Best External Filter For A 145 Litre Tank With Sand Substrate?

[gazb5590]

I currently have a 145 Litre tank with a sand substrate of around 2 inches. I've had my tank for around about 4/5 months now and it has still not cycled but I've done a lot of messing about with it and I have only just switched from gravel to sand around 2 weeks ago but 1 of the problems I've got is that I am currently running 2 internal filters which seem to get clogged up very easily so I have to take them apart and clean them around once or twice a week (in water I've taken out the tank). I've recently started doing a lot more water changes and I'm treating the water with Seachem Prime.
I want to take the 2 internal filters out though and switch to an external filter as I think 1 of the reasons for the tank not cycling is down to the filters I'm using but I could be wrong. Either way though I want to switch to a powerful external filter as I currently have 3 plecos in the tank and they can cause quite a bit of mess.

I am thinking about getting a Fluval 206 or even 306 if I can find 1 at the right price but I was just wondering if anyone's got any recommendations or advice on external filters as well as any experience with a Fluval 06 series?

Thanks for reading.

 

[Le0n]

I have a 306, its for my 160l tank. I have only had it for about 3 weeks but so far its performing very well and I dont regret buying it at all The flow is good but not too fast and its very quiet too.

The reason I went for the fluval was because it fits in my stand (it has narrow cupboards) otherwise I would have bought a Tetratec ex1200 which is a bit too wide to fit.

As for your sand, just posistion the filter intake a couple of inches above the sand and turn the filter off when doing tank maintenance to avoid sand being sucked in.

 

[gazb5590]

I have a 306, its for my 160l tank. I have only had it for about 3 weeks but so far its performing very well and I dont regret buying it at all The flow is good but not too fast and its very quiet too.

The reason I went for the fluval was because it fits in my stand (it has narrow cupboards) otherwise I would have bought a Tetratec ex1200 which is a bit too wide to fit.

As for your sand, just posistion the filter intake a couple of inches above the sand and turn the filter off when doing tank maintenance to avoid sand being sucked in.

They're the 2 filters I'm thinking of getting but the price of a ex1200 is quite a bit more than what I've seen for a 206. I've seen a few 306 models on ebay at decent prices as well though so not too sure at the minute. Think it's definitely going to have to be a Fluval or a TetraTec though