anyone with external power filters experience

[july865]

i am wanting to purchase an external filter for my new aquapod 24g. i am looking at the eheim pro ii canisters.
ideas, comments, different sullutions? something better?
.
thanks

 

[saltyESQ]

I have a HOB refuge and aqua C remora on my 24AP

 

[psidriven]

Eheim's are pretty much top of the line in canister filters. I haven't used one (couldn't justify the price) but everyone I've talked to raves about them. Reliable, quiet and works. What more can you ask for? That's probably why you never see them for sale used. I've used Fluaval 303, pain to clean; Rena XP3, gets noisy with trapped air and eventually was noisey all the time. So if you're picky get the Eheim, if you don't mind noise Rena is a great alternative. Or just do the fuge/skimmer setup everyone else runs.

 

[laverda]

I think you would be better off with a refugium. Canister filters are not the best way to go for a reef aquarium and require regular maintenance. They do work well for polishing your water or as a place to hold carbon and phosphate removers.

 

[spline9]

Magnum (standard and H.O.T) canisters are great but may be a bit too strong for a 24g cube.

 

[HenryTran]

i would have to agree with laverda on this. power filters are not a good system on reefs, it will be a source for nitrate. might as well use bioballs. i think a good refugium with a built in skimmer would be alot better.

 

[july865]

was thinking on turning one of the chambers in the back into a mini fuge. never thought about leaving it on all the time. maybe i should use it as a polishing filter/phos remover. it could always double as a QT filter

 

[PsychoKnight]

The last chamber in a cannister filter as a mini fuge?
Not sure if it would fit any of the charracteristics of a fuge. Slow flow for nutrient uptake, exposed to air for gas exchange, appropriate lighting for macro algae & light-requiring bacteria culturing on rock rubble, sand or mud bed for denitrification, quiet place for pod growth, etc.
It seems many people who use external filters do so as an auxillary to their sump/fuge, rather than in place of it.
Something to consider.

 

[july865]

in my aquapod. not the canister filter