<1st Post Bombed> How About " Necessary" Filtration On

[desertrefugee]

OK. Struck out on my first post to this forum. Maybe the second will fare better.

With full-blown MTS underway, I am currently prepping a used 65g for water and an Amazonian theme. The tank cleaned up very well, but has a few scratches near the back that I can hide with floating vegetation.

I have purchased a new Eheim 2215 for use in this tank. I expect to populate with SA cichlids and variants. A large piece of dark African wood is currently soaking in the backyard and still leeching some tannins. I believe it's ready to go. I have about 30 pounds of substrate and some large plastic vegetation. (For now, I'll leave the live plants for the 29g).

My question is this: Will the Eheim alone be sufficient filtration for a setup such as this? I've read some accounts that the canister-type filters, while good, can come up short with regard to biological filtration. It's very difficult to find definitive information on whether I'll be OK going this route.

Comments from the experts would be MOST welcomed. I'm an admitted newbie and have moved awfully fast. I should be cautious as I do not want to get in over my head. I suspect that an underfiltered environment would be a quick way to get into trouble. (And I'm not even sure how I'd identify such a condition).

 

[shrimply]

For large tanks canister filters are the way to go. They hold masses of media and therefore I can't see why they would let you down on biological filtration.

I'd be very tempted to say that the filter isn't big enough, don't get me wrong Ehiem classics are great and the 2215 could probably cope with a tank that size. Personally I'd add a second 2215 or even better a 2217.

To give you an idea, I have a tank that's 48 x 18 x 18 and it is going to planted so does need a slightly higher turn over than other tanks buts its currently filtered with a Eheim 2217 and a fluval 4+ internal. When I have the cash I'll add a second Eheim 2217 and remove the internal.

 

[OohFeeshy]

I would agree- although the media volume is quite large, Eheim definitely overestimate the tank volume they will support. The flowrate is pretty awful for one thing, which given that you're going for an Amazon theme would probably be one of the issues.

Personally I would support it with an internal; I know they aren't the most attractive creatures (although some of the newer ones like the Fluval U range seem to stick out much less) but they give you more flow inside the tank and it's easy to tell how well they're working.