Guidance on cichlid filtration (50 Gallon)

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T

tickle

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 18, 2010
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The back end of hell.
Hi

I have been looking into filtration for my 50 Gallon and could really do with some guidance,,

I should begin by describing my tank, it has reinforcments around the perimiter of the tank, with 2 cut outs roughly 35mm dia, one on the back left, one on the back right. i am not willing to drill the tank. I will likely be stocking mbuna cichlids and crayfish so need minimum water flow and maximum biofiltration.

I am torn between my three options;

1) Eheim 2217 Canister + Spray bar.

Pro: Cheap, compact, good water circulation + mech filtration.
Con: no biomedia aeriation, no failsafe on breakage.

2) 2x Eheim 2215 Canister + spray bar / Eheim 2215 + HOB Filter
Pro: Failsafe on pump failure, excellent circulation/bio + mech filtration.
Con: More maintenance, no biomedia aeriation, expensive, more wires, too much water circulation??.

3) 15 Gal Sump filter. 1 surface syphon, 1 return spray.

Pro: Good biomedia aeriation, large biomedia capacity
Con: Poor particle removal, poor mechanical filtration, could be messy.

The single large canister looks set to be cheap, relatively effective and discreet, although unreliable.
The duel canister / hob option is looking the best option with regards to function, but looks to be the most expensive and could be noisy / visible.
The sump seems to have the best of both worlds, cheap and effective IF there is a way to syphon lower down instead of from the surface. To me better biofiltration means nothing if the tank is a mess. (maybe a deeper syphon with a water level cut off?)

Im hoping someone can advise me as to what they think would serve me best, maybe straighten out any misconceptions i have on the setups or offer ways to overcome the problems i see with a sump.

Thanks for reading,
 
EAsy filtratrion for a50-55g:

Two Aqua Clrea 70's

AND

Your DIY wet/dry filter or canister of choice.......
 
If you're willing to do the work, I'd go with the sump.

If you're really interested in a canister, check out the Rena XP3, it's amazing. 350 GPH, and you could choose the spraybar (my favorite) or single outlet that it comes with. Maintenance is a breeze and they're built like rocks, you won't regret it.

Throw 3 or so boxes of Ehiem Substrate Pro in the top two baskets, keep the double 20/30 ppi foam pads in the bottom basket.
 
rena xp3 you wont regret it...I can turn mine off, disconnect it and have it apart down in my basement for cleaning in about 5 min...and cleaned, put back and running in about 15 min.
 
on my 30G I have 2 eheim 2213s and an AC50, but that is just how things worked out . . .

if I did a 55G, I think it would be easier and cheaper to run 2 AC110s
 
The AC filter reccomendations seem to be abundant online and here, so i will certaintly consider them in sequence with a canister if i do go that route.

Carch;4432081; said:
If you're willing to do the work, I'd go with the sump.

If you're really interested in a canister, check out the Rena XP3, it's amazing. 350 GPH, and you could choose the spraybar (my favorite) or single outlet that it comes with. Maintenance is a breeze and they're built like rocks, you won't regret it.

Throw 3 or so boxes of Ehiem Substrate Pro in the top two baskets, keep the double 20/30 ppi foam pads in the bottom basket.
Click to expand...

As far as the xp3 canister goes, i will look into this further but if the xp3 has a basket system surely it can hold far less biomedia than the eheim classics,,? The eheim's look to be a bucket that you literally fill with chosen media, no restrictions, which is what drawn me to them. Is this less of a dis-advantage than i think?
Also i take it you would not run a HOB in sequnce with an xp3 and suggest them quite sufficient alone?


I am willing to put the work into the sump, in fact i would love to, i have a thing for projects great and small XD

I have found a way to mount the syphon lower in the tank safely after much more reading. Firstly fit the syphon to drain from the base, then drill a small hole at the desired minimum water level, thus the air should stop the syphon when the small hole is uncovered. (if you catch my drift)

The only thing putting me off a sump now really is this; if i get an over-powered pump i could end up overflowing the aquarium, big no.
If i get an under-powered pump then the sump 'could' flood if i mis calculate the sump water level, big no.
Also in a power outage even a perfect pump will flood my aquarium when the power returns as it hinges on a syphon.

The only solution i can see to this is drill an overflow, aka square 1 and big no. :(

Disapointed to discover this tonight tbh, i just hope i missed a vital point or misunderstood the workings of sump pumps.
 
quickchange;4432566; said:
As far as the xp3 canister goes, i will look into this further but if the xp3 has a basket system surely it can hold far less biomedia than the eheim classics,,? The eheim's look to be a bucket that you literally fill with chosen media, no restrictions, which is what drawn me to them. Is this less of a dis-advantage than i think?
Click to expand...
The Rena basket system is amazing. Granted, I myself have never owned an Ehiem but I have taken quite a few apart and have heard wonderful things about them. Honestly I don't think you could go wrong either way, I just recently made the switch from Fluval to Rena XP's and I was so impressed I bought another to replace my second Fluval.

I was a bit hesitant about the baskets in the XP at first as well, because in pictures they looked really small. Check out this video, skip forward to 0:55 to see how the baskets work and how large they really are. The canister in the video is an XP3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxkqLzx2UgU

I'd say that an XP3 definitely holds more biomedia than the largest Ehiem you're interested in (the 2217), the surface area the filter provides is very impressive. Hit up a Petsmart or Petco and pull one apart if you're interested in checking the inside out ;)

Also i take it you would not run a HOB in sequnce with an xp3 and suggest them quite sufficient alone?
Click to expand...
Someone else would answer this question better, because I always try to under-stock and over-filter my tanks. I'd personally say it depends on how dirty the fish are. In a large tank you could probably get away with a single canister plus some powerheads to blow the waste in "dead spots" towards the intake. If your fish are rather messy then you may want to look into two canisters or the canister + HOB combo you were considering.
 
Having slept on it i have written the sump off and HOB off, the reinforcements on my tank are going to cause too much problem when it comes to fitting a HOB or Weir for a sump (which was the only way i could see a sump being safe)

I guess this is the price i must pay for having thinner glass and a glass lid, but worth it imo. Guess ill save the DIY for building a 175 Gall Oscar tank when i finnish the attic room XD shucks,,

I have had a good look at the xp3 and i must say, it is a good design, far bigger than a 2217. I reckon this is my best bet by far. If i buy a spare impeller etc that should safe guard me against breakdown problems. It has such a big reservoir at 9 litres it should make up for the lack of aeriation to the bi media (for my tank size at least, but still a guess ofc)

Thanks for the input everyone! Much appreciated :)
 
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