General Care Discussion :: what is ideal brand of filter

[leopard167]

i have to female RES medium sized, i have a filter but its only temporary in their temporary habitat

anyone know of a highly recommended ideal brand for filter? i know canister is the way to go. i was warned to stay away from marineland filters,

[Jaysea]

I use a Rena XP3 canister filter and I absolutely love it. Keeps the water perfectly clear and I don't have to do much maintenance at all on my tank other then add the little bit of water each week that evaporates into the air. It's really easy to set up and extremely quiet, the tank is in the bedroom and we don't hear it running at all. If you have any questions about it just ask I usually check here quite often.

[leopard167]

awesome ok thanks, yeah i was wondering about the noise. do you need to buy filter media for that or just clean it?

[VeipaCray]

The quietest canisters will be the eheim pros. Fluval are good as is the Rena mentioned above. All canisters have options for what media you put in them. For turtles, you need mechanical filtration and biological filtration. Mechanical is usually sponges and foam pads which can be washed and cleaned many times before they fall apart. Biological filtration media pretty much lasts forever...just rinse it with tank water.

Chemical filtration is optional and is the stuff you need to replace each canister cleaning. Ammonia pellets, carbon, Peat...etc. I do like carbon in my filters because it helps keep the water crystal clear and does wonders to remove odor.
There is a reusable substance called purigen made by seachem that you can substitute for carbon. I use purigen in all of my filters. The seachem website has directions on how to clean it.

[Jaysea]

Rena xp3 came with everything you need. The only thing i'd recommend is to buy some extra bio media stars because it comes with a bag but theres plenty of room for 2 bags in it. Other wise you have everything and just need to clean it. I clean mine once a month and the only thing i replace is the carbon pack and cotton finishing pad that goes in teh top tray. Costs me around $10 a month maybe total.