Early Filter Upgrade

[DanS]

First off, I'm a "gear" head - i.e. like to get good equipment, new technology etc.

I have a newly set up 60l Tetraart tank with an internal filter, tank cycling with fish at the moment (3 weeks)

The tank came supplied with an internal filter (filterbox 300) but browsing round the net and looking at PFK i'm liking the look of the Tetra EX600 external filters and not so much liking the big black box taking up room at the back of the tank.....

So is it a worthy upgrade or am i just getting the old gear aquisition syndrome again ? and changing the filter would mean losing any bacteria built up ? So should i stop flicking through these internet sites and just continue with what i have?

Just a random shout out here, but how great a resource is the PFK website!? even forgetting the subject its one of the nicest sites i've visited, great for info, old articles, interesting news etc.

Of course this site is great too, lots of knowledge and opinion. Would be completely different setting up a tank 10+ years ago taking all advice from lfs...

 

[rdd1952]

I couldn't find much on the Filterbox 300 but I assume it is rated at 300l per hour which gives you what is generally considered the minimum filtration, 5 times the tank volume per hour. The other filter would give you 10 times the tank volume which is great. It allows you to push the stocking limits since you have so much additional filtration. Is it worth the cost of buying another filter? That's hard to say. It really depends on what type fish you want to keep and the stocking plan you have. With a 60l tank you dont' have a lot of room so big, messy fish like plecos and goldfish are out. Since you are mainly looking at smaller community fish, I don't really think it is worth the additional cost but that's just my opinion. As for PFK, I cant really say as I've never been to it.

 

[scorphonic]

I'd go with the external if I were you but certainly keep the internal in there until you feel that the external filter has enough bacteria in it...so there is no harm in keeping the two running for a while after cycling has finished.

Thats what I'm doing at the moment.

At least that way, if you upgrade the tank to a 100L at some stage the external is still good to use. Just do your best to shop around on the internet, the prices of external filters varies hugely. I'd only spend max 80 euro on the tetratec EX600...so maybe you can find it for a cheaper price...I have seen it lower somewhere.

I say this because I got ripped off...but then again, I live in Ireland...the rip off country of the world where it seems to be OK to charge 100% more than another country due to huge tax.

England is a great deal cheaper so your pretty lucky!!

 

[Yazan]

Internal filter are very good stay with them.

 

[scorphonic]

Internal filter are very good stay with them.

But DanS has already said that the internal takes up space and with a 60L space is precious isn't it? Still internals are good, they just require more maintainance than external filters because of their size!

If you feel that your internal filter will be enough stick with it...I just feel that you cant go wrong with getting an external...nothing better than an over filtered tank!

 

[rdd1952]

I said earlier that I probably won't upgrade because if the type fish you will most likely have. The extra space in the tank that removing the internal would free up would probably be the best reason to upgrade.

 

[for_my_fish]

externals ADD to the total volume of water you have, which will make some differnece stabilising a 60l tank. I'd go with an external, depending on price difference get the ex700 and reduce the output flow with the tap. The ex600 would be fine, but theres only a couple of pounds between the 600 and 700 at some places.

Do some searching on this site you will find plenty of threads on external filters and peoples preferences.

 

[Tolak]

I like messing with upgrades, and a better filter is a good upgrade. You could always take the media from the internal & add it to the new external, this will keep your tank cycled.

 

[DanS]

excellent, thanks for all the responses! A variance of opinion, but i get the idea!

I do like the idea of a better filter, and it would be sufficient for a tank upgrade at some point too. I'll have to chew it over!!

Cheers!

Dan

 

[adamgreen240]

hi m8

i have the tetra aqua art 30!

i absolutly agree with you - bin the internal and get the external

my m8 has the ex1200 and says it is very good - so i assume the 600 will be aswell,

thanks

adam

 

[OohFeeshy]

Plus if you want, you can reduce the cost of the external by selling on the internal.

 

[DanS]

Right i've put a bit more thought into upgrading to an external filter and have come up with the following :

My unit at the moment contains a handy compartment for the heater, so although it takes up a fair bit of room at the back of the tank, I'd still need to obviously keep the heater installed which I don't think would look the greatest.....

I took a look at an installation video of the EX600 and as expected there are two large(ish) pipes that will need to enter the tank, one of which will stretch horizontally across the tank.

Now my tank has a fitted hood - i was gonna post a pic put it seems the options to upload a photo has gone? Sub-question - whats happened to the upload photo options?

So the hood only has a few platic "teeth" as holes that the electrical cables slot through - so how would i fit the pipes into the tank ?

So i'm trying to visualise my small tank with all this equipment..... A stuck on heater, a vertical clear pipe, a long horizontal pipe going across the back of the tank, and suddenly the black box at the back seems far less conspicuous!

Just wondering how i would do it with the enclosed hood though....

 

[for_my_fish]

the heater can be suckered onto the back of the tank horizontally close to the bottom and hidden with plants or rocks.

The intake pipe for the filter, can likewise be hidden. Though its a clear pipe (and mines stayed clear so far!) I have two filters, one I have hidden the intake pipe behind some mopani wood; the other I've not hidden and it doesn't bother me at all.

For getting the the pipes into the tank, you can cut or clip the tank lid (depending on the type of plastic, some likes to be cut, some just cracks when you try). Or depending on the lid just rest the lid on top of the pipes. The second option depends mainly on whether the tank inhabitants like to escape or not!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

if you don't like the idea of equipment in your tank you can get in-line heaters, they clip onto the output from your external filter and sit outside the tank, they are expensive but it depends on what your priorities are really! look into the hydor ones, they are the best make

but yes in general bigger is always better with filtration, you quite often find the filters supplied in 'all in one' packages are the bare minimum for the tank and it's best to upgrade them if you can.

 

[DanS]

ok, i've uploaded the tank pictures to photobucket - here is the corner of my tank

http/s33.photobucket.com/albums/d62/Dann...ilter2Small.jpg

As far as I can see it would take some serious cutting of the hood to fit an external filter. I would have to break out the "teeth" then also cut the section on the pic where the lead runs vertically. That space is also quite small, so i'd need to break out to the left into the area where the light is potentially!! I really like the styling of the Tetra Aqua-art, and am pretty nervous about beginning to cut into the plastic!!

Any thoughts?

http/s33.photobucket.com/albums/d62/Dann...ilter1Small.jpg