Filter Review – Fluval 105 External Canister Filter

I recently pushed the boat out and purchased one of these for my N.strauchii tank. As a general rule I don’t use filters on newt tanks because regular water changes and vigilant spot cleaning are sufficient for small numbers of animals. Internal filters do a good job of collecting waste and keeping the water clear but I don’t like the thought of having all that waste hidden away. In addition they invariably raise the water temperature by a degree or two.

The newts live in a 50cm x 50cm custom made tank and as they approach adulthood are starting to produce a significant quantity of waste. They’re a stream species so I was looking for a filter that offered an adjustable flow, wouldn’t heat the water and preferably take the waste out of the tank. An external canister was the only sensible option.

The Fluval 105 is the smallest in the canister range but the unit itself is surprisingly large, approximately 26cm tall by 15cm wide. It’s recommended for tank sizes of around 100 litres although my tank is nowhere near that. I’d read reviews online which suggested it was suitable for tanks of around 50 litres.



The instruction manual said to allow 40 minutes set-up time and judging by the number of parts it was probably right. The canister itself has a screen frame for foam pads and 3 baskets for filter medium. The water input, output, impeller and motor sit within a hinged top to the canister. Filter medium is supplied (carbon bags and ceramic rings) and guidance given as to which basket to place what in. It was all very straight forward and after fitting a gasket and impeller cover the canister was ready to go.

Now came the tricky part, or so it looked to me – fitting the input and output hosing. External filters are gravity fed systems and therefore the canister has to be placed below the tank. It’s a bit like a continual siphon. Gravity pulls the water into the unit and an impeller pushes water back out again. This means you have two fairly large tubes which are secured to the tank and plugged into the canister, which in my case was sitting on the floor below the tank. The obvious problem I faced was the 10cm of newt proof ledge which runs all around the top of the tank. The hose brackets supplied with the filter were designed to just hook over the edge of the tank in an upside down “U” shape. Clearly they wouldn’t fit. Out came the hacksaw and the “U” shape was quickly transformed into a right angle. This allowed me to fit the bracket to the ledge and have the tubes run down into the water.



Before starting the filter you have to pull on a little plunger which starts the siphon process and draws water into the canister. Once the gurgling stops simply plug in and away it goes. For the first few minutes air is expelled from the canister and tubing but once this process is complete the unit runs silently – eerily silent in fact.

Verdict

I would definitely recommend this filter. In the few weeks it’s been running the water has been crystal clear and I’ve noticed algal growth has reduced, suggesting there are less nutrients in the tank. The adjustable flow lever is a very useful feature, especially when feeding bloodworms which are prone to floating around in strong currents. The water temperature has decreased by a couple of degrees. Canister filters are expensive, probably twice as expensive as internal filters. This one retails at £50 - £60, but when you consider the benefits I think it’s worth the extra cash. The only con I can think of is the additional escape risk posed by the tubing into the tank. I’ve placed plastic discs around the top of the tubing to minimise this risk.



Yes, there really are 12 newts in this tank... bet you can't see one.

Great review, I'm sure it will be essential reading for a lot of people on here.

I was worried about the newts climbing up the tube, but of course you have that all worked out!

Beautiful newt by the way, the one that I could see!

I am sold!

Thanks to this product review, I have just ordered four of these.

Obscenely quiet AND overly complex! That is a SludgeMunkey type product if I have ever seen one.

(My wife thanks you by the way, she sprung for the next day shipping so that she can sleep normally again!)

SludgeMunkey said:

Thanks to this product review, I have just ordered four of these.

Click to expand...

4! I should be on commission...

Let us know how you get on with them.

They just arrived! I am putting them together now, in between whiskey breaks. I cannot wait to replace some of these 10 year old units I have been using!

One note I will make now, is that you may need to trim some flash off of some of the plastic parts with a hobby knife. Also, the prices on these can be rather stiff here in the US, but if you shop around, you can find them for seriously reasonable prices. I managed to get mine from e-bay for 50 USD each.

What kind of cleaning schedule do people have for canister filters? This one's been running since August now. Should I be cleaning the screen foam occasionally?

in my opinion, 12 newts in a 50 x 50, is not a small number. And a filter is not hiding waste, but it's ment to be a bacteria culture, to break down the waste. I think, a filter in this case is certainly recommend.

I don't understand your comment, Joost. The filter is already installed in the tank. One side of the canister is full of sponge filter medium and the other carbon and ceramic tubes for bio-filtration. I'm just wondering if I should be opening it up occasionally to rinse the sponge side of debris. Are you saying there shouldn't be any debris?

The 12 newts are juveniles and as you can see from the last photo the tank is not exactly crowded. A 50cm x 50cm is not sufficient for 12 adults so an upgrade will be in prospect.

I'm sorry, didn't know they were juvie's.
When you rinse the sponge, you'll flush away your bacteria. So, if you do, do it it a bucket with water from the aquarium. But don't do this too often