# Which filter?



## Jon (Oct 12, 2017)

Hi, I have purchased a 46G National Geographic tank and wondered what filter I should get for it?

I am a total newbie, so wondered if it's worth getting a canister type filter. I would appreciate anyone's thoughts on if it's worth spending the extra money on a canister filter, and if so, why?

Also, should I get a filter to exactly match the size of the tank, or go one larger?


I plan to have some aquatic plants and some tropical fish if that helps 


Thanks so much!


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## TomC (Apr 21, 2010)

For your first tank, getting an Aquaclear would be my advice. It is always better to overfilter if the budget allows.


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## hp10BII (Apr 23, 2010)

I have a love hate relationship with canister filters. Lots of media capacity, but it tends to get neglected for regular maintenance/service because it is out of sight and harder to clean. Most are very quiet so if it's a fabulous display tank ie. centrepiece of your room and you need whisper quiet, it would be my go to filter. 

I'm not familiar with Nat Geo aquariums so I don't have specific filter recommendations. But I agree with TomC, Aquaclear power filters are work horses. For power filters, I like 5-10X flow rate, depending on what type of fish you get, most plants prefer a lower flow rate. I prefer higher flow rates for most larger and/or messier fish. So for your 46g tank, I would be looking for anywhere from a 250 - 500 gph rated power filter. If you're between filters, I'd go larger for greater filter media capacity and flow rate so if you do move to a larger tank, your old filter can still do the job. 

I do like over filtration too, so for my 40g breeder aquarium, capacity is very similar to yours. I have an Aquaclear 110 power filter on the low setting, about 300gph and an Eheim 2217 canister filter, about 180gph. Either filter alone should be good enough. You can go lower flow rates for canister filters because the media capacity should be much larger than most power filters and greater filtering capability/efficiency is stronger - less bypass.


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## Jon (Oct 12, 2017)

hp10BII said:


> I have a love hate relationship with canister filters. Lots of media capacity, but it tends to get neglected for regular maintenance/service because it is out of sight and harder to clean. Most are very quiet so if it's a fabulous display tank ie. centrepiece of your room and you need whisper quiet, it would be my go to filter.
> 
> I'm not familiar with Nat Geo aquariums so I don't have specific filter recommendations. But I agree with TomC, Aquaclear power filters are work horses. For power filters, I like 5-10X flow rate, depending on what type of fish you get, most plants prefer a lower flow rate. I prefer higher flow rates for most larger and/or messier fish. So for your 46g tank, I would be looking for anywhere from a 250 - 500 gph rated power filter. If you're between filters, I'd go larger for greater filter media capacity and flow rate so if you do move to a larger tank, your old filter can still do the job.
> 
> I do like over filtration too, so for my 40g breeder aquarium, capacity is very similar to yours. I have an Aquaclear 110 power filter on the low setting, about 300gph and an Eheim 2217 canister filter, about 180gph. Either filter alone should be good enough. You can go lower flow rates for canister filters because the media capacity should be much larger than most power filters and greater filtering capability/efficiency is stronger - less bypass.


Great info, thanks!


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## The Guy (Nov 26, 2010)

Over filtering is always a good thing IMO. I will be running a 2236 Eheim canister filter along with an additional Tidal 55 power filter and a large sponge filter in my upcoming 45 gallon Fluval Osaka cube tank build.


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## VElderton (Jun 3, 2015)

I have posted threads and replies about filtration on BC Aq before, as well as other sites, it's one of my favourite hobby topics.

A number of points already listed make total sense and I use them myself, great BC Aq advice as usual. Here are some things that make sense to me as well:

1) Cycle your water 5 - 10 / hour, so in your case try to aim for 400 G / hr. This takes account that as filters get dirty their flows are not optimal so most of the time your water will be getting cycled 5 - 8 x / hour and probably never 10.

2) Use multiple filter types, that way each week when you do a 30 % water change if a filter needs cleaning you can clean one while two others are working. This will really minimalize ammonia spikes.

3) Add crushed coral to either your substrate or one of your filters to help buffer our soft, low mineral water. Cory from Aquarium Co-op on You Tube has a recommendation which use for my non-hard water tanks but it's a completely different ratio for my hard water African tanks. If you are planning on going bare bottom then the coral in an HOB is a great solution.

4) Aerate your tank

5) Use some sort of water circulator in your tank to make there are no dead spots and it gives the fish somethIng to swim in too

6) Use multi stage bio-media in your filters and remember that there is far more effective and cheap media like hydroton that is often sold with Aquarium filters.

By following steps 1 - 6 above I have had success and minimal problems. Anytime you'd like to get great info you should join VAHS and come out to our next meeting -Dec. 13, we meet a few times a year and you will meet some great hobbyists with decades of experience and free advice or if you want to come to NV to see my place and have a look let me know, you can PM me and we can set something up. My fish room is tiny but it's pretty efficient. It's a good way to see things first hand, I've learned a lot by visiting other hobbyists.

Each hobbyist will be dealing with 1 - 6 above one way or other. Here is how I address them, it's not the only way.

• I achieve (1) by using multiple filters and types. Like "The Guy's" post this includes canister, sponge & HOB. Saying this I think sumps or multi-stage wet/dry filters are probably the best because they can do it all but I don't have the space and most my tanks are 50 G or smaller. I have plans for a 130 - 150 G and it will have sump probably a SC Aquarium since I really like their set-up and integrated sump.

• To achieve (2) I pre-filter all of my filters because it's so much easier to deal with a pre-filter than maintain the main filter. I use AC & Tidal HOBs, AC are workhorses, easy to clean, maintain and modify. Tidals are well thought out a bit noisier, have less media space but they have better flow than ACs and a surface scimmer which AC don't have. I use Poret foam sponge filters with jetlifters, especially the corner matten type on tanks 15 G and up. Check out the Swiss Tropicals & Fish2Water sites - great info. Canister filters I use are Marineland, Rena / Filstar, Fluval & Eheim. Marineland have good capacity but not the easiest to prime. Rena / Filstar have good capacity, easy to prime but not the best flow, Fluval are the most finicky but the FX big boys have good flow and media capacity and are highly effective on big tanks. Ehiems are definitely the quietest but do not have the best flow and are more complex to maintain but are probably the most efficient.

• To achieve (3) that's pretty easy a bag of crushed coral from a place like Fish Addicts or J & L Aquatics is pretty easy and will last a real long time, especially for one tank.

• To achieve (4) airstones are great but your sponge filters will do double duty, as well as, surface agitation from a good flow HOB

• To achieve (5) I use Marineland Maxi Jet because they are so adaptable. They come with a number of attachments, with their snorkel they are great aerators and with pop bottles easily become DIY water polishers. If you don't like their look you can use Hydor Koralia or other units and I position an airstone, especially the never clog type, under them and the circulation pump atomizes the air bubbles quite well.

• To achieve (6) I use the system recommended by the Pond Guru. It's a sandwich; mechanical, biological & chemical. Get your water as clean as possible before it flows through the media, water should pass through sponges and filter pad first, which as cheap and easy to maintain, then chemical filtration like charcoal if you use it. I put the media in trays or filter bags so it's easy to remove and rinse as necessary, which is seldom. My go to media is a Hydroton (cheap) + Biohome (expensive) combination. I don't use chemical much others do and get great results.

Following these points I have had success but still am not satisfied with:

1) Canister filter media maintainance, I will be adding a powered pre-filter where I can, space is a consideration, with a quick release so I only have to deal with the pre-filter as needed

2) Nitrate levels in my tanks that are less than 20ppm but, would like them to be less than 5ppm. So I am looking into Anoxic filteration from the pond world and practical ideas from Kevin Novak and will be testing these out on a couple tanks over the winter.

Hope this helps. As I said above if you'd like to come by for a chat and look-see give send me a PM.


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## Jon (Oct 12, 2017)

VElderton said:


> I have posted other threads about filtration here before and other sites, it's one of my favourite hobby topics.
> 
> A number of points listed make total sense and I use them myself, great BC Aq advice as usual. Here are some things that make total sense to me and I use them too.
> 
> ...


Thanks so much for the detailed info!!!


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## VElderton (Jun 3, 2015)

If you read my reply to the thread and liked any of the ideas I have posted links to take you to some of the sites that I mention.


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## troutsniffer (Dec 10, 2015)

I think it depends on a few factors. First is what you're planning to keep, second is price, third is noise. Canister filters are the most quiet and efficient, also the most expensive. The cheapest and loudest (unless you get a quiet air pump) is a sponge filter. The medium is a hang on filter which honestly are my least favorite. 

About flowrates, it's been explained already above. Lower flowrates are fine for your average community fish and for planted tanks. Also depending on the filter type, sometimes a lower flowrate filter is better. I don't want to complicate it for you though so I'll just say the bigger the fish and amount of fish = bigger filter and higher flow. 

Also I didn't mention sumps because they're the most complicated of them all and not really for a beginner.


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## VElderton (Jun 3, 2015)

Good synopsis and practical quick ideas Troutsniffer ... BTW your plants and fish are still doing well in the school tank that I bought them for last year. Thanks again.


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