6Ft Aquarium, What Filter Is Best?

[herbie76]

Hello everyone, im planning on buying a new 6x2x2 tank and will be keeping cichlids in there, the problem is i want to get the filtration right first go. im thinking of going for a fluval fx5, would 1 be enough? Also, could i opt for a sump instead or are they used only on marine? ive never had a sump so dont have any knowledge of them, any advice and suggestions would be greatly appreciated, lastly can anyone recommend a good priced 6ft tank and cabinet, ive had alook on the net and the price varies quite abit, thanks

 

[Spishkey]

i have 2 x 6ft tanks. one for cichlids one for a tropical community. the tropical community tank was powered by a fluvel fx5 but i found it noisy and didnt do a good job for me, it was 2nd hand so i dont know if something wasnt quite working right but i replaced it with a aqua-pro 4 and am very happy with the job that does.
the cichlid tank has a homemade filter (made from a 200L water butt)
it did have a sump filter but this burst flooding my fish room so needed a quick replacement. i threw a large pond pump in the bottom of the barrel, covered this with a plastic sheet with holes in for the water flow. then in layers i used fine grind, lava stones, ceramic noodles, and white filter wool. oh yeah and some pond plants to make it look pretty (and the roots do an excellent job of filtering the muck out)
it has to be the best filter ive ever had(!) ive had it two years now and not yet cleaned it out fully. have rinsed out the white wool now and then but for the rest..water stats are perfect (must add this tank is home to 2 incredible messy oscars, a huge 60cm+ plec, 5 red clawed crays and about 10 other cichlids )

 

[herbie76]

Thanks for the quick reply, your water butt filter sounds good, low maintenance is always nice. how do a sump actually work ? i presume it would be better to have a tank with a hole drilled in it rather than go over the side of it

 

[OldMan47]

There is really nothing better than a sump arrangement for good filtration. With that said, I have never been tempted to buy a tank for use as a sump. The size of a sump for a tank your size would be very large, a good sized aquarium would be needed. That leaves us with the largest of the canister filters if you want all of the filtration in one filter. At around 180 gallons, you would need something along the lines of a 50 gallon tank to use as a sump or a very large filter, like the FX5 as a canister. My own preference for the Rena XP product line does not make me think a single XP3 would work and I have been warned off the XP4 by people that I trust. In that tank I would probably be looking at using two of the XP3 filters or finally taking a chance on the Fluval filter.

 

[tonyp5467]

im currently running a hozelock bioforce 4500 pond filter and 3000 l/p/h submersible pump on my 6'x2'x2.5' oscar tank and that does a good job in my opinion i also use a fluval 4+ to help circulate the water round the tank

 

[lexusalan1]

it just so happens that i will very soon have a 6ft tank, stand and hood for sale. im asking £300 for it if your interested

 

[kaivalagi]

I would go for 2 identical canister filters, having 2 limits risk and spares are usable on both. As for make and model you need to decide, too many mixed opinions on here

I personally think any of the below makes are worth considering:

• Fluval (only fx5 though and 2 might be too much depending on what you want circulation wise?)
• Tetratec (ex1200 or ex2400)
• Ehiem (a big enough model, not going to quote models)
• All Pond Solutions (cheap, a little flimsy but come well recommended for the cash outlay)

As for tanks I would consider a ND Aquatics or Seabray tank...

 

[herbie76]

where abouts are you, if you are around the norfolk area i would be interested in having a look at the tank

 

[kaivalagi]

where abouts are you, if you are around the norfolk area i would be interested in having a look at the tank

Norwich based, although I am working away from home a lot these days, might be easier to take a few pics at home this morning before I head off this evening...

Swallow Aquatics stock Seabray and will have some tanks in stock to look at, the East Harling branch is where I got mine from.

edit: pics below:





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