Glass tanks that have small strips attached to the top sides and a center piece on 4 foot or longer tanks are known as euro braced. Acryllic tanks generally have much more top bracing to keep the sides from flexing. Most acryllic tanks have filter slots and holes drilled in the top but generally...
I have to agree that you're overcomplicating the situation. A simple pair of air driven hydro5 sponge filters in the back corners will give you all of the extra water flow you need and reduce the interval for gravil vacuuming at a far lower set up and operating cost than 5 powerheads.
I recomend running the FX5 with all ceramic rings and no additional media. The stock foam is adiquate provided your not opening the cannister every other week. finer particles will eventually become trapped in the foam blocks as they season.
As far as splitting the intake goes...your better off...
You are doing far too many things at once and it's interfering with the cycling process. Make sure that you test your tap water for Ammonia. This could be a large part of the problem. Using too many chemicals and additives tends to ruin your water chemistry.
Add biospira if you can find a fresh...
Most manufactured homes allow for the possibility of waterbeds so just about anything under 200 gallons is safe. Once you start getting into the 240+ range however it's time to check with the manufacturer about speciffic load handling.
Things will look a lot brighter to you once you move out and have a place of your own. I'm sure you'll have just as firm an idea of what you do and do not want going on under your roof.
You tend to open yourself up to this any time you ask other hobbiests for his or her OPINION. Many of these opinions are based on a lot of years of expierance so you shouldn't be so quick to discount opinions that seem to Differ with your own.
On the flip side of the coin it's quite...
Sorry for the delay. I was a bit buzy. Anyway....what you need is either a pressure rated pump or two pumps working in tandom. The first pump can be a smaller one feeding a larger pump at the base of the bio-tower.
One thing about these systems thats great is that once you have them running...
I can feed 15 big tanks of fish for 6 months on what your spending on a feeder tank. You said you didn't want to concider a constant drip system but in all honesty here for a 75 gallon tank with feeders...even that many of them...all you need is a pair of hydro5's for bio....a pair of AC110's...
All of the nitrate exchange rosins on the market are basicly the same. They come in blocks, bags, and even filter pads but IMO you're wasting your money. Water chjanges are a far more effective nitrate reducer and they ALSO reduce the accumulated TDS (total desolved solids) that build up over...
Thats a 1200 gallon tank with the red tail in it.... I lived in Px for 30 years or so. The fish prices are a bit high but they have a good selection and fairly high quality. Great prices on tank decorations and fake plants plus a couple of nice filtration displays. They have a bunch of returned...
You will see a differance with the polishing pads at first but once the bio-media in the baskets establishes it develops a coating thats very effective at removing even the smallest debris from the water. This is also true of the mechanical foam in the first stage. If you wash it too often it...
As the name implyes...we are MONSTER fish keepers. A lot times this means having species only tanks or less species than we might want to keep but if we want the fish safe and healthy it's best not to experiment too much...
Granted it's 'cool' to post pictures and be able to say....'I did...
The Hydro5 sponge filters are the best IMO. use an air stone in the base rather than the hose nipple for a much better flow.
I noticed a few 'underfiltered' comments and I had to laugh. I know of grow out and feeder tanks with 4 times that many fish in them running on nothing but hydro5's...
I run quite FEW fLUVAL 404/405'S AND ALL i RUN IN ANY OF THE BASKETS IS CERAMIC RING BIO-MEDIA. (I hate this keyboard !! ) Anyway...the stock foam is all you need for mechanical filtration and chemical filtration is rarely ever needed. Extra bio-capacity however is always a good idea...
I switched over to Canisters/HOB units many years ago and I've never regretted it. One type of filtration system is NOT really any better than the others. Any of them will work great if you set them up properly.
As a general rule of thumb....if you have to ask then it's safer not to try. Sure...you read about the odd group that get along famiouisly or at least seem to for a certian amount of time but your taking a risk IMO.