Aqua Clear 300

[trout]

Hi,
I have just got a 4ft (55gal, 209 ltr) fish tank.
I intend having a community tropical freshwater setup.

The Aqua Clear 300 claims to process 1135 litres per hour.

Is this filter enough or should I look at getting a canister.

Thanks

 

[xXMrBonesXx]

should be i have 1 in my 65 gallon tank and it does a good job ... there made for up to 100 gallon tanks so it should do its job

 

[jimmihendrix]

i gotta auqaclear 300 in my 25 gal. I never knew it was powerful enough for my big 1, cause they are pretty inexpensive. I thought you would need a 500 for that big of tank, but give it a try, might be fine if you dont overstock. On my big tank i got a magnum 350 and aquatech 30-60 on there too for extra it isnt really needed though. All my tanks are overfiltered now, but when i was younger i remembered i had a aquaclear(wasnt as big as my 300 not sure the size) and it kept a 40 gal clean at my parents house, but there were only 3 piranahas in the tank so not much of a bioload. GL and u could always grab a 500 for about 15, 20 more dollars.

 

[jimmihendrix]

k well check this link out. The aqua clear 70 is ur 300. Its called a 300 cause it has a max flow of 300 us gallons an hour. It is good for ur aquarium it looks like though says for aquariums 40-70 gal so ur fine. Guess Im really overdoin it in my 25 gal. http/www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_filter...r.asp?ast=&key=

 

[Fishstix]

I have an Aquaclear 300 and some old Regent filter that i inherited when i got my tank. All this on a 29 gallon. The water stays crystal clear.

 

[G_Sharky]

the AC should be fine in your 55 gal but make sure you don't overstock... I have a 300 on my 33 gal and it's working good, don't have any problems yet considering that i'm overstocked.....

 

[trout]

Thanks for all your help
cheers

 

[yhbae]

It totally depends on your stock. If it is not overstocked it should be ok, but you should watch out for it as you get close to your stock level. Personally, I'd like to see close to 10x ratio (e.g. 55g tank with 550gpm filtering capacity).

My 33g mbuna tank (they are nortorously known to require overfiltering) already has a AC300 and it doesn't appear to be comfortable. I will be adding another AC300 as I add more fishes into that tank.

 

[cometcattle]

When I buy my 55g (hopefully soon), I have it narrowed down to the Aquaclear 500 or the Emperor 400.

On my 29g I have an Emperor 280 and an Aquaclear 200. I also run an Aquaclear 200 on 1 of my 10g tanks.

I like to over-filter.

 

[trout]

Thinking about it, I might chuck in the extra 40 bills and get a AC 500
thanks

 

[cometcattle]

Trout, do you shop at PetSmart?

If so, go to petsmart.com and print up the price of the filter you want. It's much cheaper on their internet site, and they will match the price in-store.

 

[yhbae]

Thinking about it, I might chuck in the extra 40 bills and get a AC 500
thanks

Personally, I think that's a good idea. AC500 does generate alot more water current compare to AC300 so if you have a sand substrate - watch out!

Or even better, you can get two AC300s so that if one fails, your tank will still survive. Understandably, this is a more expensive option...

Just like heaters, it is better to have two weaker equipments (when added up, equivalent output to one strong one) compare to one that generates all the power alone...

 

[Earthgirl]

I have an AquaClear 500 and have had it for YEARS. I didn't use it for 3 years and then started it up and only had to replace the pin in it because it was running (still is) loud.

 

[yhbae]

I have an AquaClear 500 and have had it for YEARS. I didn't use it for 3 years and then started it up and only had to replace the pin in it because it was running (still is) loud.

And I'm sure in 99% of the cases, they will be fine. I've had only one incidence where the filter failed on me - an old AC200 that after the power loss in the house, didn't prime itself up properly hence no filtering. After coming back from work, I noticed it, and started it manually, and no fishes were killed, but if this happened during my vacation, most likely I would have lost all of them in that tank.

But I admit this is not a likely to happen scenario. But for "larger" tanks, I would put more than 1 filter.