# Canister Filter....Price versus GPH



## Mudkicker (Apr 2, 2003)

Hi,

I live in Canada and the following are my options:

XP1 250GPH 129.99
XP2 300GPH 159.99
XP3 350GPH 189.99
XP4 450GPH 229.99

105 125GPH 109.99
205 180GPH 139.99
305 260GPH 179.99
405 340GPH 239.99
FX5 Does not fit in my base unit

2213 116GPH 129.99
2215 164GPH 169.99
2217 264GPH 199.99

I need two for a 6 foot 120G and one for a 33G PLANTED.

Which do you suggest and why?

Thanks

M


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

Despite a commonly held belief on the net, GPH has virtually nothing to do with filter performance. GPH tells you how much water the pump in the filter pumps around per hour. How this is supposed to tell you how well the water is filtered is beyond me. Important considerations are bypass and filter volume. If GPH was a meaningful measure, pretty much any cheap power filter would beat the pants off an Eheim 2217 with it's measly 264GPH. In practice what matters in that the Eheim pushes the water through the filter media no matter what, while in the power filter the water will simply flow around the media as soon as they are the least bit dirty. Also, most power filters have a filter volume of about half a thimble, while a 2217 has 6 liters.

Any bypass issues in a canister filter can be overcome by using filter floss as medium. You can wedge that stuff into any nook and cranny to make sure the water has to go through the floss rather than bypassing it. Since filter floss has excellent mechanical and biological filtration properties, I use it exclusively as medium in all my canister filters. That saves a lot of money for fancy media that I can be spend on getting a larger filter. The larger the filter volume, the less often you have to clean it out, the less you disturb the bacteria, the better is your biofiltration.

Unfortunately I am not very familiar with Rena and Fluval filters. I am a great fan of the Eheim classic series. For a 120G, I would use one 2260 or two 2217. For a 33G one 2215, or a 2217 if you want to spoil yourself. Again, the larger the filter, the less maintenance, and so on.

Click here for a canister filter comparison chart that contains filter volume and other more relevant data than GPH. An Eheim 2260 has 18 liters filter volume, which leaves everything else short of a sump system in the dust!

For lots of tips how to set up Eheim classic series filters to get the most out of them, visit my site.

Best of luck!

Frank


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## aquariam (Feb 11, 2010)

Do 2260 come with media?


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

Don't know. I bought my 2260 used. But as I said, I just put filter floss in there. Actually, I use quilt batting from Walmart. I am guessing a filling for a 2260 is about $3. When I clean the filter, I throw out the lot and use new media. There are enough bacteria in my tanks for me to be able to do that. You can see why I couldn't care less if the filter comes with media or not. If it did, I'd probably sell them.


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## Mudkicker (Apr 2, 2003)

I am a little concerned that the 2215 might produce a little too much current for a 33G Planted. I have no experience with Eheim and not familiar with their power.

thanks

M


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

I've used a 2217 on a 29G planted tank. In that case I used a UGJ system as outlet, which worked very well. I've broken down that tank years ago, but it's still listed under 'Tanks' at the bottom of my post. It won tank of the month at some stage :dancing:


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## Vadimshevchuk (May 23, 2009)

2215 will not be to strong. I tried it on my 29 gallon yesturday to see how the current was and its okay. I would deffinetly get a 2217 on a 33 gallon.


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## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

i really like my xp3 and plan to add a second to my 90, it does a great job and pushes water pretty well, it's filtering ability really depends on what you put in it. I use quilt batting, which is by no means perfect, but it does a good job and is cheap


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## Cichlidude (Feb 7, 2010)

Might want to check eBay Canada for Sunsun.

302 265 gph 43.00
303 380 gph 70.00
304 530 gph 125.00

All the 'B' version have a UV sterilizer built in.


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## JALOOS (Sep 6, 2008)

Cichlidude said:


> Might want to check eBay Canada for Sunsun.
> 
> 302 265 gph 43.00
> 303 380 gph 70.00
> ...


Been using the 304 for about a year and no issues at all. Good unit for the price to be sure.
Beefy magnets/impeller and ceramic shaft make it an even better deal.


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## emsquared19 (Jun 3, 2010)

Hey fmueller, I've visited your site many times and saw your 240g frontosa setup. It's awesome!! I have a colony of fronts and im about to pick up a 265 gallon tank, and I was wondering what you use as a staple food, and all other foods as well.... I am using HBH African Attack and I think it might be a little high in meaty protein and may be causing health issues...any advise for keeping fronts would be greatly appreciated as well! Thank you!

*fmueller*


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## Ron R. (Oct 21, 2003)

I run 2 2217's on my 180g tank which houses a wc colony of moba frontosa. I bought them in 1988 and have changed the impellors on them 2-3 times tops. I use the jet pipes made by eheim for the returns. You can open and close them to control your water flow. They are made of hard plastic so you have to immerse them in boiling water to soften them. I use vice grips to shape the opening.


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