tigerbarb Posted March 8, 2005 Report Share Posted March 8, 2005 I'm looking for some opinions. I have always used AquaClear (or similar) filters and they seem to work just fine. I'll have to replace the one I have on my 55 gal. soon and I'm told I should go with a cannister filter instead. What are the pros and cons of each? Does it make a difference what size of tank you have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rahim101 Posted March 8, 2005 Report Share Posted March 8, 2005 Bang for the buck, Aqua Clear 500 is the way the go!!!! $55.00 at Gold's!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cichlidkid Posted March 8, 2005 Report Share Posted March 8, 2005 (edited) ac's are great I use them on all my tanks. and yes golds is the best, so are ac 500's they are much cheaper and do just as good a job imo Edited March 8, 2005 by cichlidkid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishBrain Posted March 8, 2005 Report Share Posted March 8, 2005 A good friend of mine swears by canisters, he has an under gravel system and has the hose hooked right up to it. It sucks water from under the rocks and puts back in on top. Seems to keep his gravel very clean. I my self prefer the AC 500's. Easy to clean, cheap and they still do a fantastic job. Only downfall I find is the tank cannot be against the wall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
African_Fever Posted March 8, 2005 Report Share Posted March 8, 2005 They've both got their pro's and con's. I personally prefer to use both on my tanks. AC type filters are great in that they move a lot of water and do an excellent job of 'polishing' the water, keeping it nice and clear. But they do need regular cleaning, I like to clean my sponges once every week or two in order to keep their flow rates at their peak. Canister filters can't be beat for biological filtration (except wet/dry but that's a whole new ball game!), though because they don't move the same volume of water as an AC type the water can be a little cloudier. They have the advantage of going extremely long between cleanings, I've left mine for over a year with a no problems, but they are more time consuming to clean. I combine both to get the biological filtration of the canister with the water polishing of the AC type. As far as canisters go, there's plenty out there, but I'm biased towards Eheim due to the silent, flawless use over 10 years of my originals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punman Posted March 9, 2005 Report Share Posted March 9, 2005 On my 90 gallon and 45 gallon I run one of each type but on my two 33's just one AC300 on each. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shannabel Posted March 9, 2005 Report Share Posted March 9, 2005 I use both on my 90 gal and 20 gal. I have also set up both at the tank at work!! Shannon S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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