filtration for 125 gallon?

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Slim2634

Slim2634

Plecostomus
MFK Member
May 8, 2006
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Central Ohio
my dad is building a new tv room/rec room in the basement and i want to buy a 125 gallon aquarium for it. i will take care of it but my room doesnt have enough room and it would look pretty cool in there. it will have a natural theme and it will probably house cichlids. does anyone reccommend any filters that are easy to find and the media is inexpensive and easy to find. i dont want to spend a fortune on a filter. the wet drys are too expensive for me right now also. i was thinking maybe three ac 110s keeping all the filtration media in two and the one in the middle having one sponge and two packs of biomax? i love the aquaclears i have one on my 20 gallon and im buying a mini to give it even more filtration, i love to overfilter my tank to get them as clean as possible. i was thinking around 2-3 plecos and around 7-10 smaller cichlids (probably max around 8 inches or less?) i will decorate it with plants and driftwood but not overdecorate so that they have plenty of room to swim. so anyone reccommend any filtration setups for a 125 gallon that dont cost a fortune, or would three ac's be fine?
 
3 AC's would be fine. That should give you more than enough flow and filtration.
Also, the Penguin 350B filters are nice and inexpensive; and the bio-wheels work great.
Just make sure that the water level stays up so that you do not hear the splashing of water as the wheels rotate.:headbang2
 
I agree with the Pen 350b it is by far my fav... I run them in my my 3 55gs

Think about 2 of them in the 125g

even use an AC as bio only & the Pens with the standard carts...

the pen 350b runs like 50bucks by me.

if you allready have the ACs then I like your proposed use, I actually have pulled the ACs from all my tanks & am currently running Penguin 350s 170s & Minis..

Still have the ACs just incase I want to change, but I am happy with Penguins to this point.
 
I like to use canister filters, and would reccomend them, but if money is an issue, I would use the hang on the back filters.

I would have to agree with the above statments on the Penguins....Those filters are awesome. I have one on my 90 brackish tank, and I love it. HOWEVER.....I would use the Emperor filters....you get more bang for your buck.....using 2 of the 400s (for upto 80 gallon tanks) would be more than enough for that tank. With 2 bio wheels per filter, the 400's also have 2 seperate filter cartrages in them for your different media too. You could use smaller ceramic cylindars, or something like it, for more bio filtration. I am like you, you can never have enough filtration! I would also use a power head at the bottom of the tank to keep all of the water moving around the tank. It creates a "current" that fish like to swim in, and keep from having any "dead" areas in the water.

Jen ;)
 
wow when i asked the question between ac's and penguins everyone was all for the ac's. i know why they are great! but i will consider the penguins and emperors, but i really like the acs. im also going to put a big bubble wall in the tank too and put driftwood in front of it.
 
why not get a 125 with overflows and run a wet/dry under neeth in the stand then you can hide all heaters and anything else.
 
wet drys are expensive and i cant afford them, i also dont trust myself to make my own. thats why i want to get the hang on backs because they have always worked for me.
 
I'm running 2 filstar XP3's, a rio 1400 and an AC1100 bio media only on my 125, picked up some good deals on ebay.

Best Bang for the buck are the E 400's and Pen 350 they are on all my smaller tanks...filter pads from online stores or make your own are a must as that's the most expensive piece for the HOB types.
 
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