Ok so I will be building a 300 gallon tank soon and I have 2 thoughts on filtration. First the setup I'm thinking about 6 spiny eels (fire, tire track) a few rope fish (3 or so) probably 8-12 polypterus various species for the purposes of this think large, and I'm looking at the possibility of a black arowana since everything I have read here indicates a small possibility of it achieving more than 30 inches. So right now I am thinking either 2 fluval fx6 or 2 fx4 along with large driftwood pretty well covered in java moss because its hardy and helps reduce ammonia, nitrates and nitrites and of course it looks really nice. I am leaning towards the fx6 pair because I tend to over build just about everything but I was wondering what thoughts the good folks here have. This isn't meant to be a strictly either or sort of thing so if you have other ideas feel free to throw them out there. The reason I am leaning towards cannisters is for ease of maintenance more than anything.
Filtration for 300 gallon set up
- Thread starter lifeon2
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First thing I'd do on something this large is a dedicated sump. If you're going with commercial filters I'd say two fx6 for sure.
I’d agree with the sump. Easier to keep clean longer in my opinion. I clean mine out every 6 months.
A sump would be the most appropriate for this amount of water for sure, but several large canisters would be OK too.
My take on canisters is, if you have to clean them more than every 4-6 months, it's either undersized or you need to rethink your feedings WC's and gravel vacs.
My take on canisters is, if you have to clean them more than every 4-6 months, it's either undersized or you need to rethink your feedings WC's and gravel vacs.
A sump is the only way to go IMHO. It'll increase the overall water volume of your system significantly, which is always a good thing. It provides space for lots of biomedia, as well as a convenient location for heaters and other hardware. Most importantly, a properly-designed sump will allow very easy weekly or even daily maintenance (rinsing/cleaning the first stage of mechanical filtration); in other words, your sump will actually allow you to completely remove a great deal of waste from the system before it undergoes bacterial decomposition, rather than just hiding it in a canister where it is encouraged to break down and degrade water quality. And unlike canisters which will clog and gradually decrease their flow rate over time, the pump used in a sump system will contain to maintain full flow at all times.
Not sure about cost comparisons...I have no idea what canisters cost nowadays...but I would bet that the cost of the two cans you are considering would easily cover the components of a DIY sump including a pump or even a pair of pumps for redundancy.
Not sure about cost comparisons...I have no idea what canisters cost nowadays...but I would bet that the cost of the two cans you are considering would easily cover the components of a DIY sump including a pump or even a pair of pumps for redundancy.