pickin the tank up Saturday and need to buy filter and heaters

I'll just get couple of heaters and see how I get on, but what filter would you recommend taking into account that I am skint!!! lol

I would go for a sump, I imagine this would be cheaper than alot of canisters as well.

If you wanted canisters though and are on a budget I would suggest eBay, but really fitrations probably the one area where you can't cut corners when it comes to messy fish.

Sumps aren't always too cheap. Once you factor in buying a decent pump to push water up the 1.5 to 2 metre head, the drilling, all the pipework, the sump tank itself and the media, you will start to be running close to a decent cannister such as an Eheim.

Obviously a sump gives some good options. If you are going with a load of big fish you can have a bottome fed weir to save on substrate cleaning (stuff along the bottom is pulled towards the weir) and a wet dry trickle tower offers the bacteria something like 800 to 8,000 times as much oxygen as submerged media.

Either go all out and get an Eheim Pro 3, or cheaper option is a Fluval FX5. Or you could get two smaller filters like 2x Eheim 2217 or 2x Fluval 405.

cheers for that. been checking on the price of these on ebay now. I've got a period of time to set tank up anyhow so will keep an eye out for these .I've got oe external on another smaller tank which I will probably fit for now and use a spare internal on the smaller tank and then chuck a fluval fx5 on my credit card

I used to run my 66x30x24" with two Eheim 2217's and never had any problems with the filtration.

teratec ex 1200 is the best value for money 70 quid delivered to your door {charterhouse aquatics online} it performs as good as any of the others for less money, crystal clear water with no algae.

id go with a eheim pro3 2180 thermo with built in 500w heater,everything you need running off 1 socket
or on a tight budget 2 x 2217s and 2 x 300w internal heaters

But they dont have the proven reliability of Ehiems, which for a tank of that size i would definitely want.

I've been having a good read up so cheers for all that. probably going to get a fluval fx5. seems to be the better value and reviews seem favourable for lot less money than pro 3

i have been running the tetratec ex 1200 for a while now on a fully stocked 300 ltr coldwater tank, 2x7inch weather loaches, 2x9inch comets, 3x 8inch shubs, 2x5inch golden sucker loaches and it performs absolutely amazing, quiet, powerful and crystal clear water, as i said you will not find a better filter for 70 quid.

the fx5 is cheaper but you will pay more for it in the long run
in the reviews i read the pro 3 beat the fx5 in almost all aspects

Thats fine on a tank with Goldfish, but when its going to be a tank with Tropical's which can cost substantially more than a hybridised goldfish, i would want reliability over "cheap and cheerful" The Filter is the next most important item after the tank itself. This is something you do not want to save cash on.

Run 2 Tetratecs, that is going to be more reliable than any ONE other filter, even the holy Eheim

tetra are a top brand in fish care weather they are tropical or coldwater and that is why the tetratec comes with a 3 year guarantee

This post has been edited by barbo: Mar 14 2008, 02:30 PM

The tetra filters just haven't been on the market long enough for people with expensive livestock to put any trust in them, maybe in a few years if they have proved their pedigree to be as good as Eheim people will think differently but until then when people are spending over £100 on each fish most will choose to put their faith into a brand with 20 years of reliability behind them.

I have a tank that's 60"W x 18"D x 26"H that I have african cichlids in and I have two eheim pro II 2028's on it along with a sponge filter rated for 30 gal. tank( for an emergency or when I need the fry tank...i can take it from there! ) I know the sponge filter sounds funny! LOL

The eheim brand has be recommended to me all over the place. I got mind second hand for 1/2 price. The only things I needed to replace were the suction cups(about $3 for a couple) and 1 oring that was $12. They're running awesome now and they are a few years old! Not bad, I'd say! Yea...if you watch ebay or put wanted signs in your LFS if they let you and watch the paper....just basically watchin for people that want to get out of fish keeping, I guess...Good Luck!!! Oh and my filters were run on saltwater before I got them....I was told of TFF to wash them out good and they'll be just fine! Plus, with having more than one filter, maintenace shouldn't be as big of a deal...(since there's still bacteria in your other filter).....Just some ideas for ya!

Hi I got a big Resun UV filter. Its been working spot on so far and fish seem happy, my only complaint is due to way the glass is made the inlet and outlet pipes look a ittle akward and the flow is too strong!!!