Setting up a canister filter for a beginner?

Question

Hi everyone,

I have two red eared sliders and I’m going to upgrade them to a bigger tank soon (50 or so gallons). They make poo all day and I need something more powerful to filter it out. I currently have a Whisper 40 in-tank filter, which does not do a good job and requires tons of maintenance.

I know the basics of filtration (chemical, biological, mechanical) and water quality but what I want to know more about are canister filters. I’ve looked up a bunch of sites but I don’t understand what many of them are talking about…all kinds of unexplained jargon and descriptions of things I’ve never seen.

Can you give me a detailed beginner’s introduction to canister filters? For example, what does it mean to “prime”? How do you change filter media, and how often do you do it? What are some canisters you would recommend for fudgy turtles, keeping in mind quality, power, ease of maintenance, and price?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Here's a link to the kind of canister filter I use (complete with intructions and pictures). This should clear things up a bit for you: http://www.rena.net/en_us/pdf/RenaFilStarXP.pdf

Other brands of canister filters are somewhat similar.

Answer 2

well you know when your whsper filter doesnt have water in it and you have to pour a cup in the back to make it start working? that is called priming. as far as canister filter i personally like Ehiem filters some prefer fluval. there are many brands and all virtually do the same thing. Fluval and ehiem i am more familiar with so i do know they have models that can self prim or just prime with a little pump that is built in to the top of the filter. As far as setting one up when you get one the directions that come with them will be more than specific enough as to how to get it to work properly and if you are still confused it will be easier to then ask when you know exactly which filter you have. They go anywhere from $100usd on up depending on how much water you want to turn over an hour. the more watrer it turns over per hour the more pricey it will be. all canister filter are relativly easy to maintain and you dont need to clean them nearly as much as you would with the biobag style filter that you are using now. hope this helps and good luck with the turtles.
Addition: forgot one thing to change the carbon or whatever you are using as filter media is in the canister so to change the filters you just turn the filter off and there are normally sponges of some sort then basically baskets for whatever type of filtration media you want to put in. lets just say carbon to make it easy. so you put the carbon in each basket that gets stacked in the canister and just change out those carbon bags and clean or change the sponges when you do your maintenence on your filter.

Answer 3

Here is a filter I personally use for my turtles and is really easy to clean and exchange the carbon, and also works wonders in my tank
http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441808323&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302030113&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023693&bmUID=1185145011475&itemNo=8&In=Fish&N=2030113&Ne=175


Hope that helps
Good luck


EB