Best Filter For A 6 Gallon Tank?

[sammydee]

Hiya, I was recently given a six gallon tank that came with heater, air pump and light. I want to set it up as a tropical tank. I've had quite a bit of experience with tropical fish, I used to keep two twenty gallon tanks. One was tropical freshwater, I used an internal fluval canister filter. The other was a marine tank, I used the berlin method and had no filter, just a load of live rock and powerheads. Both worked very well.

What kind of filters are usually used for small tanks like the six gallon that I have? I'm tempted to try an undergravel filter because the simplicity appeals to me and they're very inexpensive. I do have a maxijet 400 powerhead that I could conceivably use, would I be able to do something with that. I would also like to have quite a few plants in this aquarium so perhaps an undergravel filter isn't the best option?

Ideas?

Sam

 

[loraxchick]

make a sponge filter. easy and very effective.

 

[three-fingers]

Personally, I would go for a small canister filter and use a spraybar to diffuse the flow. Something like a Fluval 105, Tetratec ex600 or Eheim 2213/2222 would be perfect. Canister filters are great since they can go for such a long time without cleaning - especially on a small tank. You would probably only need to clean it once a year or even longer, but of coarse it's good practice to open it up and check the impeller and lubricate the o-ring every 6 months or so.

They would also give a very high turnover rate on that size of tank which would be excellent if you want to keep plants and avoid algae .

The other best option if you are going to have plants is an internal powerfilter, which would be perfectly fine but would just require more cleaning and would take up more space in the tank.

Undergravel filters are OK, but not as many people use them these days. Your correct in thinking they don't work to well with plants, though I used one for a few years with Java fern and it thrived (because Java fern doesnt like being planted in the substrate too much, the flow of water from the filter over it was good).
The main downsides to them IMO is they need cleaned out completely every one or two years - and this means ripping apart the tank.

 

[sammydee]

make a sponge filter. easy and very effective.

Actually I was the one that posted the five minute sponge filter diy article here, a long time ago .

I don't have any fish food pots to hand (at university now) and I wanted something a bit more discrete than a plastic drinks bottle or similar. Also, I'm not sure how much biological load those little sponge filters can reasonably handle.

 

[tom_os]

if you want interal filter i would go fluval 1+

 

[sammydee]

Personally, I would go for a small canister filter and use a spraybar to diffuse the flow. Something like a Fluval 105, Tetratec ex600 or Eheim 2213/2222 would be perfect. Canister filters are great since they can go for such a long time without cleaning - especially on a small tank. You would probably only need to clean it once a year or even longer, but of coarse it's good practice to open it up and check the impeller and lubricate the o-ring every 6 months or so.

Those all look a bit expensive if I'm honest. I'm on a student budget here. If they were about £40 I might consider it but £60 is too much to justify for a filter.

The other best option if you are going to have plants is an internal powerfilter, which would be perfectly fine but would just require more cleaning and would take up more space in the tank.

I've had internal power filters before, the fluvals etc, I found those an absolute pain in the backside to clean out, and it had to be done horribly often.

Undergravel filters are OK, but not as many people use them these days. Your correct in thinking they don't work to well with plants, though I used one for a few years with Java fern and it thrived (because Java fern doesnt like being planted in the substrate too much, the flow of water from the filter over it was good).
The main downsides to them IMO is they need cleaned out completely every one or two years - and this means ripping apart the tank.

I'll rule this one out then I suppose.

Maybe if I can find a cheaper external I might pick that up. I'd like a HOB really but they're hard to come by in the uk.

Sam

 

[three-fingers]

I would use the powerhead along with the 1+ if you want to go with that (for the extra turnover).

Personally I'd use a 2+ if I was to go via the internal route. I have a 2+ on a 5gal and don't like having to clean it out every couple of weeks .
That's a very heavily stocked tank though...

 

[loraxchick]

there was a good thread here the other day about making a filter out of a water bottle. also as easy as having made a sponge filter. really all you'd need is a powerhead. probably have all the other bits laying about.
having made sponge filters myself for my 6 gal., which houses a betta and a few cories, i have never seen any amonia or nitrite (i used mature media to build it). i personally think it's all you need. and they are so small and simple that if you are really "worried" it can't cope, make two...just a thought.
good luck.

 

[tom_os]

if you want a hob get this

http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=270371944063

i have it and its great

 

[three-fingers]

HOB's are OK, you you'll want to mod it to get the most out of it.
Like adding filter hose/pipe to extend the intake to the other side of the tank to actually get decent circulation. And also to extend the outflow to stop the waterfall affect causing surface agitation and gassing off CO2 if you ant better plant growth (you could get away without that though).

You can get an Eheim 2213 for under £40 inc. p&p here: http/www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/fish/filters...ers/eheim/13352

And the Fluval 105 is only about £6 more on that site: http/www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/fish/filters...ers/hagen/37137

Tetratec ex400 is less than £1 pricier: http/www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/fish/filters...rs/tetra/114872

Eheim 2213 is excellent, but pretty fiddly to get started and maintain (which you wont be doing often though). Eheim Classics have an excellent (the best) reputation for reliability.
The Fluval 105 is easier to maintain, more and not as simple in construction which means they don't have the same reputation for reliability though, look after it and it will serve you for years. Same goes for the Tetratec. Both great filters.

That website also sells HOB's: http/www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/fish/filters...ers/eheim/19456. But you will have to mod them to get similar performance, spare parts are harder to get at LFS's and since they are so cheap, psotage isnt included with them.

 

[sammydee]

Thanks, I will try and find a used eheim 2213 on ebay.

Sam

 

[sammydee]

Thanks, I will try and find a used eheim 2213 on ebay.

Sam

Well my eheim 2213 arrived today. It's HUGE. About three times as big as I expected. It's literally almost the size of the entire rest of the tank. Are you sure this isn't overkill?

Sam

 

[jmkgreen]

Well my eheim 2213 arrived today. It's HUGE. About three times as big as I expected. It's literally almost the size of the entire rest of the tank. Are you sure this isn't overkill?

Sam

I'd say it was on a tank of that size. 6 Gallons is less than 30 litres (presume that's without water displacement). That filter is officially rated at ten times that capacity. One might argue it may lead to over-filtration if that's possible.

 

[Just_Another_One]

I use Elite Mini's on my two small tanks. 5 gallons and 6 gallons.

There cheap little internal filters. Mine was around $11 I think. They hardly take up any space in the tank.

It keeps the water crystal clear but I just have 1 betta in each so not much bio-load.

 

[three-fingers]

Not overkill at all . Will give far more media volume than you need for that size of tank, but that only means you don't have to maintain it as often. You'll want to check the filter out once or twice a year anyway just to be safe though.

As for the turnover rate, it will be perfect if you want plants and to make sure waste actually gets into the filter.

No such thing as over-filtering . If you find the standard outlet is making too much localises current, DIY a spraybar by poking holes in some Eheim tubing (I used a screwdriver heated up on a flame for this). This will give a a much more gentle flow while circulating water round the tank much better .

You can buy spray bars too, which may look neater but they around £7.

But I have the same turnover rate right now on a 25L tank and find it's great and the fish love it (but it's an internal filter that I have to clean out very often).
I also have a higher turnover rate on my shrimp tank using an external and it's brilliant in there too.

My Elite Mini needed to be cleaned out every 1-2 weeks when I used it on a planted 2.5gal fry tank, and when I used it on my 25L tank I had loads of dirt lying on the bottom and algae. It's OK if your not into live plants and you don't mind weekly maintenance of the tank and filter, but I would always go bigger.