Rena or Fluval?

Well I'm changing my mind again. I was interested in the Fluval G3, But they are pretty pricey! Now I'm going between the Fluval 406 And the Rena XP4. This is for my 40 gallon breeder tank. Which would you choose? Which one is more quiet? Thanks!

 

Are those Cannister filters? Not to be mean or anything, but neither.

With proper maintenance, I'm sure they'd work though.

 

Yes canisters

 

Not many people use canister for their tanks anymore. I have never used 1 of the ones you are asking about but at least I went ahead and took a peek at the fluval G3 and that is rather interesting design never seen that 1 before. People may be critical of the canister but then again may have never used 1 and only going of what they read. From experience I ran a 125 with 2 magnum 500 for years, softies and fish and looked awesome. The hobby has come along way and most use sumps, fuge etc etc.. You can run a tank with canister filters and be very happy with it but maintenance is critical. Skip any that use bio-wheels or just do not use them. Also I never used filter pads just the micron filter. Get a good protein skimmer also.

However if you want some real good insight you should take your time(I know it is exciting and you just want to jump in). As they say patience is a virtue.

Let people here know what you are looking to keep in your tank.
Fish only?
Corals only?
etc etc..

Also is your tank drilled?

The more info you provide the better info you will get back. There are some amazing people on this site with knowledge I can only dream of having some day. The setups some people have are top notch.

So again provide as much detail about what you have so far and what you plan to have and I am sure people can lead you down the right direction.

 

I can't speak specifically to the Fluval 406 but I have the 106 on my planted tank and love it. Great design and very quiet.

To the others point canisters are better suited for a freshwater setup than marine in most cases.

 

Ok.... 40 gallon breeder. Not drilled. About 4 years old now. Started out with a tiny sump(only held 4 gallons) and had many issues with overflows when the power goes out. So I went to a canister. A marineland c360. Worked great but had constant microbubbles. Tried everything to fix it. This past year from superstorm sandy our power was out for 9 days. Major crash. Lost a lot of fish and corals. By the way I have 5 fish now and soft and LPS corals. So I've tried an AC 110 that I had to get rid of the bubbles but it seems to be evaporating a lot of water.
Long story short, I want to stick to a canister that's quiet does the job and doesn't blow bubbles!

 

Not sure about canisters but I run a reef tank very well with marineland HOB filters with media instead of pads. Ever thought of that route?

 

The HOB makes too much splash and evaporates too much.

I went with the Rena XP4, hope I made the right choice!!

 

With good maintenance im sure you'll be fine. Post some pics soon

 

Sorry to hear of your troubles- I understand that a 9 day power out would be pretty bad, etc.
If the siphon style overflow is set up right- as in doesn't loose siphon, yet stops flowing to the sump in a power out (most accomplish this), and the return also has a siphon break for power outs, there should never be any flooding or overflow in a poower out.
Even with a 40B- it seems that a larger than 4g sump would be easy.
You can use just about any suitable plastic container or various shapes and sizes, etc.
It's a win/win. You'd spend MUCH less, and get better filtration with PS and macroalgae, or ATS, etc.

Here is just one example- My 50g plastic DIY sump thread:
http://www.3reef.com/forums/i-made/my-diy-sump-thread-140525.html


You can see the reef DT it supports in my DT video in my signature

I just feel you shouldn't be going with Cannisters when there are cheaper, better alternatives. Just my opinion though.
Good luck with whatever you decide.