Filter For 190 Liter Tank

[linux442]

Hi All,
I have got 3 fancy goldfish which are relatively small and 3 alge eater which are butterfly plecos in the 190 liter juwel trigon tank.

i bought the aquarium from ebay which came with a hailea 1000l filter which does not have the top nozzle thus if the fish goes in front of the nuzzle, it is blown away which i think could cause strees to them

i also have a interpet 600 which i don't think it is good enough for the tank.

i have two option, find a way and create a nuzzle for my current 1000l heilea or buy another 1000 liter ones.

what do your recommend and if buying a new one , what is the brand and capacity recommended?

is interpet any good?

thanks

 

[minnnt]

The interpet get a bad rep from a few people, never owned one myself though.

An external would be the best option.

My favourite is the tetratec ex1200.

 

[linux442]

i bought the fluvel u4 which looks promising

guys why some people prefer external filter where pretty much an internal one can do the same job at much lower cost

for instance an external good brand for a 200 liter tank will cost around £90-130 whereas the best quality internal filter that could do the same job is around £50 max .

in addtion, i am not sure if external canister type do provide an air stone or any bubbling to oxygenate the water but my u4 does ,

one thing that i am slightly confused on is, i have read on net that bubble doesn't increase the oxygen level and it only circulates the water and pushes it to surface so it can give its deoxide carbon and get o2 but why do you need bubble to do that, would it not be possible to just place my filter all the way in and the outlet that is circulating the water will then pushes the water from bottom to top thus the same thing? in simple word, does bubble create oxygen ?

thank

 

[dbanner]

Externals are more expensive but much better. They hold much more media in them like sponges, bio balls, carbon and so on which is used to trap waste and take any unwanted substances out of the water. Also because of the number of different compartments in an external it gives the user more freedom to set it up as try want or add and remove media as they wish. An external will also free up room in the tank.

An air stone (bubbler) is not needed and basically is only used as a decorative piece. Internals need to be placed near the top of the water so the top valve breaks the surface. This will cause a rippling effect in on the top of the water. Which then oxygenates the water. ( the same as an additional air stone would ). While externals come with a spray bar which does the same thing but with more effect.

Last time I priced a decent sized internal (fluval u4) it was around £40 and looked terrible. Like a big block stuck in the tank. Tetratec do an external filter called an ex1200. (as minnnt mentioned) they only cost £89 brand new and your getting a lot more for your money. They are recommended for tanks between 300 - 500 litres with a flow rate of 1200 lph but with media takes it down to around 940 lph.

I didn't used to like externals either but when you add up the benefits I'd never go back to internals

 

[linux442]

thanks mate.

for a 190liter tank would a u4 be sufficient? by the way how often would you change the water and how much of it ?

i have checked my filter while the tank is cycling and the ammonia and nitrite seems to be almost 0 despite people saying while it is cycling it will always be more than 0.
once cycled i guess you would never need to cycle it again unless you change all of the water and let the filter sit for few days outside the tank thus the bactirias die or when you change filter which i have heared you should cut the filter in half and only change half


one question though, why would you ever need to change the filter as long as they are clean and you can wash it ? does it loose its material which host bacteria ?

 

[big_sw2000]

Im a fan of externals, purley as they dont take up space in the tank. I also have a 190ltr tank, and im running 2x fluval 205 external filters, one is set up with sponge and filter wool to remove particles from the water. The 2nd has bio balls extra, stuff for bacteria to grow on.
Both filers outlets are well below the surface, as i have a planted tank, and dont want to remove to much C02 from the water, and the plant oxygenate the water for me.
I wash my filters out every other water change, but you should only wash the media, in old tank water, as tap water the chemicals will kill off the good bacteria.

Steve

 

[dbanner]

It depends on your stocking levels to whether the u4 will be able to cope. Low stocking you may be fine. It's always advisable to have a filter that turns over 4 times your tank volume per hour. So you'd be looking for something around 1200 litres per hour. This will drop to around 800-900 litres per hour with the media in the filter. It is advised to clean/rinse your media around once every 3-6 months in tank water that you've taken out. This is so you don't interfere with the good bacteria too much.

You can replace some of the media over time. Obviously you replace a little bit at a time so you don't lose any good bacteria. Although your sponges and so on should last you well over a year no problem. People may change a filter if they are having problems with the impeller, if an external gets a leak or if they just simple buy a bigger tank and the old filter is just no good for the increase in water volume

When it comes to water changes, again it all depends how heavily stocked you will be. If your stocking is ok ten generally taking out 30-40% of your water with a syphon (so you do a gravel vac at the same time to remove waste) once every week and then replace with dechlorinated water. If you are heavily stocked you may want to do 2 30-40% water changes twice a week to ensure your levels remain stable.

I just noticed what fish you have and both goldfish and plecs are considered messy fish. Plecs generally produce more waste than they get rid of. If you use an internal filter then with that stocking id definitely say 2 weekly water changes and rinse the filter sponges once every 3 months. If using an external you may be fine with 1 water change per week cleaning your sponges once every 3-4 months

 

[Applecart]

I have a Juwel Rio 180 litre tank running with a SunSun HW302 1000lph external filter ( also sold as All Pond Solutions EF1000 ) and everything is just fine, and I'm fairly well stocked.

You can buy a NEW external filter INCLUDING the media, pipes etc, off ebay for £50 inc free postage.

I'd go with that cheap external over an internal any day ( space permitted ).

 

[linux442]

my tank ammonia and nitrate is low which i guess it suggets that the filter is doing its job and maybe changing once every 10 days should be ok, do you guys agree?

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

I use the TetraTec EX1200 on my 180, it would still be plenty for your 190.

 

[fluttermoth]

All tanks benefit from weekly water changes.

I'm sure you'll have to clean the filter out once a week (at least) as your goldies grow. Those kinds of filter are really designed for small tropical fish, which don't produce anything like the waste that a goldfish does.

That's why most people with goldies do, eventually, go down the external filter route. They just have so much more space for media than any internal filter can.

Your U4 will be alright for the moment as your fish are still quite small, but you should probably think about upgrading in the future. The APS filters are very good value for money; the main gripe people have with them is a big drop in flow rate when they're filled with media, but with fancy goldfish you don't want a lot of current anyway, so that wouldn't be an issue.

What exactly is your ammonia level atm?