i recently purchased a 150 gallon tall aquarium with a stand filtration and decorations all included for $400. i hooked everything up and my tank is up and running with 9 south american cichlids. have 2 emporer 400s with bio wheels running now and was wondering if that was enough? the setup also came with a undergravel filter and a canister filter (rena filstar xp4) that i didnt hook up seeing as how im not too familiar with canister filters. do i need more or am i alright?
is my filtration sufficient
- Thread starter Rdilla4
- Start date
With cichlids the canister is going to be a big benefit to keep water clear and ammonia/nitrates down. It will also depend on how you feed them, what you are feeding them, and water change frequencies. you can always get away with lower filtration if you are willing to change water daily, but canisters are an added benefit to HOB filters. I ran 2 Emperor 400s on 120 with a couple Oscars and constantly dirty added a magnum 350 and made a huge difference to water quality.
i do a weekly 50% water change as well as syphon the gravel every week. the tank has been running for about 2 months and the water LOOKS crystal clear. thats the only reason i never bothered 2 hook up the canister other than the fact that i have NO experience with them. i guess you can never have too much filtration tho right?
I use to run 2 emperor 400's on a 55. I would definitely set up the canister. You maybe doing OK with what you have, but the more the better. And if anything, it will provide more water movement which is always helpful.
Defiantly take sometime and set up the canister, you already have it. The water might be clear now but when those 9 guys get big it will make a big deference. The 2 400s will give you about 800 gph I like to keep at least x10 the filtration ie. On a 150 I would shoot for about 1500 gph adding that canister will get you to that mark. Im new to the hobby so sticking by simple rules like that make it easier for me when setting up new tanks and checking out new filters for different sized tanks.