This is what I'm looking at...

[Z Trip]

I would like to thank all of you for reading this thread. Hopefully I can get an answer out of this.

So I have this 55 gallon tank I'm starting up. Some of you might have called it the "chocolate tank" but here it is :

The picture doesn't show how bright my light really is but oh well. I think I have to much gravel (is this possible?) Its about 6 inches in the back and on the sides aswell. Down in the middle its about 2 inches deep. I plan on getting more logs and of course, planting the heck out of it.

I'm running a Eheim 2213 on it. I figured this would be fine until I started to think of how many fish I want in this tank. Ive come to the point of just having a whole bunch of small fish(tabboo on this site I know) insted of a couple big ones.

I have some old Aquaclear filters that I could use but heres the deal. Their old and make a rattling or weird vibrating noise that I do not like. However, I bought all of my aquaclear filters used so I do not know their history before me. So I am selling them.

What I'm getting at is if I need a little extra filtration(this is MFK, 100% of you will say yes lol) I was wondering what kind of filter I should buy if so. Should I go with another aquaclear? If I buy a brand new one will it be better and not make noises? Or should I go with something new? I was looking at Emperor filters. I have never used these before and I'm worried that their no good

I made a poll to make this easyer for me. Please post your interesting and usefull comments in the section bellow, I will answer all questions asked

Thanks

 

[hmoobvwj]

Get another eheim or a fluval 404/405/FX5 etc...But I should ask, why have soooo much gravel in there? I would take some out and leave only around 1"-2" of gravel. AND what is the stock of this tank?

 

[Z Trip]

I have alot of gravel because I miscalculated. I was informet that I need a thick layer for the plant roots to grow in and that it should slant from the back down to the front. I added to much, yes I must admit to that, now looking at it, but wont it be good for the plants?

As for stocking, here we go:

8 Sterbas Corys
6 Kuhli loaches
2 angel fish
1 peacock eel
1 gold gourami
1 RTB shark
1 Ram C
1 Crib C
1 Cockatoo C
5 platies
5 mollies
5 swords...

Their is a good chance that some will be subtracted from that list and maybe some wil be added. And yes I do understand that the Angel fish, when fully grown, will eat smaller fish.

 

[Wulfonce]

I have no experience with planted tanks but I do know a bit about the Emperor 400. I've owned one for close to a year and a half now and have had no problems with it (other then the time I dropped it on the floor and cracked the cover).

I run mine on a 90g with only 1 media basket on each side (packed full of carbon) and in place of the other baskets I packed in a whole lot of filter floss. It keeps the water crystal clear.

Oh and they cost so little compared to other filters of the same flow rate.

 

[bob965]

Just use one of the Aquaclears you already have. Try replacing the impeller and see if that quiets it down. Make sure it's not just the lid rattling that's causing the noise. No sense buying a new filter when you probably already have one that will work.

 

[Z Trip]

Just use one of the Aquaclears you already have. Try replacing the impeller and see if that quiets it down. Make sure it's not just the lid rattling that's causing the noise. No sense buying a new filter when you probably already have one that will work.

I threw the lids away a long time ago because of their constant rattling. I will look up the price of a new impeller. If I replace that and it works, that would be great. The only thing I am oncerned about would be the fish getting sucked into the intake. I always have this problem with smaller fish

 

[Matt724]

I think the substrate depth is great, it'll make planting a load easier, but remember that it will take up valuable estate in your tank. you say your tank is a 55 gallon, which means it in actuality is probably in the ballpark of 53-54 gallons when it was empty. the gravel looks to take up probably around 10-20 gallons itself, then the driftwood will take up a few more gallons, then in actuality you only have around 40 something gallons to work with, so you may want to either take out some gravel, or put less fish in (IMO). GL, keep the updates flowing

 

[fish junkie]

Is the substrate plant substrate ? are you adding c02 that will tell you what kind of filter to buy. If you are add an inline reactor to a canister filter if not you probably dont want as much surface aggitation it will slow down the gas exchange and let your plants absorb more of the natural co2 from the tank. Also one ram and one cockatoo or apistograma = one dead ram.And personally id swap out the platies ,mollies and swordtails for some danios they are more active and less likely to get eaten

 

[Z Trip]

Is the substrate plant substrate ? are you adding c02 that will tell you what kind of filter to buy. If you are add an inline reactor to a canister filter if not you probably dont want as much surface aggitation it will slow down the gas exchange and let your plants absorb more of the natural co2 from the tank. Also one ram and one cockatoo or apistograma = one dead ram.And personally id swap out the platies ,mollies and swordtails for some danios they are more active and less likely to get eaten

I don't know anything about CO2 injection. I was planning on the massive about of fish to creat enough waste and CO2 for the plants to intake and thrive.

 

[Z Trip]

Today I cleaned out all my AC filters. I took a look at one of the impeller magnets and insted of a hole, their was like a figure 8 holes.... And I knew that wasn't good. So I took appart another AC 70 and it looked pretty good. So I poped in on the tank and it runs fine, just a whole bunch of clicking sounds coming from it. So I shut it off and looked down at the 110... I figured this is overkill but should try it anyways. It was actually the quietest of the bunch but still made clicking noises too. So this is what I'm thinking : purchase new impellers for my AC filters along with new motors. Technicaly they should run like new again correct? Or do I need to replace the motors if mine are still running fine? Regardless, I'm going to have the AC 70 on the tank when all is said and done, it will just be "re-built".