Habitat - Indoor :: DIY canister filter (many pics)

[Erockmazz]

Ahh yeah...I saw another post he made saying what they were...I'm contemplating attempting one of these and am debating how to set up the actual filter media...noone has really posted pictures or been very descriptive in that aspect..as far as I've searched so far that is ....have you attempted one of these builds?

[VeipaCray]

Oh yeah, I've built my share of DIY canister filters.

If it's a DIY canister filter or a generic canister filter... the media is the same. You want the water to pass through the media in this order... 1. Mechanical 2. Chemical 3. Biological

See this post on filter media.... and look at the "generic filters" media setup.

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=30145

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=30145#p288939

[Erockmazz]

I saw somewhere you recommended the oddysea general filter. Have you had experience with that by chance? Seemed like a good idea and fairly inexpensive.

[VeipaCray]

I don't own one myself but I've helped a friend who tried one.

I've recommended they odyssea CFS 500 to a few people who were extremely budget conscious... ie they only had like $50 USD to spend.

Here's the deal with the CFS 500: It's not a bad filter, but it's not a great filter either. It is cheap and can get you by for a while.
It looks like a fluval FX5 and that's where the similarities end. It's got a much lower flow rate than the FX5, the build quality is not the same, the water flow inside the filter is different, the way it holds media is different. The CFS will do about a 45-50 gallon turtle tank, the X5 will do a 150 gallon turtle tank. Big difference.
The flow rate is low on the CFS 500 and some of the parts are really flimsy plastic that can crack. On the upside... it's capable of holding a good amount of media, Odyssea does sell replacement parts, and it's really inexpensive.

There's another generic filter that's pretty good now. It goes by a different name every few weeks. Sun/Sun, Aquatop CF. It's a white canister available on ebay. (if you search ebay for "canister filter" you'll find them). It looks like a white fluval 05 series, has a primer button like a Eheim pro II, and some have a UV sterilizer like a JBJ. It's built much better than the Odyssea, it's less expensive than the odyssea, but it also holds less media. Toss-up.