External Filter For 200L

[Alm0stAwesome]

Right guys, spill your knowledge forth into this topic!!

And if you can, limit it to that which pertains to external filters. I've been looking at them for about an hour now and my head is spinning. Which one would you recommend? How does this whole external heater thing work, I fancy the sound of that!

I'm no money bags but I'll spend what I need to in order to get a high quality product with nice features

 

[ZoddyZod]

Fluval 305 or maybe the 405. Look for second hand - although new price may be reasonable now due to the launch of the 06 series

External heater is usually positioned into the outlet pipe of the filter. Eheim do externals with heaters already built in - but pricey!

 

[minnnt]

Let's go tetratec, let's go...

You know what's coming mate, lol.

TT 1200 all the way.

What happened to the 'I'm not getting a bigger tank for at least a year?' Lmao! Haha!

I wouldn't run the 305 on the 200, if you do go with a fluval then go with the 405.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Errrr

I may not be getting anything but I am a planner! I do have my eye on a 200L but I'm gonna have to get it for a stupid low price if I'm gonna get it

lol can't believe you called me out like that!!

And yeah I want something that's more than I need so I have the option to stock a bit heavier...

 

[ZoddyZod]

Minnt, do you have a cheerleader routine each time you recommend them?

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Minnt, do you have a cheerleader routine each time you recommend them?

hmmm little skirt, pom poms...

 

[minnnt]

Just the skirt...

 

[ZoddyZod]

*rubs thighs*

 

[minnnt]

Lucky git, mine just chafe when I wear the skirt.

 

[stu40]

blimey
there's an image i've got to lose before bedtime

 

[minnnt]

Fingers crossed then mate...

 

[Juggler75]

TBH there are plenty. Since it will have the betta you dont want a washing machine in there and from what I remember from your earlier posts are not planning on a planted tank? If so then the turnover needn't extreme apparently BTW when people reccomend this 5x or 10x flow for planted is it the advertised rate or the actual rate?

Team tetratec will say the 1200, then you have the eheim or fluval owners who love the brand they use too. They are even some owners of JBL filters who could pop up (sadly not me as my free one from PFK has still not arrived )

On a tight budget? I'm sure one of the APS filters would handle the job and in my experience with them they are silent. The 2000 model for example my dad has got running on his malawi tank is now silent, and even accounting for a huge loss of flow from the advertised rating would be an actual 5x turnover on the tank. I've also seen the 1400 models in action and they too were silent.

I ended up getting some cheap eheim classic cannisters for my tanks from an auction site and am very happy with the results, the relatively high media volume makes up for the faily weak flow (although the 2215 still wafts all the plants around in the 96l tank) and does a good job of keeping the stats in line.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Thanks for your replies. I will be planted eventually - I'm just taking it a bit slow so I better get a filter that will do me for a planted tank as well. I don't think I'll ever have a jungle as I like a more clean cut look...

Yeah I was concerned about blowing the betta around but he's in a filtered tank now and handles himself pretty well - I just need to find the filter that is going to give me the right balance

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Sooo basically there's a lot of good ones out there eh?

What's your view on external heaters?

I've only ever had an internal filter - do I need to get something else that is going to break up the water surface if I get an external? Right now I've got my filter outlet pointing to the surface to move the water around...

 

[Juggler75]

I have the spray bar on the external outlet just under the water surface pointed up at a 45 degree angle so the water ripples the surface travels along the length of the tank down the other side and back along the bottom to the external inlet. That provides all the agitation that the tank needs to keep O2 levels up and keep the worst of the waste in the water column to get filtered out.