Doubling up on HoB... best way?

Dark Rose · Jun 26, 2013

Right now in my son's room I have a moderately planted 29g, currently running an AC50 HoB filter, has sponge, Purigen, and Matrix (pre-seeded from my large tank).

I was considering adding a circulation pump or powerhead to move the water around more, and decided another filter could do the job, and added filtration is always a plus...

I'm thinking of adding another AC50, but I'm not sure the best way to go about it... Have two separate issues I'm mulling over...

I was considering two options for media:
A: One filter Sponge/Purigen/Sponge, the other Matrix/Purigen/Matrix
B: Both filters Sponge/Purigen/Matrix

I'm assuming keeping both the same would help redundancy when cleaning one, but seems like I might get more benefit by keeping each of them dedicated (mainly) to one media type... Which would do a better job of keeping the water clean and clear?

The other question would be intake... right now, the AquaClear 50 i have has extensions on the intake getting it about 1" from the bottom of the tank... Intake at the bottom, output at the top, keeps water moving and aerated...
If I add another filter, should I keep the intake:
A: the same on it (as deep as possible)
B: mid-level, or
C: closer to the top?
Or does it really matter?

It'd be nice if you could get mirror image HoBs, lol. Would give you the option of intakes at the opposite end of the tank, or outputs at the opposite ends... Wishful thinking I guess...

For the sake of info, stock list:
10 Amano shrimp
10 Ghost shrimp (may get rid of these for 5 or so more Amanos)
5 Black Neon Tetras
5 Neon Tetras
5 Glowlight Tetras
6 Barbs (four gold, two cherry)
3 Otocinclus cats
1 Dwarf Gourami
1 Spotted Hi-fin Pleco (will be moved to the larger tank when he outgrows the 29)

Wisteria (3 or 4), Anubis (1), Argentine Swords (2 clumps), Dwarf Hairgrass (slowly spreading, 8-10 clumps now), Amazon Sword (1)

Future plans of 2-3 Bolivian Rams

Oscar Mike · Jun 26, 2013

I would actually suggest running a sponge/matrix/matrix combo in one and sponge/purigen/matrix in the other. Thats a lot of fish for a 29 (even tho they stay small) so you'll want all the surface area for bb you can get, and the sponges in each filter will help keep the bio media clean. You can even put a small bag of purigen or a cut up sponge in the space behind the intakes to give more room for biomax or another sponge

As for the intake height, I like to vary them in my tanks as much as possible so the smaller tanks have a mid and high level intake and my 240 has two 2'' from the bottom/top and two in the middle. The bottom and top level intakes seem to be the most effective, so I would suggest putting the one with more matrix near the top and the other 1-2'' from the bottom like u have it.

Btw, when you say matrix what are you referring to? Seachem makes good products but I've read that Biomax has over 30x more surface area than seachem matrix if that's what you're using (170 sq ft. per liter vs 6600 sq ft for biomax, but that thread is 5 years old so its probably improved since then)

Armand · Jun 26, 2013

Hi.

If it were me I would get rid of the AC 50 and get me an AC 70, but that's me, It is better IMO.

Place intakes the closest to the substrate you can, unless you're using sand, if you have sand then your HoBs wouldnt last too long.

If you decide to keep with two AC 50 the place both intakes close to substrate.

IMO it wouldn't make much of a difference whether you place sponges in one of the hobs while you place only ceramic rings-or matrix or whatsoever- in the other, neither if you equally place both, sponge and ceramic in the two of them, IMO an AC70 would make more of a difference in any case tho.

Cheers.

Dark Rose · Jun 27, 2013

KingOfKings55 said:
I would actually suggest running a sponge/matrix/matrix combo in one and sponge/purigen/matrix in the other. Thats a lot of fish for a 29 (even tho they stay small) so you'll want all the surface area for bb you can get, and the sponges in each filter will help keep the bio media clean. You can even put a small bag of purigen or a cut up sponge in the space behind the intakes to give more room for biomax or another sponge As for the intake height, I like to vary them in my tanks as much as possible so the smaller tanks have a mid and high level intake and my 240 has two 2'' from the bottom/top and two in the middle. The bottom and top level intakes seem to be the most effective, so I would suggest putting the one with more matrix near the top and the other 1-2'' from the bottom like u have it.

Btw, when you say matrix what are you referring to? Seachem makes good products but I've read that Biomax has over 30x more surface area than seachem matrix if that's what you're using (170 sq ft. per liter vs 6600 sq ft for biomax, but that thread is 5 years old so its probably improved since then)

I did mean Seachem Matrix, it was what was recommended to me when I set up my canister on my other tank.
It is a lot of fish, and the Pleco seems to be guilty of the most waste, but when he outgrows the small tank, he'll be moving out, but that won't be for a while, and my son loves seeing him come out of hiding, lol.
I'll have to see if my LFS carries Biomax, if not, I'll have to drive north and see if I can find some at the two stores I go to out of town.
If I had space around or under his tank i'd go with a canister, but it sets on a dresser, and has very little space around it...

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