Aquarium Filtration | Which Type of Filter is Best for You?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 มิ.ย. 2024
- Today's video is a deep dive into aquarium filtration. We outline the pros and cons of each primary type of aquarium filter, and hopefully give you enough information to choose which type is best for you!
We've done many filter unboxings and how to's, which can be found at the playlist link below:
Playlist - • Canister Filter Setups...
If you're interested in any of the filters we frequently use in our aquariums, check out the affiliate links below!
Equipment
- Sicce Whale 500 Canister - amzn.to/3ugmocB
- FX6 Canister Filter: amzn.to/3dXbW0b
- Sicce Syncra SDC - amzn.to/35yJ0MD
- Seachem Tidal 75: amzn.to/3V0fntf
Chemicals/Media
- Chemi-Pure Green - amzn.to/3HAsg51
- Chemi-Pure Blue - amzn.to/3bgsVMd
- Easy Green Fertilizer - geni.us/NAl6lK
- Seachem Purigen - geni.us/d9EFZ
- Seachem Prime: geni.us/iys7T
- Fritz Glass/Acrylic Cleaner: geni.us/uvmwK8
Food
- Xtreme Krill Flakes - geni.us/iTAWsN
- Xtreme Big Fella Pellets - geni.us/9Cra
- Xtreme Nice Pellets - geni.us/6ADcc
Thanks for watching, and we'll see you next week!
![[TH] 2024 PMSL SEA GF D1 | Summer | แข่งที่ไทย ต้องใส่ให้สุด](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Jkuf7nCS7jI/mqdefault.jpg)
If you're interested in any of the filters we frequently use in our aquariums, check out the affiliate links below!
- Sicce Whale 500 Canister - amzn.to/3ugmocB
- FX6 Canister Filter: amzn.to/3dXbW0b
- Sicce Syncra SDC - amzn.to/35yJ0MD
- Seachem Tidal 75: bit.ly/3r5N8ce
I use them all... lol! Thanks for the video! Great looking display tanks.
I agree with you 100%, very informant video. I have a 50 gal fish tank, my canisters filter is fluval 307 is awesome filter.
Love your videos you guys really explain things in a way that even the beginner can understand 👍
I’ve found plants to be the best filter for me! A heavily planted tank with some good flow and some bio and mechanical filtration in the back, I’m always shocked by how much poop those plants eat when I do a gravel vac. Chemi-pure is the best.
Amen! I have had 2 lots of cichlids in a heavily planted 90g and never go above 20ppm Nitrates (with once per week water changes.
Once you figure out what works for your set up they’re totally worth the small but extra maintenance (& it looks more natural)
@@dhammaboy1203 Ya I always go for that natural look, I got some apistogrammas the other day and took out a rock to put their little ceramic breeding cave in there and it looks so strange lol.
Great content guys. I run sponge filters, hobs, and canisters. The FX4s are great for me due to being so quiet and the length of time between maintenance. I'll dip into a sump one of these days 😎
Great video Troy
Thanks, Kory!
I just recently upgraded from sponge filters to a canister - Fluval 407. I love it. I also added an in-line UV light and in-line heater as well allowing me to remove the Green Killing Machine and the in-tank heater. It looks so much better now!
Great helpful information. I use unsightly DIY top of aquarium filters due to my goldfish needing a larger garbage can than a HOB! Plus as a senior, I can no longer pick up the canister filters I had. TOp filters are so easy for me. I change the floss when its dirty, rinse sponges monthly. I have 3 aquaclear sponges on one top filter, two in the others. Very easy, ya get used to the appearance.I have used them for many years.
Another great video, thanks for sharing
Thanks for watching!
I'm so glad you put out this video. This helped me to see what I need to do with the tank I have now and the 150g tank I get in the future. I will have time to learn about sumps so I can use in the future. All three of you guys are great. Teaching me alot and what I need o do. Thank you so much.
Awesome, glad it was helpful! Thank you for watching!
Great information on all the options!! Thank you!!
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!
Great job explaining the filters
Very useful content as usual! I'm a real big fan of sumps, and from the cons mentioned I've found them all easy to get around, making my sumps as silent as canisters.
Thank you! Definitely agree there
I've run EHEIM canister filters for as long as I can remember.
The best thing I've found which really helps with maintenance is quick -connect shut- off valves for the intake/ output hoses of the filter. Makes it super easy to service the filter
This video was very helpful!
New favorite is a anoxic plenum. Experiment ongoing in a 60g golfish tank. Prior to plenum, with only a canister, algae was insane due to golfish waste. Since adding a slow moving plenum, kitty litter, fluorite red and gravel cap, algea has disappeared and I even added fish. Over a year and very little noticeable algae. Thank Dr. Novak.
Great video. Simple but very informative
Thanks!
I love my FX-6 for my South Americans because I like that everything on it is replaceable (as things wear) and it will be working hard when they all grow up!
But over 20 years of fish keeping - managing many types of filtration (sponge, undergravel, HoB & canisters) I would honestly say that sponges filters are the best for everything except for big fish & heavy bio load.
I have 2 as back up / ready to go cycled sponge filters in my 90g and they’re so easy to maintain, quite, cheap and really effective!
Never done a sump but I’m sure that would be great too!
I've used all of them & they all work for me my favorite is the under gravel filter. It's old school but does the job well. I always use it in conjunction with these other filters.
Awesome info
Glad it was helpful!
Great info bros.
Thanks, Paul!
I like the marineland internal 90 gallon polishing filter. It does an excellent job
Nice video let's the novice which filter too use. One big criticism though, how much gel in your hair? Combustible?
I like undergravel fiters plus cannister filter combination.
great video
How about performance? When it comes to removing floating particles in the tank, does a sump or a canister do a better job?
I am setting up a 75-gallon tank in my classroom and I heard Quinn mention he has a tank in his classroom as well. A canister is expensive, but everything I've heard from your guys and others is that, although expensive, it's the way to go. Do you prefer Fluval over Oase (biomaster thermo), or any others? I'm going to need a side job to get this bad boy up and running. Thanks for any guidance.
Great video
Thanks!
With a hang-on filter, do you think you also need an air stone to provide enough oxygen? I have both for a 20gal tank, but the bubbles and the hang-on definitely creates a food current in the tank. Thoughts?
Good luck. And it was a good clip,
Thank you!
Hi Troy,
I plan to get a clear for life acrylic tank like yours, but only at 75G, so much smaller. My question is, will a Seachem Tidal or Marineland hang on the back filter fit on that 74G acrylic tank?
Hi. I have a hang on the back. Suggestions for what to fill media tray with
i have been out of the hobby for a long time. last tank was about 30 years ago. tell me what ever happened to under gravel filters? other than cleaning the gravel when changing the water, i thought they worked great. i bred fish with them and the shop i worked at for 5 years we had about 70 tanks with them.
Nice good video thanks for sharing 💯💗👍✌️
Thanks for watching!
Not first so 😅 2 nd comment 🥴🥴
I use a combination of sponge filters, under gravel, and hob. From my 5 gallons, all the way to my 240s, biggest tanks use under gravels and hob, all my tanks with ugf are more stable than any of the others. Had sumps, and canisters, ditched them years ago and never looked back
I think that ugf's are better than any other types of filter.
In over 40yrs, i've settled for hobs and U/G's.
What type of filter would you recommend for a tall cylinder tank?? I would need the hose to reach near the bottom of the tank.
Canisters are the best filters. For multiple reasons. Capacity, ease of use, will start back up after power outage, water flow, turn over, ect. Overall it depends on your tank and load on the tank. The more Sponge the more load it can handle. When you setup your canister put nothing but Sponge in it. Sponge is the best bio media there is. 30 ppi is the best. That's the porosity of the Sponge in an fx6. When you setup your canister or any filter for that matter take note of the water flow. When you notice the flow is visibly reduced its time to clean. When you clean give each Sponge 3-4 squeezes. Just enough to get the flow back and put it back in the canister. Leave as much of the bio film in the Sponge as possible. If you rinse till the water runs clean and that's your only filter you will cause a mini spike or cycle. You won't or barely notice it on a test kit but it is enough to stress fish and cause fish loss. Both from the ammonia and nitrite and parasites being to able to overcome your fish's immune system. Last but not least. Sponge is a better bio media than any ceramic or natural media out there. Chemicals like purigen, charcoal, ect are not needed if you're maintaining your aquarium properly. If you maintain with the proper bio mass you'll have healthier more colorful fish and your tank won't grow Algae. I have 15 heavily stocked African/American Cichlid tanks and not one of them grow Algae. Doesn't matter if they're next to a window or lights on all day. They'll be Algae free.
I agree with the sponge part. But I use it in my sumps. To me dumps can hold much more. If I had smaller tanks cannisters would be my option but for large to huge tanks. Sums are the way to go
@shanesookoo3994 as far as the amount of media goes. You're right. Other than that canister is far easier to use. Which for me is why I don't have any sumps. Even though I have several large tanks.
1st!!!!!
As a person who used all of them In my opinion canister is the best. In Turkey Fluval brand is the most preferred one. I wonder which brand is the highest-ranked in United States?
Hey guys, I just have a quick doubt. I am having a tank with 2 Juvi Oscars with an internal filter which is not doing a great job of getting rid of the huge fish poop that lay around in my substrate. With sumps having an overflow inlet, how well will it clear out the poop that will be laying at the bottom of the tank. Will they even clear it out for me or will I have to gravel vac a couple of times a week as I'm doing now.
Hello bro i really like your videos i have 15 gallons tank i still confused which filter is good for me i dont care about money all i need crystal clear water and best filter can you plz recommend me hang on filter is best or sponge filters plz answer me thanks
I do like the concept of sponge filters. Has anyone done a sponge or cocoafiber mat under a thin layer of substrate as a fulter?
I like undergravel filters
How do you use Chemi Pure Blue in a cannister filter and in a HOB filter?
What's your thoughts about under gravel filters?
I personally wouldn’t recommend them
I've raised african cichlids for over fifty years now and to tell you the truth at one time or another I've used most types of filters. I don't much care for hang on the back filters because they are often hard to service if you can't reach them easily. I never owned one but the supreme hang on filters were monsters of their day. They could filter a tank of a couple of hundred gallons but tended to be a bit noisy. Canisters are often a pain in the butt to pull out and clean if they are mounted under a tank. Foam can be messy and noisy if you're air driving them. When I started dating my wife about 30 years ago I gave her a nice 55 gallon tank with a custom stand and top that I had built. Looked like a nice piece of furniture. Now my wife had no experience with raising any type of fish so I chose to make it as easy on her as possible. I bought two coffee can sized pond filters, removed the air riser and replaced it with a length of 1" pvc pipe. I set it in the tank and cut the pipe to a length that allowed me to set a power head on top with it being just under the tank surface. I placed one in each back corner blowing water to the front middle of the tank. Gravel, rocks, and some large plastic plants. I took her to the fish store and bought a dozen and a half small africans of assorted breeds. I got the tank running for her and gave her a set of instructions. I said each week remove four gallons of water into a five gallon bucket and then pull out one filter and rinse it in the old tank water and replace it in the tank, then refill the tank. Each week do that alternating which filter you wash. In no time she had a tank filled with five to six inch fish with bright colors that remained healthy for years. My larger tanks at home are all reef ready tanks repurposed from reef tanks. Each overflows into a sump tank that has one or two filter socks, a deep gravel bed and a plant section along with heaters and float switches to keep the tank topped up so less work for me. All I have to do is rinse the filter socks every week or two. Back when I raised and sold fish I'd strip the eggs from fish and toss them into a one gallon jar with an air stone. As soon as the fry were free swimming I'd put them in a ten gallon tank with an undergravel filter. One or two silent giant air pumps(sadly no longer made) would run a row of tanks. As soon as the fry reached around one to two inches they went into a much larger tank and I'd tear down the ten and wash the tank and gravel and set it back up for the next batch. And no, in all those years I never tried to pre run any tank in. I never had an ammonia problem or any disease issue in all the time I raised fish. Good water, quality food and really good filtration and you're in business. I always preferred tetra ruby flake food but now they make a kind of generic flake that doesn't look the same and I don't see the same level of color in the fish fed the new product.
If a person were to keep a Frogfish, or just one fish in a tank, how many gallons would be good, and what type of filtration system would you use. And secondly, if one were to invest in a saltwater tank to keep one or a pair of fish, how many gallons would you recommend and what type of filtration system would you most likely recommend for a salt water tank?
What are your thoughts on undergravel filters? Maybe as a backup or redundancy.
I grew up using under gravel filters.
Imagine your entire bed of substrate being your filter.
The cons of ugf's are that you can't use sand, and it can be tough to move them if need be.
But I've been able to move the plates with relatively no problems.
I haven't used one in over twenty years, but you can't beat them for efficiency and cost.
Not really my preferred choice. I’d rather do a sponge or internal filter as backup
Not sure why I never thought of it before or if it has been answered already, but for the tank in the classroom do you not feed the fish over the weekend or is there an automatic feeder? Maybe the janitor does you a solid and helps with the feeding? 😁
You can skip feeding most fish over the weekend, no problem. Some people feed as little as one time per week.
Yep. I usually go that route and not feed over the weekend. Many times I'm at the school on the weekends for coaching, so I'll feed on those days
My first aquarium that was my very own responsibility was at age 5 since Mom had 6-7 aquariums going already... That would have been in 1961.... Until I left for the military in 1974, my tanks had under gravel filters only.... They worked very well, never had ANY issues, and I never paid any attention to ANY other filtration simply because there was no reason to... 3 years in the Army and 4 in the USMC I had no tanks going... Started up again in 1984/85 and yup... under gravel on EVERYthing until experimenting in the early to mid 90's and tried the HOB filters on 2-3 tanks.. I still use HOB filters on a couple of my tanks and a foam filter in my quarantine/sick tank, otherwise I use the under gravel on everything else.. and 7 out of the 9 of those have been retro fitted with small (silent) submersible pumps omitting the air driven method...... and the youngest/newest tank set up has not been cleaned in a little over 4 years now with most of my tanks having been running for 6-9 years now..... Yes, I will do a 1/2 tank water change once every 2-3 years depending how I'm feelin about a particular tank, otherwise all I do is feed every 2-3 days and top the tanks off as they need it. My fish pretty much die from old age in as natural a settings as I can provide for them, and there is a LOT to be said for under gravel filters... I don't have nearly as many tanks as you, but they're as crystal clear and healthy as your best tank on here... Just iover 50 years in the hobby has convinced me that I've been doing SOMEthing right.
I have to agree with you, as a teen I worked in a tropical fish store in the sixties, I've had aquariums for over fifty years and historically I have used UG filters. Twenty years back I did try canister filters and they did not do any better overall and I spent much more money and a hell of all more effort just to achieve the results that my simple UG filters give me. Water changes are not really necessary, only top offs. My tanks stay crystal clear year after year and my fish don't get stressed out because I invade their home every week. I also think that a lot of people over feed. There are no ammonia spikes, it completes the nitrogen cycle when initially set up properly and without all the complicated gadgets they tell you that you have to have. Really the only time i ever do a water change is when I move a tank. I do vacuum occasionally, I spend my money on fish that I want to raise instead and I spend my time watching them. So why doesn't anyone talk about this? It is because there is no money to be made on UG filters, once it is purchased and set up right. If these other systems did a better job that one be a reason, but they don't. Years go by and all I have to do is buy food and enjoy them. If there is a special expensive fish I want or even a new tank, I have money to spend that wasn't wasted on that other nonsense. The time and money you spend unnecessarily will ultimately drive you away from fishkeeping.
What fish is at 11:42? I never noticed it before and it looks really cool
Apistogramma
Can you use hang on the backs when you have lids on your tanks ?
5:00 Wow, I got same one in about 1990, I'm in shock someone still has it.
Hi I've ordered a fluval 307 canister filter for my 4 foot 200ltr tank do you think I've made the right choice. Thank you
Should be a great filter for that size!
@@CichlidBros Thank you very much
Can you use any of these on salt water
Cool me viewer and I like the audio video
what about undergravel filters nobody uses them anymore?
What do you recommend for a 15 galon fresh water planted aquarium?
A small hob
My 150 gallon aquarium has FX4 fluval rated up 250. I would never do a sump. Canster fitter does well.i want something with no nosie. Yes canerster filter system are used both just read the box.
I have tiny black bugs at the top of my water in my cichlid tank. Help. What will kill them n not my fish
What about under gravel filters?
I have 2 sun sun canister 304- b' s on my 150 tank
Undergravel filters are the best imo. They are dirt cheap, extremely reliable, maintenance free, have extreme surface area for bacteria, you don't have to worry about power outages, and air pumps use a fraction of the power of water pumps.
What is the best way to set up 2 hob filter for an 80 gallon tank
I’d put them on opposite ends near the corners
Thanks for letting me know that i dont want a cannister filter. Was debating but it aounda awful.
Bro exhaust is there readymade sump just like canister
i love sponge filters as the whole tank can be run by an air pump. if only they made an air pump-driven heater.
Do you have a link for the seamless sump filter?
Here you go! www.customaquariums.com/information/seamless-sumps/
@@CichlidBros Thank you
What types of lighting do you use?
A lot of Fluval aquaskys. On the 150, a couple AI Prime 16s
Correction, you do not have to drill your tanks for a sump, you can use an overflow.
Why no UGF?
everyone always leaves out the undergravel filter. Very underrated
Just not a common choice and we don’t use them/wouldn’t recommend
It's all about the money, UG filters are almost one and done, not much money to be made on them after they are set up.. My tanks stay crystal clear, I spend my money on fish and my time watching them with dry hands and a cup of coffee. Vacuum a couple times a year and top offs and don't over feed. I have had aquariums for fifty years, will you? After having to do constant maintenance?
@@robertbirch2193 my next set up will be an undergravel filter. Basically thats what ohio fish rescue has on the indoor pond
@@bigdubt2003 Best of luck with your project, be patient, keep it simple and don't make your hobby into a chore
What if you forget to plug in both 🤔?
That wouldn’t be ideal lol
why didnt u add internal filters?
Similar pros/cons to sponge filters. Mentioned and showed it briefly
@@CichlidBros oh im getting a sundun 303b canisterfilter for my 90 gallon tank will that be a great filter?
sunsun
Internal filters that works
th-cam.com/video/RHn-GbddDn0/w-d-xo.html
Grüße 🙋♂️.... Wie kann ich mit ihnen in Kontakt kommen? Vg Denny
Instagram DM or email
I swear I heard the pros of a sponge filter word for word in another video
🧐
HOB. Too noisy for living space. I've tried about 3 brands. All noisy. Trying something else. (Underwater)
I’d try the Seachem Tidal HOB. The pump inside the tank makes it very quiet
My canister is leaking
HMF - HMF - HMF and HMF 💪👍👌😉😃😃 Thank you and Good Night - Elvis has left the building😃😃😃
At this point I have blown up two of the whale 500 of my 200 won’t work extremely annoyed with this line of products. I wish you guys test of these guys for at least six months to a year before making your people think that these are good quality products. And anytime when you try to reach out to the customer support, they are terrible with you.
Couldn’t disagree more. We’ve been running whales for years now with no issue. Plus there’s a warranty. If there’s an issue with one, it’s likely how it was setup.
7:56 NEVER! hold a scissors like that kids. unless you are emo
To be safe, you can just use all of them at the same time. Boom problem solved
Can’t really have too much filtration!
I love how people pretend there so OCD lol.. I bet there filthy and dont really care about looks in real life
🤔🤔🤔
im new to the fishtank stuff im building a big tank that splits in 2 so its 2 x 2000liter tanks to filter i like the spunge filter... What would you recomend for 4 1000liter tanks