Get two hobs. I have two *AC110 on my 55g and it is great. If i need to clean one, i still have the other one with beneficial bacteria on it.
best hang on back filter
- Thread starter willy j
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RAWfish;3881480; said:I'm surprised that most aren't recommending two AC70's over a single AC110. He would get slightly higher turnover and any filter maintenance can be staggered to avoid too much BB disturbance at one time. Thoughts on this?
I'm one to talk though.... I have a single AC50 on my 26g
I Agree 110% 2 70's. You can get them for about 40 or so off ebay...you clean one with each water change so you have one untouched...you get 2 intake points for crud removal...slightly more turnover than one 110. Also the flow of a 110 in a 12" wide tank will not be great...it will blow the sand/gravel away from the front glass. 2 70's is about 600gph...plenty turnover for a 55. Add a bubble wall in the middle of the tank...2 70's on the side...call it a day.
RAWfish;3881480; said:I'm surprised that most aren't recommending two AC70's over a single AC110. He would get slightly higher turnover and any filter maintenance can be staggered to avoid too much BB disturbance at one time. Thoughts on this?
I'm one to talk though.... I have a single AC50 on my 26g
I dont get it, dose everyone lose their cycle when they clean their filters or what? If you use old tank water to clean your sponge's/foam and w/e other media you use to host your bb, your bb colony will be just fine. I clean my FX5 out almost weekly and knocking wads of poo out of my sponges/poly fill has never caused an NH3/4 or NO2 spike. Just use old tank water, and you should never have a problem.
LD50;3881773; said:
Doesn't kill them all but does disturb them...and I have heard it can take a couple days/week to get situated back...think of an ant pile I guess. It doesn't hurt to have 2 smaller ones for that reason and if one dies you still have one running while the other is getting fixed. Also 2 intake points for trapping junk before it settles. And when you set up another tank (becasue most do) you can just buy another 70 and swap out a cycled one for the new one and use that to jump start the new tank. If the tank were a 4' 75gal or bigger I would say 110's.
NOLAGT;3881798; said:
I agree completely with all of NOLAGT's points. Redundancy is always a good thing, AC110's would blow way too hard in a 12in wide 55g, and in my experience a long shallow tank like that really benefits from having water movement at both ends. A powerhead blowing across the back glass helps to keep the temp stable too, but make sure your stock can handle all the current. Also, my BB get washed in old tankwater occasionally & I never get spikes either. However, I still stagger my filter maintenance cuz I'd rather be safe than sorry...
LD50;3881773; said:
QFT!
There is absolutely no need for redundancy if you are properly cleaning your filter. If cleaning your filter is leading to a mini cycle, the problem is not the filter, its the person cleaning it. You don't lose measurable amounts of bacteria in the mechanical transfer of cleaning your filter sponge. the only way you will lose enough bacteria to cause some kind of major reaction, is if you did something wrong. (rinsing with tap or chlorinated water, let the media dry out, etc).
You can remove 1/3 of your media without causing any major damage to your system. This is done all the time for seeding new filters and for cycling new tanks. Bacteria colonies can double in size in 24hours. So even if you killed half the bacteria or removed half the media, your system would be back to normal after 24hours (but of course this also means you will need to monitor WP and do a major WC during this period).
As far as the "if one dies, you still have another one" scenario goes, its really not even an issue worth mentioning.
Members here have AC110 (AC500) filters running that are 15+ years old. My oldest one it about 9 years old now. These are some of the most reliable filters on the market. So unless you are not properly caring for your equipment, your chances of having one break on you are slim at best.
Even if you were to buy 2 brand new, the chances of one of them breaking, iare just as good as the chances of both of them breaking. So why not run 3 AC50s, or 4 AC30s?
All these "what if" scenarios are not only unlikely, but irrelevant. Take care of your equipment, clean them properly, and you will be replacing your tank before you replace your filter.
