Rena XP 3?

[12 Volt Man]

I think the XP3 will do exactly as you want it to do - not clog nearly as quickly.

I added an XP3 to a 90 gallon tank with two 18 inch fish because my AC110 was clogging itself so much in the course of a week the basket was pushing itself up.

the rena XP3 allows me to go several weeks in between cleanings because there is about 3x the amount of filter media in an XP3 as there is in an AC110.

that and the pump is more poweful, so the water gets forced through the media even when it is a bit dirty.

I would go for it. and use the powerjet nozzle attachment for better surface agitation and circulation

 

[Acer]

It is a 55 gallon tank with one AquaClear 610 (50g) and a Whisper Power filter 60.

I'm not a fan of the Whisper filter, but it came stock with the aquarium I bought, so I kept it. Lots of overflow with it.

There are 6 goldfish in it, so it is either max. stocked/overstocked, depending on your mentality. They are still small for the most part, so no problems yet:
- 1 ranchu: 2"
- 1 calico fancytail: 1.5"
- 4 black moors: 3.5-4.5"

I do a 20% water change weekly, and the nitrates are usually 5-10ppm, so I'm good in that respect.

I like the idea of running the AC strictly for mechanical filtration and throwing the biological filters into the XP... I was thinking about that last night.

Thanks guys! I think I'm going to pick the XP 3 up next week and use it with the AC. I like the idea of water HAVING to go through the filter media, instead of bypassing it... and yup, I'll use a prefilter. I had them on my AC and Whisper (b/c of a mystery snail getting stuck in the intake once ), and they got gunked up fast.

When I do my water change tomorrow, I'll look at what is clogging it; see if it is brown or not.

Thanks again! I'm glad I found this forum - it is really active and full of helpful people!