switching from HOT to canister - need advice

[Texas Yankee]

I'm currently running two new emperor 400s that I'm not too happy with - 105
G african mbuna tank - considering a switch to a canister filter(s) - since
the emperors each do 400 GPH, would I need two canisters that each do 400
GPH, or would a single canister be enough - guess I'm wondering too if one
big canister or two smaller canisters would be a better approach. Thanks!

[Mister Gardener]

On Sat, 22 Apr 2006 18:22:38 +0200, "sew crazy"
> wrote:

>if you gan afford 2 get them ( i would)
>they should never dei at the same thime thus you will have a backup for over
>a long weekend or when you are away for a few days....
>
>on the other hand it is twice as much work to clean them though one will
>never clean them at the sam time as to assist with cycling ....and not to
>interrupt the cycle thing
>two uses more electricity so in the long run will cost more....
>
>two should lead to better circulation aswell but will take up more space
>below the tank i.e. filling up the crucial space for all the other junk ...
>
>
>
>"Texas Yankee" > wrote in message
>news:5eg2g.175$BO2.134@trnddc02...
>> I'm currently running two new emperor 400s that I'm not too happy with -
>> 105 G african mbuna tank - considering a switch to a canister filter(s) -
>> since the emperors each do 400 GPH, would I need two canisters that each
>> do 400 GPH, or would a single canister be enough - guess I'm wondering too
>> if one big canister or two smaller canisters would be a better approach.
>> Thanks!
>>
I would go for two rather than one. With each sized so that one could
do a pretty good job alone if the other got knocked out. Redundancy is
a favorite word of NetMax's when discussing filters. It makes sense.
Click on Filters under Basics at this site for some good reading.
http://www.netmax.tk/

-- Mister Gardener

[fish lover]

What is the readon you want to switch?

Cannister filters are good but they have problems too. Clean up time
is a big thing. Also, cannister filters are not as good as others to
remove small floalting things in the tank. Make sure you have some
fine pads/wool to catch the small things in the tank. Otherwise your
tank will not be crystal clean. Noise maybe another thing you want to
watch for. Power outage is another thing. If you have the bio-wheel on
HOT, most likely you don't have to worry power outage that much. For
cannister filters, power outage longer than 2 hours will likely kill
all your bio-filter. You will have to clean them up and start cycle
again. Otherwise, the dead bio-filters can posion your fish.

It really depends on the reason you want to switch. I can have enough
reason to go either way. If the HOT does not working for you, then it
is time to look for something else

I agree with everyone, two filers are better than one. Have each one
rated at your size(100g) and you will have double the filter capacity
in case one failed. The filters don't use that much eletricity. They
are about 20w to 40w depending on the size..

>I'm currently running two new emperor 400s that I'm not too happy with - 105
>G african mbuna tank - considering a switch to a canister filter(s) - since
>the emperors each do 400 GPH, would I need two canisters that each do 400
>GPH, or would a single canister be enough - guess I'm wondering too if one
>big canister or two smaller canisters would be a better approach. Thanks!
>
>

[swarvegorilla]

Also 2 will allow you to use all your already clcyed HOT filter media in
your new cannisters. Will cut the mini cycle down a hell of a lot.




"Mister Gardener" > wrote in message
...
> On Sat, 22 Apr 2006 18:22:38 +0200, "sew crazy"
> > wrote:
>
>>if you gan afford 2 get them ( i would)
>>they should never dei at the same thime thus you will have a backup for
>>over
>>a long weekend or when you are away for a few days....
>>
>>on the other hand it is twice as much work to clean them though one will
>>never clean them at the sam time as to assist with cycling ....and not to
>>interrupt the cycle thing
>>two uses more electricity so in the long run will cost more....
>>
>>two should lead to better circulation aswell but will take up more space
>>below the tank i.e. filling up the crucial space for all the other junk
>>...
>>
>>
>>
>>"Texas Yankee" > wrote in message
>>news:5eg2g.175$BO2.134@trnddc02...
>>> I'm currently running two new emperor 400s that I'm not too happy with -
>>> 105 G african mbuna tank - considering a switch to a canister
>>> filter(s) -
>>> since the emperors each do 400 GPH, would I need two canisters that each
>>> do 400 GPH, or would a single canister be enough - guess I'm wondering
>>> too
>>> if one big canister or two smaller canisters would be a better approach.
>>> Thanks!
>>>
> I would go for two rather than one. With each sized so that one could
> do a pretty good job alone if the other got knocked out. Redundancy is
> a favorite word of NetMax's when discussing filters. It makes sense.
> Click on Filters under Basics at this site for some good reading.
> http://www.netmax.tk/
>
> -- Mister Gardener