Some talkshow says only BioWheel

[Lateral Line]

>>> The water output pulsates as the filter fills and empties, achieving a wavelike action.

That's what puts me off.

 

[Moe]

I have one tank with an external power filter (10G), one with a bio-wheel (6G) and one with a canister (20G). I would not trade my canister for anything. It is absolutely the best filter I have. The water is as clear as glass. The tank is heavily stocked as you can see in my sig. and ammonia and nitrates are always 0 so why would I need more biological filtration? The canister has a huge capacity for mechanical filtration. I fill it with sponges and filter floss. The only problem I have with canister filters is they don't make them for small tanks. That is the only reason I have the bio-wheel and the power filter.

 

[andyt_uk]

well thats good enough for me
i'm going to buy a canister

now.. which one?

 

[Cian McLiam]

Moe,
From your sig, I dont think your stocking level is quite what we are talking about.

What I am talking about is big fish, like large cichlids that are fed feeder fish, this would put a huge strain on any filter, I think having the headroom and efficiency of a bio-wheel is a huge advantage, so apparently, do Eheim, who, like I said in my post have incorporated the same idea into their top of the range canister filters.

Ken

 

[CFC]

The eheim wet/dry sytems are aperently intended more for the marine keeping market but have been shunned due to their reputation for becoming huge nitrate factories, seems they have become victims of being too succesful, of course this info is just based on a conversation with the lfs owner as i have never used one of these filters but i can see no reason for him to talk me out of buying a expensive filter unless it really is true.

I can see that the bio wheel idea probably works better than canisters on small tanks where a canister would be a massive over kill or in a situation where a large canister would be difficult to hide but i still feel the canister is better as it gives more options for filtration other than biological.

 

[thecichlidaddict]

The eheim wet/dry sytems are aperently intended more for the marine keeping market but have been shunned due to their reputation for becoming huge nitrate factories, seems they have become victims of being too succesful, of course this info is just based on a conversation with the lfs owner as i have never used one of these filters but i can see no reason for him to talk me out of buying a expensive filter unless it really is true.
I can see that the bio wheel idea probably works better than canisters on small tanks where a canister would be a massive over kill or in a situation where a large canister would be difficult to hide but i still feel the canister is better as it gives more options for filtration other than biological.

The reason why canisters become nitrate factories is because people get the idea that because they hold so much waste they don't need to clean them as often. Wrong. They should be maintained as often as any filter.

Small canisters like the Eheim 2213 or Fluval 104 can be used on tanks as small as 20 gallons without being overwhelming by any means.

 

[pmoyniha]

Please, Not now nor ever refer to us Canucks as Yanks. For the love of God I swear we are different. Well at least a little bit, we win at hockey anyways (refer to Olympics, Winter).

Anyways, I am certain that unless the time comes when I get a very large tank I will stick with my no bells and whistles Aquaclear series filters. Tough as nails, adequate flow, decent bio filtration and quiet as hell as long as the water level is appropriate.

Just my thoughts,
Pat

 

[William]

Please, Not now nor ever refer to us Canucks as Yanks. For the love of God I swear we are different. Well at least a little bit, we win at hockey anyways (refer to Olympics, Winter).

Plus you know speak english properly, none of that "color" or aluminum" rubbish.

 

[thecichlidaddict]

And don't even get me started on the imperial measurement system!

 

[Lateral Line]

>>> eheim wet/dry sytems are aperently intended more for the marine

Right CF. I don't know anyone who has one of those surging canisters in a freshwater setup.

 

[smb]

Please, Not now nor ever refer to us Canucks as Yanks. For the love of God I swear we are different. Well at least a little bit, we win at hockey anyways (refer to Olympics, Winter).

Ummm, you guys just now won your first Olympic Gold medal in what... 40 years or something?

 

[smb]

And don't even get me started on the imperial measurement system!

You guys are just all jealous because the US is the greatest Country in the World.

That's why you always see everyone else hating on the US people but we "people" don't hate on anyone...well, except the frenchies. :kira:

 

[Sinuhe]

The "If it's so great then how come we don't have it here?" logic doesn't always work in reality. There are things in Finland that are clearly superior to the American way of doing things, and vice versa, and they've been around for years, but for some reason the great inventions didn't spread around the world. Speaking in general, not just about aquariums.

Great inventions in North America that aren't widely available, or used, in Europe, or at least not in Finland: bagels, frozen yogurt, turkey basters (there's more, just can't think of them right now )

And, vice versa, the great things in Finland Americans know little off: dish drying cabinets (no need to wipe your dishes dry, just put them in the cabinet and they'll dry), car engine block heaters, a sheet for a blanket that's shaped like a bag and covers the whole blanket/comforter instead of those unpractical regular sheets Americans use that don't stay in place (I don't think there is even an English word for it)

 

[AquaNut]

Please, Not now nor ever refer to us Canucks as Yanks. For the love of God I swear we are different. Well at least a little bit, we win at hockey anyways (refer to Olympics, Winter).

Anyways, I am certain that unless the time comes when I get a very large tank I will stick with my no bells and whistles Aquaclear series filters. Tough as nails, adequate flow, decent bio filtration and quiet as hell as long as the water level is appropriate.

Two things here....

Maybe I missed something, but I'm pretty sure that nobody stated, implied, nor suggested that Canadians should be thought of as 'Yanks'. That said, I'm not sure what the validity of such a comment on an international board would be. I apologise for singling out this particular post, but it seems that it's nothing more than a self serving comment that cuts down all board members who hail from south of the border. There is way too much of that on this board (and all boards). I'm no political fan of the USA, but I'm also no big fan of the fact that we have some uptight useless figurehead of an overseas country on all our currency, despite the fact that we became a country 136 years ago. Neither American foreign policies nor Canadian ties to the English monarchy have anything to do with fish, though. I wholeheartedly believe this comment was intended only in good humour and not as an insult to anyone, but if I were American, I'd get tired of reading about how hated my country was every day.

The second thing relates to the actual thread topic.. filtration. I have AquaClear filters on all my tanks and I agree with what you've said.. I love them and think they do a great job for the money AND they're soooo quiet. However, Jeff (smb) went on and on about bio wheels to me and sent me links about them etc. They seemed impressive... but I'm always wary of good marketing vs. good products. Jeff wins though.. and I'll tell you why... because he said to me, "I've been keeping fish for 27 years and have had AquaClear filters on my tanks. I'm telling you that you will see the difference and wonder how you ever thought your tanks were clean before." How can I argue with that? I've not tried a biowheel yet and he has. He is a very experienced fish keeper who has used lots of different filters, and he is telling me that from HIS EXPERIENCE, NOT from an article he read... NOT from a clever advertising campaign.. NOT from reading the opinions of others...that the biowheels are better filters. Until I've tried them and can say I disagree, he deserves the benefit of the doubt. I'm not sure how people who live places where biowheels aren't even sold can say otherwise.

 

[AquaNut]

lol Sinuhe!! I'm not sure about in the US, but here in Canada, we definitely have car engine block heaters and duvet covers (the big sheet that covers the blanket).