# Canister or Power Filter for 30 gallon breeder?



## Skipeople (Jun 30, 2013)

I recently got a free 30 gallon breeder and I am thinking of a community tank with live plants. I will probably switch my betta over as well as purchase some cherry barbs, a good school of cardinal tetras and some shrimp maybe. Would it be better to have two smaller HOT power filters or one larger canister filter? 

For the Canisters, I was looking at Eheim and Magnum Pro because of the bio-wheel addition. 

I currently have an aquaclear 20 on my ten gallon, so I would probably use that and another one just like it for two filters.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

i have some issues with the bio-wheel..i have had a few of them quit turning because the shaft would wear into the housing and jam..Eheim makes one of the best canisters on the market...the Aquaclear power filters are my favorites..they are the easiest power filter to maintain..and you don't have to constantly buy new foam blocks..i have some that i used for more than 5 years..


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## Jaysee (Apr 24, 2010)

I'm not really a fan of the bio wheels either. The emperors are okay, and ill explain why. The emperors have two pumps - the main one for the filter, and a secondary pump that drives the bio wheel. The water coming out of the spraybar for the emperors has not been through the filter media, therefore it has a full concentration of ammonia, which in turn sustains a decent bacteria colony. The water the spins the wheel on the penguins, on the other hand, has already been through all the media in the filter, so the ammonia concentration of the water that spins the wheel is depleted. There is the very real possibility that there can be no ammonia in the water spinning the wheel, which means no bacteria.

I don't know which model the canister follows, but in my opinion it's worth finding out.


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