y is a canister sooooo bad?

[AL ur Pal]

I really dont see why a canister filter is so bad. Its moving the tank water through so foam, getting rid of particles. Moving it over carbon (if u dont like carbon, TAKE IT OUT!). Then it moves it over some bio-material. And also, creates water movement in the main display. So why does everyone (forgive me if ur not one of these people) hate canisters sooooo bad?

AL

PS, I wont be home till late tonight, eastern standard, so sorry if I dont reply to any updates for a while

[Frick-n-Frags]

I think without any media, it becomes a killer little closed loop system

The only downside is that they become nitrate factories if filter media is used to trap detritus/particulates.

Other than that, it seems like a perfect place for media like carbon or phosphate removers etc IF you regularly clean it out from gunk buildup.

[Aaron1100us]

The water particles that they trap are still in the water column and it builds up nitrates.

[JumboShrimp]

Nitrite Factory!!!! I used a HOB without the carbon for a little extra water volume and water movement in my 29...

[Phoneguy982]

As long as you clean the canister regularly they work great. I have a Penn-Plax Cascade. It has 4 or 5 chambers. I can put a lot of charcoal, phos-sponge or phosgard and different filter pads. People just don't like the fact that you can't just reach in and pull out the filter pad to clean it and you can't see when it's dirty. Some people say they only have a skimmer and live rock for filtration and also say canisters are nitrate factories.....

...so I asked myself this.....
The detritus and fish waste that accumulate in the canister filter would still be floating around in the tank if the canister wasn't there. Wouldn't it still produce nitrates as long as it's still in the tank?

[LobsterOfJustice]

Originally posted by Phoneguy982

...so I asked myself this.....
The detritus and fish waste that accumulate in the canister filter would still be floating around in the tank if the canister wasn't there. Wouldn't it still produce nitrates as long as it's still in the tank?

Good point, but I think there are alternatives. For example, a filter sock on the incoming water to the sump from the overflow is much easier to clean and requires no shutting off of pumps or disassembling of anything.

[AL ur Pal]

Phoneguy982: thats what I was thinking!!

[sjreefer]

I just put some carbon in mine when i want to polish the water, i don't think they are that bad at all!

[AL ur Pal]

So, if the reason people dont like em is because they trap detritus, y dont people like wet/drys? If theres mechanical filtration before the bio-balls then the detritus will get trapped in the filter floss not the bio-balls. Right? Someone chime in if im wrong.

[Ehydo]

Phoneguy is correct. They are not nitrate factories, they just are more efficient filtration than most people can keep up with. If you regularly maintain the canister it could be great.

Nitrates are caused by organics breaking down. Canisters just break them down quicker because the organics have a constant water flow.

If you want to get technical Aquariums are the nitrate factories and the only way to remove them is to siphon them out or to put a bunch of plants in the tank/refugium.

[nickb]

When I asked this a couple of months ago, I was told that the problem is two-fold:

1) They are very efficient at converting ammonia to nitrites and to nitrates.

2) They can not metabolize nitrates and they are remote from the areas which do metabolize nitrate. As a result, the nitrates have to diffuse through the water to the metabolism areas, leading to higher levels.

In contrast, when the nitrate creation occurs in LR or LS, etc. the nitrate metabolism is closely linked and so there will be lower levels in the general water column.

[Frick-n-Frags]

If you don't clean the filter regularly, it becomes a very efficient aerobic filter making nitrates. If you clean it once a day, OK, but who does?

As mentioned the nitrification should happen on the LR surface not in a remote aerobic filter. The LR has anaerobic areas deep in it which also help to convert some of the nitrates into nitrogen again, and this helps a whole bunch more if the nitrificationtakes place right next to where the denitrification takes place, thus putting less total nitrates into the water column vs a wet/dry filter or other highly aerobic filter which can ONLY put nitrates into the water column.

The point is, that a cannister filter is great as long as you don't allow aerobic nitrobacter colonies to form and be fueled by detritus.

[lmsrch]

Canisters are great ... you can set them up for inline filtration and all