Filter Upgrade?

[Jonno]

Hi,

I have a Juwel trigon 190 but the standard filter/powerhead which i have found to be pretty crappy, so i'm thinking of upgrading to an external one.

Can anyone tell me what i should be looking for in a filter, and perhaps some recommendations? I have heard that Eheim ones are good? Is it possible to buy a TOO big filter, or is it the more litres an hour the better? I'd also like to increase filtration so i can have more fish.

Thanks!

Jonathan.

 

[Colin_T]

Eheim are very good filters. They have been around for years and generally never have a problem. However, having said that I recently found out Eheim made an external filter that has a sump in it and surges large amounts of water for a bit then slows down. These particular filters are crap. But the normal Eheim external power filters are very good.

You can have too much water movement if the filter is too big but water flow can be directed into the side of the tank to reduce the flow in the tank. A bigger filter holds more filter material and won't need cleaning as often. It will also allow more fish to be kept in the same tank compared to a smaller filter.

Do a partial (25-30%) water change every couple of weeks. You should really monitor the nitrate levels in the tank and do water changes when the levels exceed 20ppm. Try to clean the filter about once a month to keep it in top condition. Don't forget to wash the impeller and housing to prevent undue wear. Filter materials should be washed out in a bucket of tank water.

 

[SJ2K]

Eheim and Tetra are 2 popular brands you'll do fine with either of those, try to get a LPH around 5x your tank volume, so around 1000lph should do nicely a little over wont hurt either, so the tetratec ex1200 is 1 good option.

 

[-SPB-]

I've just purchased the tetratec ex1200 form thelivingseas. They have an offer on where it only costs £59.99. It's the cheapest on the net, others on ebay are selling this model for £110. I have found it a very good filter, loads of media, easy to setup very good value for money. The site is www.thelivingseas.co.uk

My tank is roughly 300l, and i'm running 2 filters, the rena xp 2, and the tetratec 1200. These combined on full power kick out roughly 2200l per hour and my tank has benefited greatly from it, great water quality and less bits in the water, which means happy fish. I don't think you can get to much filtration, just the water flow from the filter outlet can get to powerfull for your tank, this can easily be solved by spraybars, or pointing the outlet nozzle to the side of your tank to disperse the power of the water flow.

 

[SJ2K]

See, popular I run 2 eheim filters on my tank (1 internal and 1 large external), no complaints about that brand either all depends on your budget.

 

[Darkstar]

As everyone has said so far stick with Eheim or Tetratec and you'll do fine. I've got 4 eheim externals on the go and have never had a problem with any of them. Don't get a fluval though...awful imo.

 

[mark7616]

The 05 range of fluval and the fx5 are not awful not by a long shot.