150 gal filtration/heating/cost

[TankDempsey]

Title says it all, I'm setting up a 150 gallon CA/SA tank and i need some suggestions for the necessities.

What I want:

Good canister filter rated for 200, not too expensive, but a good overall filter.
Heating, most efficient, cost effective/least expensive

I will also be running an Aquaclear 70 alongside of the canister, possibly with another Emperor power filter.

Any suggestions for other things that I should run on this tank are welcome, although I want to cut back on the electric bill So I'm not gonna run unnecessary things. Please include the costs of these items or a link to their websites. Thanks in advance.

 

[jshep105]

Title says it all, I'm setting up a 150 gallon CA/SA tank and i need some suggestions for the necessities.

What I want:

Good canister filter rated for 200, not too expensive, but a good overall filter.
Heating, most efficient, cost effective/least expensive

I will also be running an Aquaclear 70 alongside of the canister, possibly with another Emperor power filter.

Any suggestions for other things that I should run on this tank are welcome, although I want to cut back on the electric bill So I'm not gonna run unnecessary things. Please include the costs of these items or a link to their websites. Thanks in advance.

I would get a FX5. Depending on your electric company prices, it costs about $38 a year to run. It is rated at 925 gph I believe (before media is added). I'm not sure about efficient heating though, sorry. LED lights are expensive upfront, but will definitely save you in the long run between not having to replace the bulbs nearly as often and low running costs. I hope this helped


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[Cohazard]

I think adding hobs is a waste, if you want to supplement, either run a 2nd fx5 or an xp3 or eheim or something.

I strongly recommend adding a couple koralia in the tank at least 750gph to keep the water moving.

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[Squirtle919]

Title says it all, I'm setting up a 150 gallon CA/SA tank and i need some suggestions for the necessities.

What I want:

Good canister filter rated for 200, not too expensive, but a good overall filter.
Heating, most efficient, cost effective/least expensive

I will also be running an Aquaclear 70 alongside of the canister, possibly with another Emperor power filter.

Any suggestions for other things that I should run on this tank are welcome, although I want to cut back on the electric bill So I'm not gonna run unnecessary things. Please include the costs of these items or a link to their websites. Thanks in advance.

Fluval Fx5 with a inline hydor ( u have to mod it to fit but its not hard ) not sure about the HOB n power filter but I cant see them causing any harm if you already have them! one other thing u can do is use a smaller light then your tank span this way uses less power, but you will get dark spots I personally like dark spots compared to a full lit tank but each to there own.

 

[piranhaman00]

get a 180 instead for the added width

 

[Oughtsix]

For electric heat a submersible heater is going to be the most efficient. Pretty much every submersible heater turns almost 100% of the electrical energy into heat energy and transfers pretty much 100% of the heat into the water. The only difference I see in submersible heaters is their reliability.

I too like the Hydor external heaters. They are well built and seem well insulated. I doubt you would loose much heating efficiency with a Hydor instead of a submersible. My Hydor is never noticeably warm when I touch it which means not much heat loss through the casing.

The majority of a tanks heat is usually lost to evaporation. When water evaporates it sucks a lot of heat out of the water. A hood will do wonders to cut down of evaporation and conserve heat.

I would venture to guess that a well designed and implemented hob filter has the capability to be the most efficient. Mainly because you will get the most flow with the least amount of plumbing. For a canister my Eheim seems very efficient but I haven't put a kill-o-watt meter on it.

For all round energy pinching I would look int terrestrial plant filtration. Terrestrial plants remove nitrates from the water reducing the amount of water changes you have to do.

 

[jshep105]

I would get a FX5. Depending on your electric company prices, it costs about $38 a year to run. It is rated at 925 gph I believe (before media is added). I'm not sure about efficient heating though, sorry. LED lights are expensive upfront, but will definitely save you in the long run between not having to replace the bulbs nearly as often and low running costs. I hope this helped


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I would also like to add that submersible heaters would be the most efficient as someone stated above. I personally recommend the Aqueon Pro Heaters as they work great, are nearly indestructible, backed by a lifetime warranty, and you can find them on amazon for cheap.


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[TankDempsey]

For electric heat a submersible heater is going to be the most efficient. Pretty much every submersible heater turns almost 100% of the electrical energy into heat energy and transfers pretty much 100% of the heat into the water. The only difference I see in submersible heaters is their reliability.

I too like the Hydor external heaters. They are well built and seem well insulated. I doubt you would loose much heating efficiency with a Hydor instead of a submersible. My Hydor is never noticeably warm when I touch it which means not much heat loss through the casing.

The majority of a tanks heat is usually lost to evaporation. When water evaporates it sucks a lot of heat out of the water. A hood will do wonders to cut down of evaporation and conserve heat.

I would venture to guess that a well designed and implemented hob filter has the capability to be the most efficient. Mainly because you will get the most flow with the least amount of plumbing. For a canister my Eheim seems very efficient but I haven't put a kill-o-watt meter on it.

For all round energy pinching I would look int terrestrial plant filtration. Terrestrial plants remove nitrates from the water reducing the amount of water changes you have to do.

Could you elaborate more on the plant filtration?

And to Jshep105, those heaters are awesome!

Another question, is it true that you can cut back on electricity by buying a heater that is rated for larger tanks than it is going in? so it is not running all the time?

 

[Oughtsix]

Could you elaborate more on the plant filtration?
Another question, is it true that you can cut back on electricity by buying a heater that is rated for larger tanks than it is going in? so it is not running all the time?

A watt of energy is a watt of energy, it doesn't matter what size heater it comes from. I would recommend two small heaters instead of one larger heater. With two smaller heaters you have backup if one fails. Two smaller heater won't cost you any more to run than a single large heater.

Here is a great thread on plant filtration: http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?404668-Plant-only-filtration-%28why-not-popular-in-the-hobby-%29&highlight=plant+why+hobby