Question:hi my fish tank holds 190 gallons of water but my 405 fluvel filter is not strong enough to do the job has any one heard of the new hagen fx5 are they good or can any one tell of a good strong pawefull exsternal filter fot that amount of water thanks
Answers:
I would do what Jon V said, and add a second 405. I have not used the fx5, but I hear they are good. If you are concerned about all the pipes that will be hanging down in your tank, you can do what the Europeans do, and link the two canisters. This will not increase flow much, but it will double the surface area for nitrifying bacteria to grow, and it will look like there is only one filter on the tank. Email me if you have any detailed questions about linking canisters.
Hi John,
What I did with my 180 gallon set up was just filter it with 2 Fluval 405's. There are several advantages to using more then one filter, one being that when it comes time to change out the media for regular maintenence, you don't have to change out both at the same time. This way by cleaning just one, you have the other with the beneficial bacteria still intact and can help basically reseed the other filter. Replacing the carbon will have little effect on that, but cleaning out the sponge will pretty much wipe out all or a good part of that bacteria. By using more then one filter, it cuts down the spike amount and spike time in ammonia and nitrite that will follow when you clean them.
I'm sure some others will reccomend sumps, and I have never used a sump myself, but I've heard lots of good things about them. For me I didn't find it feasable to drill holes in my tank to set this up. In my other smaller community tanks, I also use more then one filter for the same reasons I reccomend just getting a second Fluval. Yes I've also heard good things about the hagen fx5, just haven't used it. In either case, getting more then one filter gives you more filtration then the tank size, and has the advantage mentioned above.
JV
Here take a look. This is the set up just after I finished. I have added a few things here and there since then, this was 2 weeks ago. You can't even see the hoses once you add a background.
http://s200.photobucket.com/albums/aa25/...
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