Two HOBs and a canister filter?

[Jexnell]

I appreciate all the info, suggestions, and help yall have given me. I picked up an aquaclear 110 after reading reviews and whatnot. After installing it and letting it run for a few hours, it's made a good bit of difference. Plus my fish seem to enjoy the extra current it spits out lol the canister filter is very nice and I really like how it operates but I'm a simple man; I enjoy simplicity. The HOB 110 is really effective for being what it is.

The aquaclear 110 is really the gold standard as far as hobs goes. Ease of use, maintenance, availability of spare parts.

I went down the cannister road. They seemed like the best thing since sliced bread, on paper. But in use, not as awesome. Yes they are great filters. But if only you do the maintenance on them. But that's the gut punch. The maintenance is such a pain in the @$$ that you don't want to do it.

Unplug it
Turn off the cut off valves
Disconnect the supply and return hoses
Move the cannister out of tank stand to be able to work on it
Open the lid and remove sponges/bio-rings for cleaning
Clean it all
Get it back together
Move the cannister back into the stand
Prime it with water
Reconnect the hoses
Open the valves
Plug back in and hope they turn on and you didn't break anything along the way

Easily 30 to 45 minutes to get this done right...
Now a 110

Open lid
Remove basket
Rinse sponge and bio-rings in tank water
Reassemble the basket
Put basket back in
Return lid to closed position

Easy peassy done in 5 minutes or less

After about a year of use I sold my FX cannisters and replaced them with 110s, three per 125gal tank. Will never go back, for me it's Aquaclear hobs or sump, never ever will I get a cannister again.

 

[OutbackJack]

The aquaclear 110 is really the gold standard as far as hobs goes. Ease of use, maintenance, availability of spare parts.

I went down the cannister road. They seemed like the best thing since sliced bread, on paper. But in use, not as awesome. Yes they are great filters. But if only you do the maintenance on them. But that's the gut punch. The maintenance is such a pain in the @$$ that you don't want to do it.

Unplug it
Turn off the cut off valves
Disconnect the supply and return hoses
Move the cannister out of tank stand to be able to work on it
Open the lid and remove sponges/bio-rings for cleaning
Clean it all
Get it back together
Move the cannister back into the stand
Prime it with water
Reconnect the hoses
Open the valves
Plug back in and hope they turn on and you didn't break anything along the way

Easily 30 to 45 minutes to get this done right...
Now a 110

Open lid
Remove basket
Rinse sponge and bio-rings in tank water
Reassemble the basket
Put basket back in
Return lid to closed position

Easy peassy done in 5 minutes or less

After about a year of use I sold my FX cannisters and replaced them with 110s, three per 125gal tank. Will never go back, for me it's Aquaclear hobs or sump, never ever will I get a cannister again.

Lol I don't mind the labor of cleaning my FX2 but you're right, completely. I think canister filters really ain't worth it until you get into the FX6 arena. For what I'm doing, 3 Aquaclear HOBs would be just fine. However, the hype over canister filters and larger than average tanks is real. I'm also in fear of my canister leaking so I'm gonna put it in a container/bucket but funny that I ain't gotta worry about that with my HOB lol

 

[Umbra]

In a vacuum, I prefer multiple HOB if possible vs canister for a lot of the reasons mentioned above. In the end they both accomplish the same tasks using more/less the same materials, just in different configurations. For me, ease of maintenance is a huge part of keeping me consistent with schedules. The easier a task is, the more likely I am to do it and cleaning a large canister takes me much more time than a few large HOBs.

That being said, I've completely changed my view on filtration once I started incorporating riparian plants into my setups. Canister filters do a much better job IME when they outflow into a planted wet/dry dripwall, and I think almost all aquariums would benefit from having something like Monstera/Pothos/Philodendron aiding in filtration.