I broke down my 55 gal tropical tank that had gotten very dirty with plans of starting up another Cichlid tank. I'd owned Cichlids for years and miss the bright colors.

On one of my many trips to the pet store to get stuff one of the employees mentioned that "they" say that cannister filters should be avoided at all costs, and the Hang on Back filters were the best. Unfortunately this person didn't know reasons why and don't remember where they heard it, but was willing to steer people away from cannisters anyway.

My experience with my Fluval 304 over the years has been great, but I wanted to know if there was anything to what "they" were saying. Is there some danger or risk I'm not aware of?

In my honest opinion,canisters are the best filtration,next to wet/dry.(ive never had wet/dry,just heard rave reviews about it).I have never heard of any reason why canisters should be avoided at all costs.To me,the flow and filtration of a canister far outweighs the HOB.Large chambers for media,and the ability to set intake at one end and outflow at the other,filtering all the water.Maybe its because the filters being large,it takes a bit to establish the BB?

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http://bountifulbettas.blogspot.com/

"Come to the dark side....we have cookies...and filters/heaters/and water changes!"

Just another instance where a LFS person shouldn't say something if they really don't know what they're talking about.

i had a HOB on my old 55 gallon, got a new tank 54 galon and i have a canister on it and its a million times better, like majerah1 said the filtration is better, intake on on side and output on the other keeps the tank much cleaner and all, my water is alot cleaner, the main think i like is you dont have the big box on the back of the tank i like the look alot better, the noise well there is no noise i dont even hear a thing out of it, downfall is it takes up space in the stand but i can live with that, you dont see or hear it i love that part

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What happens if you get scared half to death, twice?

I run both on my 55g and on my 60g. If I had to loose one, it'd be the hob. I like the cannister best for sure.

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60g tall, all artificial plants, Rainbow tank; 55g for African Cichlids. 20g long for fry; 20g hex, 2 black Angels at my desk; 10g planted, with 50 Molly fry; 10 gal, 2x 13w cfl lightning, planted; 2g hex for "Buddy the Betta"; Wanting a 200g +, MTS getting bad.

Yeah, I've run into quite a few sales people in various fields that don't know what they're talking about, but they act like they're the experts just to sell you something.

Thanks for all the replies! I was happy with my cannister before and I'm still happy with it. It's in a cabinet under the tank so I don't see or hear it, and with the easy disconnects it's not even that hard to change out the media every couple of months.

Would running of canister filter be cheaper than running a HOB? 1.5 - 2 dollars per cartridge can go up to $16 a month if you use double slot (four cartridges at time and change them every two weeks).

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55 gal. freshwater,
Penguin 350 Bio
common natural gravel,
natural plants
cheesy background - will be removed when the tank is established
4 Silver Dollars
8 Tetras
29 gal. empty (should be used as quarantine or similar stuff)