Need some help figuring out filtration. Nothing crazy though.

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XxJokerXx

XxJokerXx

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 23, 2019
23
16
3
30
South Florida
Hello Monster Fish Keepers members, it feels good to be back in the fish tank hobby. I’ve been out of it for a little over 1 year, so I have some new equipment I’ve never used, so that leads to new questions I have floating around in my head. So I just finished setting up my first 55 gallon. I have 1 albino poly Senegalus and 1 regular senegalus. Right now they are baby’s and only the length of some of my fingers. But I know they will grow to be a decent size. I want to add some tank mates in there I was think a gold or blue gourami and 2 German blue rams. But the problem I’m facing with that is filtration capacity. Now, I have a marineland bio-wheel penguin 350 power filter. It’s a hang on the back filter for a 75 gallon aquarium that filters 350 gph. I have two filter cartridges in right now including two bio-wheels and have the option of adding two more cartridges, so I can have up to 4 cartridges in total. Do you guys think I can get away with the filtration with that many fish due to there size and bio load? Aqadivisor.com says I’m good but recommend I need more filtration. But I don’t know if they know about the extra slots in my filter. Thanks for the help in advance. All questions, experiences and answers is very much welcomed.?
 
Hobs for mechanical
Sump or canister (make sure a can is easily accessible so you don't skip maintenance) for biological
On a 55 I would do two medium canisters so you can rotate cleanings (monthly) and have your hob all mech clean weekly as needed as your bio load increases
 
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I don't like to have just one filter. It means mini-cycles when you change the floss/cartridge/whatever.

You can just add a sponge filter and air pump to increase capacity if you feel you need more. Some folks think they are ugly, but I say ignore the gear and look at the fish.

Then, I never clean both filters in the same week. With one always well-populated by bacteria, you won't see swings in the water quality.

If your HOB has several slots, you can just stagger cartridge cleanings to help avoid this. I always did so when I ran HOBs.
 
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I appreciate both your help but celebrist you completely confused me? can you guess help me understand what a HOBs is.

On the other hand I do plane on adding some slow growing plants to the tank next week, such as anbuias, java fern, and maybe java moss, not sure if I want to deal with java mosses mess. I know plants help with ammonia and nitrate so that’s a plus there. I always run extra filters on my tank anyway I have extra 3 extra filters but unfortunately they are in another state I moved from and waiting for them to be mailed down here. Buuuuttt right now I have Living Color LCE 150 sump that I got everything thing for I got it from a guy for free. It needs to be cleaned and possibly needs new PVC pipes. I just don’t know how to set it up and when I look up videos I don’t find much and I don’t want to drill any holes in my tank. I would really like to use it tho. It was originally on a 75 gallon saltwater tank. I tried calling the company but they are out of business so I literally have a sump just hanging out that could be useful but is useless at the moment.
 
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XxJokerXx said:
I appreciate both your help but celebrist you completely confused me? can you guess help me understand what a HOBs is.

On the other hand I do plane on adding some slow growing plants to the tank next week, such as anbuias, java fern, and maybe java moss, not sure if I want to deal with java mosses mess. I know plants help with ammonia and nitrate so that’s a plus there. I always run extra filters on my tank anyway I have extra 3 extra filters but unfortunately they are in another state I moved from and waiting for them to be mailed down here. Buuuuttt right now I have Living Color LCE 150 sump that I got everything thing for I got it from a guy for free. It needs to be cleaned and possibly needs new PVC pipes. I just don’t know how to set it up and when I look up videos I don’t find much and I don’t want to drill any holes in my tank. I would really like to use it tho. It was originally on a 75 gallon saltwater tank. I tried calling the company but they are out of business so I literally have a sump just hanging out that could be useful but is useless at the moment.
Click to expand...
Hob= hang on back. Your penguin is a hob, :)
 
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If I were you I would get some pothos too. They work wonders for nitirite reduction.
 
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