filtration?

[sophie]

if you had a 39 gallon (US) tank with yoyos, kuhlis, harlequin rasboras and a lone female dwarf gourami, who may well move to another tank soon, what filter would you choose, bearing in mind (a) not too noisy and (b) not ludicrously expensive and (c) unlikely to pump the contents of the tank all over the floor in an emergency?

any advice appreciated; I think I'm getting beyond internals now, though I did like the fluval4+ - and I was wondering about a powerhead with a box for media. Biological filtration never seems to be an issue in my tanks - it's the flow I'm wondering about.

I'm a novice at filters.
I'd like to be told!

[adampetherick]

Only a newbie but can't complain about the fluval fx5 so far, tis very quiet and looks well made, only had it for a few days but no complaints so far, got mine for £164 which I don't know if you'd count that expensive or not?

[helen nightingale]

Sophie sorry i cant really comment on filters, as i dont know much either.

do you buy stuff over the internet? i have found aquatics online to be a lot cheaper than other places for more expensive items like filters, or things i often cant get locally. (http://www.aquatics-online.co.uk/default.asp?)

i hope you find something good

[sophie]

Helen - yes, I do buy stuff over the internet if there'sa huge difference in price; if it's only a few quid I go to the lfs, because he'sa Good Guy

fluval fx5 is waaaaaay outside my price range, and I think it might be overkill as well for my tank.
was thinking of maybe the fluval 305 or one of the eheim professionals? not cheap cheap cheap but they look like they'd do the jojb. I'd like to know if anyone has any experience of noise/leakage/pita-ness to start etc...

[Wendie]

I'm running two fluvals on my tank... a 2 internal and a MS2 external. I changed from an AquaClear as it kept tossing water on the floor or into another tank. I can't explain the feeling when you come into a room and see half the water missing out of the tank.

Another tank has a fluval 3 internal and a MS1 external. The smaller tanks have AquaClear's or sponge filters.

[sophie]

ok, so in the end I've ordered a fluval 205, as I was a bt worried about getting a 305 and finding out that it really was overkill - I'd rather have to add another smaller filter than have one which is too big.

it was that or an eheim professional, and as the fluval came with media i went for that one; budget requirements rather than anything else...

so I'm keeping my fingers crossed...

[KhuliKhilla]

i have a Fluval 205 external cannister filter at the moment, also a fluval 3 or something internal. have both as im wanting t be sur the extrnal is fully mature before removing the other. i got mine for £69... 30% off at my lfs becaue they aer lovely people

http://www.seapets.co.uk/product-detail ... y/569.html

they can be gotten cheaper though it seems.

im in love with mine already, very good flow out put and very easy to disconnect and clean out. also handy internal compartments for adding different media types.

no leakage yet.... not like i had with my CO2 cannister thingy, lost half the tank water before i noticed and it was pure luck i woke up at 3am and noticed or else it would have been a nightmare.

le

[Graeme Robson]

Damm, Sophie. I've just sold my 'freebie' Fluval 304 MSF external filter very cheap to a fellow fish-keeper. It was brand new and boxed. £30 as well.

I won it in a Fish photo competition.

Wish i'd seen this thread earlier.

[sophie]

aaargh!

never mind Graeme, this was £52 including delivery, which can't be bad.

leakage.
hrrrm.
I have to say it's the thing that scares me about anythng with a pump external to the tank, but I'm assuming it won't. especially not while I'm away.
arrrgh.

[KhuliKhilla]

if its a huge concern, one trick would be to be sure that the bottom of the inlet pipe is a good few inches above the substrat, or as high as you are happy to have it. in the even of a leak, once the water level drops below the inlet, no more water can leak. so for instance, it its 6" above the substrate, if a leak occurred, you would still have 6" of water which is better than nothing should the worst happen.

that said, i doubt it will happen

lee

[Curtis]

adampetherick - What do you have the fx5 fluval filtering? I'm considering that model myself.

[kimura]

i have had both a fluval 204 and 304 on a 40 gallon and either are fine. i was happier with the 304 and didnt really have a problem with flow rate. best place to find fluvals is ebay in my experience. if you are patient you can find 404s for 100 bucks, 304s for around 60-70 and 204s for 50ish. i got a 304 for 60 bucks including shipping once. buying those retail is rediculous!

[adampetherick]

adampetherick - What do you have the fx5 fluval filtering? I'm considering that model myself.

I've got mine in Vision 450, no fish in yet. I've taken all the foam out of the built in Juwel filter box bar the bottom one and replced the contents with a load of mature media from my LFS to hopefully speed up the cycling process. think it's about 2 litres worth of media and still it's taking ages for the ammonia and Nitrite to go down

[chris1932]

I have two Fluval canisters and I love them. Very quiet. Easy to use and clean. Lots of media versatility.