incredibly optimistic. I would expect the opposite. With less flow restriction (less media, no distance, no hose etc) I would expect an internal to have a much better percentage of actual flow versus powerhead capability than any external!!!

This is of course a question of internal versus cannister flow output. An internal will trounce an external into the ground if they are equal lph powerheads, however they cannot compete on actual filtration capability nor aesthetics of not having equipment within the tank. After all we buy a filter in the main as a filter not a powerhead.

However in the planted hobby many want all equipment out of the tank and therefore rather than have a powerhead providing extra flow they buy much larger externals to do the job. This is when people start looking at lph stated versus actual!!!!

I use a powerhead however as I have no room for a larger filter

AC

 

[T1KARMANN]

you get better water movement with a internal and exturnal

internal at 1 end exturnal spray bar at the other

it all depends on the size of your fish little fish little waste big fish big waste

 

[raptorrex]

lets not get in a scrap, but the first site i visited gave both head flow and filter flow for the 2222, as do Eheim at their site. incidentally they state 350lph for filter flow. ALL Eheim products come with this information, some sites, however do not publish it.