# hob VS canister



## goofy (Feb 10, 2011)

what do you prefer and why?


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

cannister, tank can be closer to the wall, quieter, less media bypass, longer intervals between maintenance, easier to cover the tank, fish cant hide behind the cannister like they used to behind my hob filter.


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## t-bore (Apr 21, 2010)

I used to have HOB on all my tanks and in the last year have switched them to canisters and am not lookign back. Basically the same reasons as above.


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

yeah, i could be wrong but i think the only reason to use a HOB is cost, the aquaclears are cheap and you can put different media in em. now that i have a canister tho i'll never go back to a HOB.


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## budahrox (Apr 21, 2010)

Mferko said:


> fish cant hide behind the cannister like they used to behind my hob filter.


LOL
Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're saying but if it's a hang on the back style, how can the fish hide behind it?????
Cheers!!


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## budahrox (Apr 21, 2010)

Personally, I run a HOB & a canister on each of my tanks.
Cheers!!


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

they would hide under the lip where the water is coming down into the tank, usually a female trying to get away from a male that wants action.
i was just typing my preferences, your entitled to your own.


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## budahrox (Apr 21, 2010)

Mferko said:


> they would hide under the lip where the water is coming down into the tank, usually a female trying to get away from a male that wants action.


Ahhhhh, of course.
Thanks for clarifying, I experience that all the time as well.
My female Africans always hide there when they got a mouthful.
Guess I needed to do a little more thinky thinky!!! 
Cheers!!


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## budahrox (Apr 21, 2010)

Mferko said:


> i was just typing my preferences, your entitled to your own.


Hey nothing personal, no need to get snappy. 
Just didn't understand what you meant by hiding behind the HOB
Later!!

Sorry to the OP, didn't mean this to go off track
Cheers!!


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

budahrox said:


> Hey nothing personal, no need to get snappy.
> Just didn't understand what you meant by hiding behind the HOB
> Later!!
> 
> ...


sorry i thought you were trying to make me sound silly, but they honestly did hide there and for some reason i didnt like it when they did it worried me


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## JohnnyAppleSnail (May 30, 2010)

I have both,but if I had to choose I'd say HOB,much simpler to maintain for Me.


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

i think id have to line the entire backside of my 6ft tank with hobs to get the 12L of biomedia in there thats in my canister lol


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## fryingpan (Feb 13, 2011)

hob i best


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## goofy (Feb 10, 2011)

WOW settle down kids it is only a question... I just traded in hob for canister and really like the noise difference but hook up and cleaning is a pain.. Crap didnt mean to start a fight....


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

For me it depends on the set up. For smaller tanks i like Hang on Backs because often times i place the tanks where i can't hide a canister filter in a cabinet.

Hang on backs also work great in conjunction with canisters as well when you use them for media that needs to be replenished or cleaned more often. If you medicate the tank its much more of a breeze to run carbon in a HoB. If you want to polish your water, using filter floss in your hob will also not impact the the flow rates like a canister experiences.


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## discuspaul (Jul 2, 2010)

neven said:


> For me it depends on the set up. For smaller tanks i like Hang on Backs because often times i place the tanks where i can't hide a canister filter in a cabinet.
> 
> Hang on backs also work great in conjunction with canisters as well when you use them for media that needs to be replenished or cleaned more often. If you medicate the tank its much more of a breeze to run carbon in a HoB. If you want to polish your water, using filter floss in your hob will also not impact the the flow rates like a canister experiences.


Couldn't agree more. 
In addition to being easier to clean, work with, change up & maintain, HOB's also readily allow for a greater versatility and variety of media. On top of that, I've had 3 canisters that malfunctioned, sprung leaks, backed up - whatever, and have had multi gallons of water all over our hardwood floors - never again. Never had a problem quickly spotting a clog-up, or anything like that, in an HOB, before any damage was done. And, if you operate & clean them properly, they're very quiet. I very rarely notice anything more than a very light hum. You can even fall asleep to that if it's in your bedroom.


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## darb (Apr 21, 2010)

there is also a third option which probably trumps both of them, though not really practical on small tanks ...


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## katienaha (May 9, 2010)

im with neven. Small tanks are great for HOB filters, but my 55g has a fluval 405 and I'm never going back! Never had clearer water now that I have this canister filter. I have a more than moderately stocked tank and the extra filtration saves me from filter cleaning every 2 weeks down to every 3 months. 

However, on my fluval edge, nothing beats that little aquaclear. Pain in the butt when the intake sponge gets gummed up and the flow stops.. but thats negligence on my part.


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## clintgv (May 6, 2010)

I like the canister filters better. Keeps the water cleaner and you don't have to keep cleaning the filter as much as the HOB filters.


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## hi-revs (Nov 3, 2010)

i bought the rena xp3 and dont regret one bit of it


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## Jonney_boy (Apr 28, 2010)

Each filter has it's place, and I am using both of them on various tanks.

HOB

Pros.
Cheap to buy
Easy to service (just reach over, yank out the media and replace, all while the filter is still running).
Does not require a height difference to work properly. I have tanks where need to put the canister on the table. If the canister is taller than the tank, it won't work.
Quick to setup. Couple hours to run all the hoses, etc for a canister and a lot of crawling in a cabinet. 2 mins to setup a hob.
Easy to swap out media, great for days when I need to run ammonia remover or carbon in the tanks.

Cons.
Generally smaller than canister, holds less media.
You are limited to size. I can run a HUGE canister, but a hob is limited to the amount of "lip space" you have on the tank.
Limited by the width of the tank. An AC70 won't hang on my 75gal all glass tank, gap is too narrow for the lip.
Noisy (depends on the hob).
Causes a lot of surface movement of the water, will "blow off" co2 from the tank BUT is good for O2 exchange.

Canister
Pro
Can be much larger than the hob, holds more media and increases water volume of main tank.
Out of sight, less clutter on the tank.
Allows you to run inline devices, such as heaters and co2 reactors, further reducing clutter.
no real size limitation, out of sight means you can run a "king size" filter and nobody will notice

Cons
Lots of tubing and connectors, more chances of leaks. (I have had more than one canister leak on me before
Expensive to purchase
Requires that the top of the filter be a certain distance from the top of the tank
Hard to service if the filter is tucked inside a dark cabinet.
Out of sight......... how many people here have forgot to turn their canisters back on after a service.. hehe.


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## Sandy Landau (Jun 4, 2010)

What's the third option, darb? Something big, better than an HOB or a canister... I'm curious!



darb said:


> there is also a third option which probably trumps both of them, though not really practical on small tanks ...


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

On my 2 high-tech tanks, I run oversized canisters AND an AC 50 on each. I mainly use the HOB as a sediment trap and for extra circulation of CO2. If I would have to choose between one or the other, I would definitely go with a canister. The canister filters with media baskets are easy to switch out media in as well.

JMHO.

Stuart


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

Sandy Landau said:


> What's the third option, darb? Something big, better than an HOB or a canister... I'm curious!


Sump system.


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## JTang (Apr 21, 2010)

I've been using HOB's on 20gal n 10gal. Now I have canisters on all my tanks. But I agree that some canisters can cause serious problem over HOB's. I have had 2 leaky Fluval 404's n a leaky XP3. Lucky that I'd caught them soon enough. Disputing the problem, I still prefer canisters over HOB due to their larger media capacity n quiet operation.


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

i should mention that with small children, make sure you have the intake and outtake hoses secured with pipe clamps to your stand, or they can dislodge the tubes out of the tank.


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## darb (Apr 21, 2010)

charles said:


> Sump system.


And congratulations to Charles for answering the million dollar question.

There is also a variation on the sump system, which really isn't a sump, called a corner sump but all it really is, is a baffle in the tank.

Don't ask for pictures because I don't have a camera at the moment, but in less than a thousand words it is a piece of glass that encloses one of the back corners and gives a space where I put my intake for my HOB (canister would work also) and my heater.

I paint the glass to match the painted back of my tank (with Krylon Fusion) so everything is hidden from sight and produces a nice clean look in a tank. I used a overflow comb on the top of the glass on the first one I setup and both an overflow comb and drilled strainer on the second one. On my next one I am going to omit an overflow comb because they are fairly restrictive in terms of water flow and just go with a bare glass overflow and mid level drilled strainer.

Apart from the improved aesthetics you also gain the benefit of surface skimming, but some of that benefit is lost due to the fact that the outflow for the HOB is right next to the corner sump.

One downside of the system though is that I currently have a dwarf cory in my corner sump which is too small to get a net into and I am not sure how I am going to get it out ...


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