filter for my tanks
- Thread starter njackson
- Start date
You have a lot of options for filtration...
Most people are probably going to suggest using a sump... which can be a great idea if designed right...
You could do one huge canister such as a the ones meant for ponds...
You could do a couple of large canisters, such as the FX5...
You could do multiple standard canisters...
You could like the back and both sides with HOBs if you want...
You could put tons of filtration on it and keep the things spotless...
You could put just enough filtration on it to keep the water from being stagnent and rely on heavy frequent water changes to keep water quality up and keep the aquarium looking pretty..
Giving us some ideas about the goals of your filtration will help us make suggestions of what may suit them best...
For example...
What are your cost restraints? Looking for the best without regard for price? looking for the cheapest way to have decent filtration? looking for the chapest way to have ideal filtration?... etc
Do you want the filters to keep the tank spotless? do you want enough filtration to take care of biological needs and then remove the waste/debris via water change?
How do you plan to decorate the tank? As waste/debris tends to get stuck in/under/around decor therefore (IME) tanks with more decor are best when offered more filtration...
Most people are probably going to suggest using a sump... which can be a great idea if designed right...
You could do one huge canister such as a the ones meant for ponds...
You could do a couple of large canisters, such as the FX5...
You could do multiple standard canisters...
You could like the back and both sides with HOBs if you want...
You could put tons of filtration on it and keep the things spotless...
You could put just enough filtration on it to keep the water from being stagnent and rely on heavy frequent water changes to keep water quality up and keep the aquarium looking pretty..
Giving us some ideas about the goals of your filtration will help us make suggestions of what may suit them best...
For example...
What are your cost restraints? Looking for the best without regard for price? looking for the cheapest way to have decent filtration? looking for the chapest way to have ideal filtration?... etc
Do you want the filters to keep the tank spotless? do you want enough filtration to take care of biological needs and then remove the waste/debris via water change?
How do you plan to decorate the tank? As waste/debris tends to get stuck in/under/around decor therefore (IME) tanks with more decor are best when offered more filtration...
ohh yea show me up... with that crazy over the top response .. thanks for making me look stupid LOL
I am building a 460 gallon and was asking the same questions and didn't get a real response. So I just bought two inland seas nu-clear filters and extesion filters for them and two pcx-100 external pumps rated at over 1500gph and building a sump out of a 75 gallon tank with two rio 32hf submersible pumps rated at around 1300gph. The pcx-100's will only run around two or three times a day saving energy and letting my redtail cat to eat with out washing the food away. But redtails love waterflow like most catfish. I will try to get the tank to turn over atleast 5 to 6 times in an hour at night and during the mornings just 2-3 times. The sump will hold 4-5 heaters some filters and air stones. I have made some of these for 125 gallons and it works great. I will not overstock my tank because the tank is for my redtail and a pleco and maybe another redtail down the road. I will not use a substrate for now because the belly of a redtail is very soft and he always cleared a spot off down to the glass to lay in anyway. Hope i helped a little.
All filtration boils down to turn over rate. After turn over rate what ever media you want to run is your choice.
Your tanks are 270 gallons a piece. So HOB style filter are pretty much out of the question for decent filtration.
So you are left with canister filters or sumps. The fx5 is a really nice filter. To have good filtration using fx5 canisters you will need 2-3 per tank. And that means spending 1200-1500+ dollars on filters alone after you buy the media to fill them with. ( fx5 at $250ea + media) A good turn over rate to aim for with canister filters is around 6-8x per hour. (270g X 7=1890 GPH of filtration) And 2 fx5's does not come close to this. But 3 does
so make it 3 fx5's per tank.
After you get out of the hospital and fully recover from that stroke proceed to the land of sump filtration below.
Or you can build 2 DIY sump filters out of old 55g tanks. It is a very simple process. It looks overwelming at first but after you make the desicision to do it is very simple.
A good turn over rate for sump filtration is 3-5 times per hour. And this is because of the larger amount of mechanical media to clean the water and the large amount of biomedia that sumps can hold.
If your tanks are not drilled then you will need some very cheap and unattractive DIY pvc overflows that can be built for a few bucks. Or buy some hang on the back over flow boxes. I use the HOB style overflows.
Then all you need is a pump or pumps to meet your flow and turnover demands .
There are easy to follow write ups all over the internet for building a sump filter so i won't go into detail about it.
I would think that you could build a nice sump for that size tank for less than 300 bucks plus some scrubbies and poly floss for media. And that includes a new pump and overflow box. Or if you search around for deals and used equipment you can probably cut the 300 in half.
Your tanks are 270 gallons a piece. So HOB style filter are pretty much out of the question for decent filtration.
So you are left with canister filters or sumps. The fx5 is a really nice filter. To have good filtration using fx5 canisters you will need 2-3 per tank. And that means spending 1200-1500+ dollars on filters alone after you buy the media to fill them with. ( fx5 at $250ea + media) A good turn over rate to aim for with canister filters is around 6-8x per hour. (270g X 7=1890 GPH of filtration) And 2 fx5's does not come close to this. But 3 does
so make it 3 fx5's per tank.After you get out of the hospital and fully recover from that stroke proceed to the land of sump filtration below.
Or you can build 2 DIY sump filters out of old 55g tanks. It is a very simple process. It looks overwelming at first but after you make the desicision to do it is very simple.
A good turn over rate for sump filtration is 3-5 times per hour. And this is because of the larger amount of mechanical media to clean the water and the large amount of biomedia that sumps can hold.
If your tanks are not drilled then you will need some very cheap and unattractive DIY pvc overflows that can be built for a few bucks. Or buy some hang on the back over flow boxes. I use the HOB style overflows.
Then all you need is a pump or pumps to meet your flow and turnover demands .
There are easy to follow write ups all over the internet for building a sump filter so i won't go into detail about it.
I would think that you could build a nice sump for that size tank for less than 300 bucks plus some scrubbies and poly floss for media. And that includes a new pump and overflow box. Or if you search around for deals and used equipment you can probably cut the 300 in half.
thanks for all the replys, i want the cheapest filter i can get what give me a spotless tank, i can't use a sump because one tank is going on top and the other on the bottom. what filter would pick what i want out of it. thanks. i am going to put some sand in the tank , but i know that sand can block the filters. so that the decor iam doing. maybe some drifwood.
wrong filtration is turn over but mostly filtration capacity you could have 1000000 gph going through a litre of media and it wont be nearly enoughhybridtheoryd16;3274541; said:
anyways for those tanks i would make a sump for each tank on each side of both tanks if you get me