i hate gravel

[ShipOfFools37]

it might have just been that the gravel wasn't cleaned out enough. I had a problem with that on a smaller tank of mine. I use the pea sized gravel from home depot made for gardens, it's no different than the gravel at the LFS, except it's about 4 bucks for a bag thats probably like 30 or 40 lbs. You just have to rinse it REALLY good. I rinsed mine, thought i was good, put it in the tank and started cycling. two weeks later, still cloudy as all get out. I eventually broke the tank down, re-rinsed the gravel and have yet to have a problem.

my solution, rinse rinse rinse the gravel as well as you can!!

 

[hybridtheoryd16]

using HOB filters on a 180g might have been some of the problem as well. I under stand that the are rated at 500gph and you had 3 of them which gives you a 8x turn over, but A canister or a sump would have been able to filter that tank much better. The idea of gravel for substrate has been around longer than pretty much anybody on mfk. And I myself and millions of other aquarium owners have gravel and crystal clear water.

 

[midasman714]

using HOB filters on a 180g might have been some of the problem as well. I under stand that the are rated at 500gph and you had 3 of them which gives you a 8x turn over, but A canister or a sump would have been able to filter that tank much better. The idea of gravel for substrate has been around longer than pretty much anybody on mfk. And I myself and millions of other aquarium owners have gravel and crystal clear water.

I have gravel and tank is Evion water clear

 

[heavyhitter]

As the tanks get larger 10x turn over I dont think is a nesscity. And in some cases in not even practical.

For a 180 I would highly suggest getting a large canister also in the last stage of your canister you can put a polishing pad/filiment and it will clear up nicely.

Also for what it is worth, I dont believe that those AC's really move 500GPH. Even though I am a big fan of that filter.

 

[Bud8Fan]

The idea of gravel for substrate has been around longer than pretty much anybody on mfk. And I myself and millions of other aquarium owners have gravel and crystal clear water.

I'll second that.

 

[MurderedOut]

using HOB filters on a 180g might have been some of the problem as well. I under stand that the are rated at 500gph and you had 3 of them which gives you a 8x turn over, but A canister or a sump would have been able to filter that tank much better. The idea of gravel for substrate has been around longer than pretty much anybody on mfk. And I myself and millions of other aquarium owners have gravel and crystal clear water.

thats merely what they are RATED at. i dont know about flow rate for HOBs, but i know canisters are usually about half of what they are rated for.

So i highly doubt you could get 500gph unless you removed all media.

i have 2 ac110s and i like them(along with an xp3 and a korilia 4 powerhead on a 75 gallon), but i would never consider running only 3 ac110s on a 180 unless there were very little fish and i would also use a nice powerhead. i would probably run 2 fx5s . or 1 fx5 and 2 ac110s. you could even keep all 3 ac110s and add an fx5 (220 on ebay). you would have plenty of filtration! now the fx5s are rated at 900gph, but only actually produce around 400-500gph.

get an fx5.

also, the ac110s are known for having a lot of bypass. i merely use them as backups, or extra security, i bought just an xp3 for my 75 and it was not near enough even though its rated for 190gallon aquarium!. the 2 ac110s help alot, but if i could do it all over again, i would just get an fx5 and be done with it.

i could have got an fx5 for 220.

i paid 160 for my xp3, and 80 a piece for the ac110s. so 320

it would have cost me 100 dollars LESS to have even MORE flow and filtration (and less bypass) than i do now. But, you live and you learn.

 

[hybridtheoryd16]

As the tanks get larger 10x turn over I dont think is a nesscity. And in some cases in not even practical.

For a 180 I would highly suggest getting a large canister also in the last stage of your canister you can put a polishing pad/filiment and it will clear up nicely.

Also for what it is worth, I dont believe that those AC's really move 500GPH. Even though I am a big fan of that filter.

The 10x turn over is only for HOB filters like the ac110. And that number also has a cushion built in because everyone knows that filter do not move the gph that the box says. The rule of thumb is 10x for hob's and 6-9x for canisters and 3-5x for a sump. Read the filter stickies and do a search for polls regarding this to see.

 

[uncwnells]

how about better filtration on the tank?

 

[hybridtheoryd16]

Everyone has been pushing for a sump or a canister filter instead of any HOb units. So what might you have in mind that is better than a sump and canister?