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Product Spotlight: AquaEl Unimax Canister Filter

One of the newer additions to our canister filter line, is the UniMax Plus canister filter from AquaEl. AquaEl is still a relatively new name to the US marker, with a long history of quality products sold in Europe.
The UniMax Plus is one of the best canister filters to hit the US market in recent years, with several features that make it both unique, and high performance.
The feature that really stands out with the UniMax plus, is its internal UV sterilizer, providing unrivaled water quality, with a single piece of equipment. Mechanical, Biological, Chemical, and Sterilization all in one.

Another cool feature of the UniMax, are the multiple intakes and outlets on the two larger models. This gives you much improved water flow in larger tanks, versus models with only a single inlet and outlet.

The impeller design is also unique in the unimax, the impeller housing sits below the water level inside the canister, unlike most other units that have the impeller housing above the water level of the canister. This allows for easy priming of the filter, and extra quiet opperation. The Unimax models with multiple intakes and outlets, also use a multiple impeller design, which gives you a built in back up should one impeller be damaged, or stop functioning.

If you are considering a canister filter, give the UniMax a good look, I think that you will be impressed with the features it has when you compare it to some of the other filters on the market.
Until next time,
Dave

 

Canister Filters for Saltwater

A customer recently asked me a question about using a canister filter on their saltwater aquarium. The customer had read on Reef Central that you should not use a canister filter on a saltwater aquarium, especially on a reef aquarium. That they do not work well, and will cause high nitrates.

This is a topic that you will see differing opinions on. The problem with canister filters is not that they don’t work on saltwater or reef aquariums, they work very well. Any biological filter is going to produce nitrate on a closed aquarium system, it is the natural end product of the nitrogen cycle.

This is why many reef tank owners will remove the bio balls from their wet dry filters, or run their systems on a sump only set up, in an effort to reduce nitrate production. This is why some people are of the opinion that canister filters should not be used on a reef tank. You can get away with this approach if you have a sufficient amount of live rock and substrate in your aquarium to act as your biological filter. In fact, live rock is an excellent source of nitrifying bacteria, and will function as a very efficient biological filter in an aquarium with enough rock. Most reef set ups will work well without a dedicated biological filter, so long as the biological load is not too high, and you are using a good protein skimmer. This method is often referred to as a “Berlin” style aquarium (lots of live rock, good water movement, heavy protein skimming, and no biological filter). Canister filters can still be used on reef tanks, they can be used as additional biological filters in heavily stocked tanks, and can easily be used for whatever chemical filtration media you may want to use.

Saltwater fish only tanks are a different story; in most cases you will need a biological filter to handle the fish waste and biological load, even if your tank has live rock in it. You will also want to have a mechanical filter on a saltwater fish tank, especially if you have large fish in your tank. Most canister filters give you the ability to operate them in different ways. You can use them for biological, mechanical or chemical filtration as needed.

Nitrate is going to be produced in any set up, some more than others. My best advice is to use as much filtration as your aquarium demands. Ammonia and Nitrite should be near zero in an established aquarium, if you are detecting either, chances are your aquariums biological filter is insufficient. Nitrate levels will creep up slowly over time in any system, so whatever filtration method you employ, you still need to monitor your water chemistry. Water changes will remove nitrate from your aquarium, so as long as you are testing your water, and performing regular water changes, nitrates should not be a problem.

Speaking canister filters, here’s a video my staff created to help aquarists set up a canister filter on their aquarium. Canister Filter Video

Thanks,
Dave