I'm going to bite the bullet and buy a decent filter. I've been looking at tons of filters, and can't decide what to do. Money is a big concern, as I have very little of it to spend. I want to buy the best thing I can get for my money, but at the same time, want to buy something cheap.
Currently I have a 20 gallon set up with two baby senegal bichir, and a gar fingerling (Florida/spotted- too young to tell). I have a 55 gallon waiting for them, as soon as they're large enough to go in. After that, we'll be on to a larger tank (at least a 180, the bigger the better). So, I want a filter that I can use now, but also use later down the road with the larger tanks. This limits my options, but I have a couple ideas, and was wondering what people think about them. Currently I have a marineland 150, with a biowheel. I also have an old large Tetra filter made for up to 75 gallons that came with the 55 I have. That should help a bit with biological filtration in the larger tank, although I'll definitely need more.
I'm looking at the Filstar XP3, because it seems like a really great filter, especially for how much it costs. Would there be a better filter around this price range? Also, does anyone know where the best place to buy this would be? The best price I've found is on Amazon, at $152 after shipping.
Also, I've been thinking about DIY jobs, and I'm wondering if anyone has tried something similar to this- My thought is that the XP3 would be more than enough for me for a while. However, at some point, it's going to be working hard to clean up after larger carnivorous fish. My thought is to completely fill the FX3 with mechanical and chemical media, be it floss or whatever, and completely pass over the biological filtration. Instead of using ceramic or anything in the canister, my thought is to take a length of PVC and fill it with some type of bio-media, be it ceramic rings, bio balls, or scrubbies, and hook it up to the outflow, similar to a spraybar. One end would be capped, and it would have holes drilled in it at various points down the pipe (I'd have to experiment to see what I needed to do to be able to keep the media wet). It wouldn't take any of the force away from the canister, because water would freely run over the media, compared to packing it inside the canister. My thought is to hook this up similar to a spraybar, so that it runs the length of the aquarium up at the surface. Even on a 20 gallon tank, this would mean somewhere around 28" of PVC, probably 3" diameter filled with biomedia.
Any idea on how well this would work? I'd have to figure out how to keep it from drying out in even of a loss of power, but with the drainage holes drilled carefully, that shouldn't be an issue. Would there be a better way to make something like this? My thought is PVC because it's super cheap, and I could simply throw it away, or extend it when I move the fish to a bigger tank.
Thanks,
Ronnie Nocera
Currently I have a 20 gallon set up with two baby senegal bichir, and a gar fingerling (Florida/spotted- too young to tell). I have a 55 gallon waiting for them, as soon as they're large enough to go in. After that, we'll be on to a larger tank (at least a 180, the bigger the better). So, I want a filter that I can use now, but also use later down the road with the larger tanks. This limits my options, but I have a couple ideas, and was wondering what people think about them. Currently I have a marineland 150, with a biowheel. I also have an old large Tetra filter made for up to 75 gallons that came with the 55 I have. That should help a bit with biological filtration in the larger tank, although I'll definitely need more.
I'm looking at the Filstar XP3, because it seems like a really great filter, especially for how much it costs. Would there be a better filter around this price range? Also, does anyone know where the best place to buy this would be? The best price I've found is on Amazon, at $152 after shipping.
Also, I've been thinking about DIY jobs, and I'm wondering if anyone has tried something similar to this- My thought is that the XP3 would be more than enough for me for a while. However, at some point, it's going to be working hard to clean up after larger carnivorous fish. My thought is to completely fill the FX3 with mechanical and chemical media, be it floss or whatever, and completely pass over the biological filtration. Instead of using ceramic or anything in the canister, my thought is to take a length of PVC and fill it with some type of bio-media, be it ceramic rings, bio balls, or scrubbies, and hook it up to the outflow, similar to a spraybar. One end would be capped, and it would have holes drilled in it at various points down the pipe (I'd have to experiment to see what I needed to do to be able to keep the media wet). It wouldn't take any of the force away from the canister, because water would freely run over the media, compared to packing it inside the canister. My thought is to hook this up similar to a spraybar, so that it runs the length of the aquarium up at the surface. Even on a 20 gallon tank, this would mean somewhere around 28" of PVC, probably 3" diameter filled with biomedia.
Any idea on how well this would work? I'd have to figure out how to keep it from drying out in even of a loss of power, but with the drainage holes drilled carefully, that shouldn't be an issue. Would there be a better way to make something like this? My thought is PVC because it's super cheap, and I could simply throw it away, or extend it when I move the fish to a bigger tank.
Thanks,
Ronnie Nocera
