eheim filtration question

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T3hFu><0R

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 28, 2010
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twin cities, MN
I have recently acquired a 130 gallon 6ft tank. big step up from the 55gal my cousin gave me. I have a single emperor 400 right now so I am thinking I will order an eheim pro 2128 off amazon along with trying to build an in-line heater. I want the eheim for noise reasons. I've heard the fx5 running and it's a little noisier than I'd like. is this proper filtration for an african cichlid school? or should I add a HoB filter like the 400? right now the tank is sitting in the storage area of the shop I work in until I can acquire all the parts required to run it properly.

Being a total noob I have some other questions that seem to be debated from my searches... I want that super crisp looking water. People seem to say that along with more than adequate filtration having a UV set-up will give it that extra kick. Do you guys recommend the twist style Uv Lights you find at local stores and amazon? my goal is to have the most colorful cichlids I can get floating in air. after my wife shot down the school of a dozen piranha idea I went to colorful still freshwater fish.

so tell me if I'm going in the right direction or being stupid.

also, I work in a custom hardwood furniture and cabinet shop so I plan on building a real nice stand and top for the tank. Pictures to come. Think clean cherry with a lot of unnecessary cope/shape/mider.
 
I find eheim 2028(the one without the heater) to be a good filter; I would use 2 on a 130. In a 110, I used to use one 2028 and 2 Emperor 400 on mine when I had my africans with very good results; however, the 400s generate lots of waterfall noise.

I don't mind that in a living room but when I had it in my bedroom, they sucked.

my .02
 
I see. I have 1100$ left in my build budget based on tax returns and the cost of the tank and 150$ for wood so I'm trying to figure it out precisely before I spend money on things. I did not realize the 2128 had a heater in it based on the description. hence the noob, and the asking of questions. Thanks much for your help. I need to also buy more substrate and find a good backdrop as it's going to be against a wall. but that goes in a different forum I believe. rant more?

I wish the tank was as easy as the stand for me. mmmm solid cherry panels and pinless styles and rails.
 
You can eliminate waterfall noise by filling up a 5g bucket underneath your tank and capping the water level once it gets too low. It should only be once a week if you also cap the water level during weekly water changes. Impeller noise is a completely different issue though...my penguin 330 is silent two feet away from my laptop but my 350 sounds like it's choking someone.

If you want to get the 2128, it's only $340 here vs $400 in the link you posted: http://www.kensfish.com/eheimcanisterfilters.html
At 275gph though, I'd rather get two eheim classic 2217s(264gphx2, $130 each). With two canisters you can alternate and clean one of them at the time.

IMO the best crispy clear water is lots of water changes...fresh water out of the tap(with conditioner of course...). But if you have a high budget you can go for the diatom filters:
http://www.bigalsonline.com/product...=ComparisonShopping_Google&CAWELAID=388705921

Most people here like a black spray painted background. Home depot sells rustoleum spray paint for $1, make sure you don't get the glossy variety though or your tank will turn into a mirror like mine :)
 
ok, so i still want to buy the nice eheim pro filters, and maybe get a second one later on. The UV filter is just under 100$, and the filter you're talking about is about 140$ after shipping. does anyone back this up? should I put money somewhere else? I am also planning on buying more fish with this fund. I think I also need a jet or two and a second heat source. I am trying to figure out how to post an image without having a separate URL for it but am unable to sort it out due to problems with my kegerator and consumption rates. please help out for pictures of kegerator and instructions on how to tune your own.
 
What I would recommend personally is an FX5 or a big eheim like a 2260/2262 or two eheim 2217s. I am an FX5 fan and I find them very quiet as long as the impeller is clean. Eheim classics are good filters though.
I would also recommend a powerhead just for more current throughout the tank. Six feet is a lot of distance to move water, so a powerhead works well. I would suggest an koralia evolution, either 1050 or 1400 gph.
Hope this helps, if you want any more direct advice feel free to PM me. :)
 
if you have the budget (which you do), go eheim 2262!
 
ok so I gotta try to budget this out. the 2262 costs as much as 2 fx5's. I need to buy a lot of stuff including a dozen "cute fishies". that koralia evolution powerhead is only 9$ more for the 1500gph as compared to the 1050gph. is 50% more flow a bad thing in 130 gallons? some of these guys aren't very big yet. I've spend about half an hour searching the forums this morning instead of drafting a slip-in and it seems that all my questions are super highly debated things on this forum. There's a ridiculous amount of information here so I'll try to sticking to asking if I'm missing anything. enough disambiguation, here is my list so far.

filtration:
eheim 2262 (or 2x fx5's. they're not louder than the 2 fridges I have next to each other due to beer.) thanks aclockworkorange and spiritofthesoul for directing me to a better eheim for my set-up
turbo twist uv
(considering) Diatom filter thanks freezekougra

I also got an idea for a pvc in-line heater off this forum but failed to find it again, although I still have the parts list which uses a 90 degree, straight peice, and a y pipe with the heater inserted through the straight of the Y into the straight peice.

I've been reading around and I guess having the tank higher up is a bad idea, so I should build my stand to be 3' or shorter. is this correct?

I'm trying to leave 200$ for fish, and 300$ for substrate/driftwood/fake plants ect that I am buying from my local fish store a world of fish. those guys have been pretty helpful but have tried to direct me to buying their random brand supplies and nothing off the internet. I can't fault them for being a retail location but they do not carry eheim of fluval products.

so really I'm going to have to re-arrange my funds to make it fit in my wife-permitting budget. I'm supposed to be happy I'm getting what I am because I have a fridge in our living room that houses a keg.

so good so far? am I forgetting stuff?
 
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