What is a 'canister filter' for an aquarium?

What is a 'canister filter' for an aquarium?

Marc Grover (Professional Aquarist) gives expert video advice on: Generally, how do filters work in an aquarium?; What are the best filters for a small freshwater aquarium?; What are the best filters for a large aquarium? and more...

A canister filter is literally a pressurized canister with an in tube and an out tube. Typically, they're located below the tank and the tubes come up the back. Again, water is drawn via suction into this canister. It's got a motor that drives a propeller that pulls the water into the canister. Forces, it's pressurized, forces it through these different stages of filter media. Again, like a hang-on filter, just much more massive surface area. So you can put a lot more carbon, a lot bigger sponge, a lot bigger mechanical pre-filter mechanisms in there. And the canister filters are kind of the big brother of the hang-on filter. They're bigger. They're badder. They're bolder. The just do more and they are more efficient and more expensive. They typically don't leak as much either and they are stealthy. You can hid them underneath your tank. You've only got small tubes going in and out of your tank as opposed to this contraption or apparatus hanging off the bank of your tank.