Big tank new guy question..... FILTRATION!

[Stewey]

Here is a picture of the table that I am going to use. The space below is not tall enough for an FX4, so I will have to put it off to the side.



Thanks for

I have a 75 gallon Discus tank and run an fx4 and pennplax cascade 1200. Both are extremely quiet.

Only added the fx4 a few days ago and the tank is clearer than it's ever been. Just wish the fx4 had more room for biomedia. Otherwise, I love the fx4

I am setting up a Clear for Life 90 gallon aquarium that I will keep an Oscar (currently 4"), and a geophagus altiphrons. I am also thinking about getting a Pike cichlid.

My questions is what is enough filtrations? Here are some things I think about and I could, humbly, be very wrong

- canister filters like a FX4 or FX6 work well but are loud?
- an aqua clear 110 HOB would be enough?
- a canister filter and a HOB

I will say that I have a beautiful table that is ready for it but is does not have an enclosed cabinet underneath. That being said a canister may be unappealing sitting nest to the table?

I would love any and all thoughts. I am not easily offended. I have a wife and 4 daughters so my skin is thick .

God Bless
Stew

I am setting up a Clear for Life 90 gallon aquarium that I will keep an Oscar (currently 4"), and a geophagus altiphrons. I am also thinking about getting a Pike cichlid.

My questions is what is enough filtrations? Here are some things I think about and I could, humbly, be very wrong

- canister filters like a FX4 or FX6 work well but are loud?
- an aqua clear 110 HOB would be enough?
- a canister filter and a HOB

I will say that I have a beautiful table that is ready for it but is does not have an enclosed cabinet underneath. That being said a canister may be unappealing sitting nest to the table?

I would love any and all thoughts. I am not easily offended. I have a wife and 4 daughters so my skin is thick .

God Bless
Stew

 

[CrazyKoiCracker]

Make a low sump filter. They have shallow tanks. Or even with a plastic tote. Overflow into one side. Silicon in some baffling and full some chambers with media. A sump filter could hold more filter media than two fx4s and still fit below your tank. Put a panel or a painting or something in front of it if you’re worried about appearance. Look into it, really, give it a chance. Your fish will thank you.

 

[Oughtsix]

Between canisters and HOBs I would go with multiple HOB filters like the AquaClear 110.

The best thing about HOB filters are that they are easy to clean so they get cleaned much more often. Canisters have the capacity to hold a lot of media but the bigger the canister the more work it is to clean and the less often they get cleaned. Your tank water will be much healthier if you clean your filters often and remove the debris before it has a chance to break down into nitrogen compounds.

I have 4 or 5 nice high end canisters sitting around in the garage because I have stopped using canisters filters completely. I only use sumps that I design to be easy to get to and easy to clean. If I didn't use sumps my second choice would be HOBs... especially with a messy fish like an Oscar.

In my opinion huge amounts of bio-media housed in a large canister isn't usually necessary. In a cycled tank everything in the tank becomes bio-media as the bacteria will attach and grown on pretty much every surface. In my opinion you need mainly mechanical filtration that is easy to get to, easy to clean and gets cleaned often. I also believe in exposing the tank water to as much air as possible. This promotes water oxygenation and off gassing of organic compounds. Unless you use a spray bar canisters usually do not offer much air/water contact. Good oxygenation will keep your fish healthy as well as keep your beneficial bacterial colony strong and healthy.

 

[CrazyKoiCracker]

Sumps are great because you could have a refugium chamber in there too, have your oscars up top and after its established, you could have a cherry shrimp colony and a ton of plants down there to help keep the water clean or something down there. If any shrimp make it to the filter chamber and get sucked up...Oscar snack. Everyone wins.im about to light my sump and set up a ghost shrimp colony down there with a ton of pothos. It’ll be awesome.

 

[robcope]

I am setting up a Clear for Life 90 gallon aquarium that I will keep an Oscar (currently 4"), and a geophagus altiphrons. I am also thinking about getting a Pike cichlid.

My questions is what is enough filtrations? Here are some things I think about and I could, humbly, be very wrong

- canister filters like a FX4 or FX6 work well but are loud?
- an aqua clear 110 HOB would be enough?
- a canister filter and a HOB

I will say that I have a beautiful table that is ready for it but is does not have an enclosed cabinet underneath. That being said a canister may be unappealing sitting nest to the table?

I would love any and all thoughts. I am not easily offended. I have a wife and 4 daughters so my skin is thick .

God Bless
Stew

Stew, Keep it simple, but always have at least two filters. I have an overstocked 55 Gallon African Cichlid tank with two Aqua Clear 70's and a Cobalt EXT Canister. All three are easy to take care of. I also have either ATI prefilters or Eheim 6664 prefilters on all my filters. I clean the prefilters every two weeks, the aqua clears once a month and the canister every two to three months.

I have my FX4 on my 75 gallon discus tank and love it. It is much quieter than the aqua clears. I would either go FX6 or FX4 and at least one aqua clear 110. If you use prefilters maintenance goes way down. Please note, there are several ways to do this and no one way is necessarily wrong. This is just my opinion after more than thirty years of raising cichlids.

 

[NCHornet]

Between canister and HOB's hands down the canisters are the way to go just because of the amount of media they can hold. I have an FX4, FX6 and just recently purchased a SunSun 303B. The SUNSUN's are so economical I just had to try one. The 303B is quieter than either of my FX filters. It also holds a lot of media and just like any canister filters there are many ways to set it up for your specific needs. I have all my canisters setup with pretty much the same media. First is coarse, medium and fine pads, the rest of the trays are filled with BioHome Ultimate. Currently only the FX4 has any chemical media and it is in the form of two large media bags filled with Purigen. Lastly the water passes through a fine polishing pad and my water is crystal clear and water changes are done every 2 weeks. I don't use the UV light as it is to weak and the water flow is to much to really be a benefit. If the SunSun lasts I doubt I will ever purchase another canister filter for any of my tanks. I did a lot of research before buying and it seems the newer 704 and HW3000 filters have some issues that need to get worked out. I like the idea of running 2 filters. I would be looking at 2 of the 403, 404, or the 303B like I have and you would be under half the cost of an FX filter. If you set them up with the right media I believe you would be extremely happy with the results, just my opinion. Good Luck with whatever you decide on.
Later
NCH

 

[duanes]

The problem I have with canisters, is although they make a tank look clear, that does not mean the water quality is good, because if canisters are not regularly cleaned out, gunk builds up and produces nitrate (lots of it). Your tank water becomes fish urine soup.
A 90 gal is a puddle compared to the water oscars naturally live in, and if kept in a high nitrate situation, become scarred with chronic HLLE disease over time.
Given only 2 choices, In a 90 gal I would line the entire back wall with as many HOBs as would fit, and clean the gunk out of 1 everyday, and do a water change at the same time of about 30%.
As the oscar grows you will need to up the water changes.
And if you want those 3 cichlids together, minimally, I would suggest doubling the size of the tank.

 

[markstrimaran]

How much fish poop will a canister hold?

I get about 10 oz a week in my filter socks.

 

[Mdoka]

We all have are preferences, mine are FX6’s, FX4’s and SunSun, can’t stand the noise of HOB’s. But, I’m going with a large sump soon with auto drip. Tired of frequent water changes.

 

[CrazyKoiCracker]

We all have are preferences, mine are FX6’s, FX4’s and SunSun, can’t stand the noise of HOB’s. But, I’m going with a large sump soon with auto drip. Tired of frequent water changes.

Autowater changes. Life goals. Much easier to set up on an outdoor pond than it is to get one going inside.