Does my water have enough filtration/movement?

[sutherland]

Same feeling here with the UGF, old outdated technology especially when it comes to African Cichlid. The only use it will have is a base to stack rocks on so when the fish dig under the rocks they wont topple over. Get a pair of AC70's like suggested earlier or a good canister with another HOB filter like the AC70 sine HOBs are better mech filters than Canisters.

+1

Cichlids will dig and dig. I could never run a UGF in my Cichlid tank, mainly because of the fine substrate. I'm running two Penguin 200s on my tank, it provides some movement that the fish love and is keeping the water clear and clean.

It's a small investment. Plus you have an AC, which is much more accomadating to DIY custom/cheap filter media than my Penguins.

 

[tcarswell]

Ok without mentioning the UGF then ( See my thread about them) I decided to get an AC110 And add that on to the lot. thanks for the suggestions. The Eheim is filled with everything it came with minus the carbon filter. Also I appreciate the heads up on the outlet jet im definitely getting one of those I knew the spray bar was restrictive!

 

[tcarswell]

+1

Cichlids will dig and dig. I could never run a UGF in my Cichlid tank, mainly because of the fine substrate. I'm running two Penguin 200s on my tank, it provides some movement that the fish love and is keeping the water clear and clean.

It's a small investment. Plus you have an AC, which is much more accomadating to DIY custom/cheap filter media than my Penguins.

an AC? Not yet I have a top fin 60 300 GPH HOB filter soon an ac110 to accommodate it unless someone has a better idea

 

[tcarswell]

300gph rating. not actual flow with any media whatsoever. Since its a HOB (heavy on bypass). full of media...i mean..."cartridges"(lol), will MAYBE get 150gph

the eheim also only does about 150-175

so, that puts you at around 300gph filtration, which is ALMOST 6 cycles in an hour, which is sufficient, especially with a powerhead. however, 300gph powerhead isnt much. a korilia #3 would be better. however, it really depends on how heavy of a stock you plan on keeping. stocking, feeding and many other things play a role in how much you will need.

if you have the spraybar on the eheim, switch it to the jet nozzle, you will get a little flow doing that as well. how do you have the media setup on it? if you were to use some prefilter media and pull out some other media, you will pick up some flow.


i would remove the undergravel filter completely, with cichlids its worthless. i would try it with the filtration you have. if it becomes cloudy or something and theres lots of dirt around. i would just get a 2nd canister, or a whole new canister, you could even add 1 ac110 and remove the top fin. Theres lots of ways to do it.


i have a 75g and i have a rena xp3 and ac110, w/ a korilia #4 powerhead. its not enough, im returning the xp3 and removing the ac110 for a FX5. i paid 190+ tax for the xp3, and 80 for the ac110. The FX5 is 200 shipped on ebay. i will actually be getting money back, by getting twice the gph (rated at 925, get about 500-600gph loaded with bio media).

if i had a 55g and was planning to stock it, i would probably just get the fx5, if you ever upgrade, it will be useful on a bigger tank. You dont have to run it at its full 500-600gph, there are ways to make it not flow near that much. Best bang for your buck imho.

Thanks for all the advice! The topfin has simply the cartridge minus the carbon plus some filter floss stuffed in it its solely mechanical and it seems to flow quite well. Ill be looking for an ac110 Do they have much bypass?


Sorry forgot to note.
Right now it has a 3" male jack Dempsey a 4" blue acara and a 7" poly bichir (I went south american with the cichlids and dont regret it I love the little guys) I also ditched my oscar as he was a messy greedy little *******

 

[ProblEmZ]

AC110 or Emp 400 both good and perfect for your situation. I've ran both and either as the main filter for a 55g for years.

 

[tcarswell]

Ill go with the ac 110 everyone seems to like them. I think that and the eheim and the top fin 60 should be plenty of filtration.

 

[ProblEmZ]

Ill go with the ac 110 everyone seems to like them. I think that and the eheim and the top fin 60 should be plenty of filtration.

Should be fine with stock. I just upgrade from a similiar setup. I had and Eheim 2213, AC 110, Whisper 60, and a PH with a Quickfilter attachment.

Moved the ehiem 2213 to my 29g and now have

Fluval 404, AC110, Whisper 60, and PH wiht Quickfilter Attachment.