Equipment Review and Discussion :: canister filter questions

[Turtlefriend]

I currently have a couple of four inch turtles in my 40 gal. (yes i know the 10 gal/1 inch rule but i dont really have the money to upgrade right now) and my fluval 4+ isnt doing too well. It also doesnt help that Im too lazy to clean the tank as often now but the point is, i need a new filter and I plan on getting either the fluval 404 or rena xp3 but im undecided on which one to get.

Since its in my room where i sleep, how quiet are they?

How far below the tank does it need to be to work well and how hard are they to prime? and how do you prime it anyway? Would I be able to turn it on and off at my liking or do I have to prime it every time.

Is there anything I should be looking out for if I but it used, which i most likely will.

What filter media will I need? I know i need some kind of mechanical, chemical, and biological but how much of each and what kind is recommended (what brand)? and how much of a difference will the different brands actually make? Also, which media will need replacing and how often?

And lastly, will leaving it on all the time use up a lot of electricity?

Thanks, I love the info on this forum.

[jenaero]

I have a Fluvala 404 and I place the output right under the surface of the water so it doesn't make any noise. I'm not familiar with the XP3.

My tank is on the floor, as is the filter. Never really had a problem with it. Not sure what you mean about turning it on and off.. mine runs 24/7.

I buy all the Fluval media that's made for the 404. Carbon, ceramic rings, foam. The inserts that come with the replacement media will tell you where to place everything in the filter. I'm guessing brands don't make much of a difference. I just haven't bothered to look for anything cheaper. Not sure about how often everything needs to be changed. I change the foam pads quite often, and I know I don't change the other media as often as I should. You could ask someone in the fish dept at the store.

I don't imagine the filter would use enough hydro to really make a difference in your bill. I had 4 tanks going at one point with lamps, filters, etc and didn't notice much of a difference.

[BullDog]

I had a Fluval 404 for a while, and it's pretty quiet. I had it in my bedroom too.

I think it says in the manual, but 17 cm or 7" below the water level seems to ring a bell? The 404 is a bit of a pain to prime, but the secret is to fill the cansiter up with water as much as you can (with a bucket), and then just use the little pump thingy to fill it the rest of the way up.
If you don't disconnect the hoses or bring the input/output out of the water, you don't have to prime it. But every time you clean the filter you will need to prime it.

I've heard a number of people had problems with broken clips on the side of the 404, so make sure the clips on the side aren't broken. The can be replaced it they are broken though (I think).

As Jen said, I don't think brand makes a difference, but I recommend against the Fluval prefilter. The holes are too big, so almost everything just passes right through it. The 404 has 4 baskets, and I used 1 basket coarse filtration, 1 basket carbon, and 2 baskets biomedia. Carbon needs replacing the most often, theoretically once a month (though I usually let mine go a bit longer). Everything else can pretty much just be rinsed out with tap or tank water.

I leave my filters on all the time. They're meant to be left on, so I don't think they drain a huge amount of electricity.

[seanwb]

You need to leave a filter on all the time for it to be effective. They use very little electricity.

Either a 404 or XP3 will be a good choice and a huge improvement over the 4+. Just remember to leave your existing Fluval running for a few weeks to give the bacteria time colonise the new filter. Even better you could leave the 4+ in place and have 2 filters.

[Turtlefriend]

What exactly is priming anyway? So what your saying is that I will be able to temporarily unplug it as long as I dont disconnect any hoses from the water or open it up and just plug it in again without priming it?

Also, cant I just put the biomedia from my old filter into the old one for like a month instead of running 2 filters which is kind of overkill for a 40 gallon.

[Kemul]

I think priming is getting air out of the system, so water can move from the tank
to the filter and back to the tank in a complete syphon.

The beneficial bacteria lives in the biomedia. If you can put the old biomedia in
the new filter, it's fine. Otherwise, you need to do what seanwb wrote.

As long as the current in the water is not too violent, having an overkill filtration
is better than the opposite

My homemade canister uses a powerhead that uses 40W of electricity. That is
40Watt-hour for an hour of use, totaling 28.8 kWh per month. Normally, a house
uses electricity in the hundreds or more than a thousand kWh per month.
You can look at the specification of the filter to make sure.
(kWh = kilo Watt hour = 1000 Watt hour)

[Turtlefriend]

One more question...

I might be able to fit the filter underneath my tank in a drawer and cut a hole for the input/output tubes but i dont know if it will fit or not.

Does anybody have the hight of the fluval 404 and xp3 with and without the hose connector? I dont want it to be too tight to get in and out easily for cleaning.