Advice on filters for my 70 gal. tank

[Fancypants]

Hi! I'm new to the site. I stumbled on it today when I was looking for information on putting a protein skimmer in a goldfish tank. I raise fancy goldfish. Of course, they are pretty dirty little guys and I'm always looking for ways to upgrade the water quality in my tank.

Upon reading some of the threads on this site, it came to my attention that some people have more than one filter in their larger tanks. Is this necessary or a good idea? I have an Eheim Professional II in my 70 gallon tank and was never told when I set it up that more = better. But now I'm wondering.

Also wondering about the new fresh water protein skimmers. Are they worth it?

 

[mikeandannie]

i don't know anything about the freshwater or saltwater skimmers yet, but i do know you can't over kill your filtration... only real overkill in it is if you have a huge pump and if you have smaller fish they would have a hard time swimming...but all in all the more the better

 

[Trippingpara]

I agree with Mikeandannie, you can't overdo filtration. I always subscribe to the "more the better" theory in that area. Just make sure your return flow isn't too powerful for your fish. As for protein skimmers for freshwater, I don't find them useful and not worth the expense. However, I do use a Surface Skimmer on my tanks to keep any film from forming on the surface. And they only cost about $20.

 

[Bderick67]

Fresh water protien skimmers are about as useful as charcol carbon. The benefits are not used because of the frequency that water changes should be done to keep nitrate levels in check.

IMO you can "overkill" filtration. It is good to have redundancy, but there is a point were over filtration becomes sensless. A filter that would compliment your eheim very well would be an AC110 power filter. It will provide you will secondary bio filtration and add a large amount of mechanical filtration. The sponge is easily cleaned on a weekly basis. By removing as much particle waste as you can before it breaks down, will lead to lower nitrate levels and better water conditions.