Eheim Canister or Wet/ Dry

dlemons1 · #1 01/05/2006, 11:39 AM

I wanted to know if an Eheim Canister is okay for a saltwater fish only tank. I keep hereing that I need to get a wet/dry.

I only have room for a canister under my tank unless I have one custom built so I am hoping I can use a caniter.

emperora · #2 01/05/2006, 12:27 PM

eheim filters are great ,i run a 2028 proII with carbon and chemi pure and i also have a eheim 2229 wet dry also a canister as a bio filter, my h2o is crystal ,i do also run a skimmer and it's fish only ,no live rock ,but i am thinking of adding some .

rememberme · #3 01/05/2006, 01:20 PM

Eheims are great filters I agree.

You can use both a canister and wet/dry filter for saltwater, but they are quite different in their purposes.

A canister filter is used for mechanical filtration - basically it takes out some of the floating bits in the water so that its is a little clearer in the tank.

A wet/dry is for biological filtration. The chambers in the filter are wet and then drained to allow contact with air. This populates different types of bacteria to tackle the chemicals in the water in a more natural way than using 'medication' (chemical filtration).

Obviously both filter types do a little of each... but some people disagree with using a canister on a reef system, because it can take out some of the food source for corals and other smaller critters.

I use two 2227 wet/drys on my reef (I had them hanging around) and a 2217 canister on my fish only. The canister is great as you can see the benefits, but you can't really see the benefits of a wet/dry (apart from healthier corals if it has an impact on the system).

Anyway, enough random text from me.

Oh and you need to clean them both regularly especially the canisters - they can boot up nitrates otherwise. Clean the wet/dry medium in old tank water by shaking it about, then replace.

jasonstr8up · #4 01/05/2006, 02:51 PM

I use both. I have a large wet/dry, and use an Eheim 2215. The 2215 is used for polishing of my water. I put my phosphate remover in it along with blue filter floss, and a white filter floss. My UV is on the output of the Eheim so I get a slow flow into the UV. Just make sure you clean the canister a lot; once a week.

dlemons1 · #5 01/05/2006, 04:14 PM

Seems like everyone using the eheim canisters are using two of them one wet/dry version and another for mechanical filtration.

Does either of them provide adequate biological and mechanical filtration for a fish only tank?

BurntOutReefer · #6 01/05/2006, 05:11 PM

dlemons...the statement made that canister filters are only mechnical isnt totally correct...and both wet/dry and canister will provide bio filtration.

rememberme · #7 01/05/2006, 10:02 PM

If you ment my post I didn't say it was only mechanical - in fact I said they do a little of both. Obviously with water passing through the sponges/pads in a canister there is going to be a healthy amount of bacteria colonising those sponges... and likewise with the w/d filters, they will remove some of the bits in the water.

For a fish-only I personally would just stick with a decent canister filter. If you do not have live rock (of a very little amount) I would also get a w/d in the works.

Another point about w/d filters is that they have to be certain heights from the waterline to work at their best. I think Ehiem state about 3' for theirs. Plus you have an extra breath hose to deal with and make sure that doesn't end up on the floor, coz thats a whole lotta water that's going to find its way out!