Filters, Got A 250L Tank Looking At Options

[cynic]

It may well be a well worn topic to the old sweats and for that i appologise, i have just collected the new tank. A good week or more earlier than i expected to .

Pushed things along a touch so i need some guidance as i now havent the time to delay.

Filter options for the tank, according to the folks that built it it is 240L(water) 265L total tank volume. I have been tracking a couple of fluval305's on the bay. Thing is with postage most of them are costing around 50 notes some more. I know the 305 has been superseeded by the 'originally' titled 306 but 305's are still out there for 77quid deliverd.

The other issue is reliability of course, ebay purchases..... what if etc, could you bring nasties to a tank from a second hand filter? aside from obvious mechanical failure.

Am i missing other options, the wife and I are looking at cory's, although clown loaches appeal too once we have decided that other fish will follow to suit/co-habit with those, will this affect the filter choice.

Thanks for your time...

 

[minnnt]

TetraTEC ex1200

Your tank may be a bit small for clown loaches.

 

[cynic]

I had a feeling they got big, i noticed them when we picked the tank up, the ones they had were around 5inches long. The cory's are the more likely candidate TBH.

 

[laura120381]

+1 minnnt. the TetraTEC is a great filter. sorry but i also agree that your tank is too small for clown loaches. these are very sociable fish that like to be kept in large groups and can grow to a significant size. in a 250l though you could have a nice big group of corys. you could perhaps even have more than 1 species depending on what other fish you are keeping (remember to keep each species in groups of 6+ though). in my opinion, they are more entertaining than clown loaches anyway and as they do not do the whole 'playing dead' thing that clowns do, the risk of serious panic is greatly reduced!!!

L

 

[minnnt]

+1 minnnt. the TetraTEC is a great filter. sorry but i also agree that your tank is too small for clown loaches. these are very sociable fish that like to be kept in large groups and can grow to a significant size. in a 250l though you could have a nice big group of corys. you could perhaps even have more than 1 species depending on what other fish you are keeping (remember to keep each species in groups of 6+ though). in my opinion, they are more entertaining than clown loaches anyway and as they do not do the whole 'playing dead' thing that clowns do, the risk of serious panic is greatly reduced!!!

L

Yep... Cory's all the way Clown Loaches look mint when small, when fully grown i think they're ugly!!

 

[cynic]

Why a fan of the tec then, benefits?

 

[Aquamaniac]

I have a 240 Litre tank. I am currently using a fluval 305. It's not doing a bad job at all,but i'm gonna add a eheim 2215+ to optimize efficiency. But i have no complaints with the 305.
Also had a 204 second hand on another tank and i had no problem from it being second hand. As long as it works properly,no problem should come from there.

 

[laura120381]

yeah minnnt definitely!! i had a friend who kept clown loaches and they were huge ugly things!! i think my exact words were 'thats not a fish! thats a dog!!' lol.it is a shame that so many lfs sell them for community tanks though...they usually sell them when they are babies and they either outgrow the tank very quickly, die of loneliness or have shortened lives due to stunting of their growth.

cynic - i have found tec filters to be efficent and value for money. they are pretty dependable and well made.

 

[minnnt]

I have had a 205 and 305 and both are noisy. The 205 especially, not even after a year old. The 305 was second hand though so can't really complain about that one. Both came with less than required media. Half full baskets etc. Fluval are tight with the media they include as they want you to be spending another £20 on top of the cost of a filter. TetraTEC filters are crammed full of media. Everything you need from rings, balls, sponges, carbon and filter wool. The flow is excellent too. Quality of the product is far superior to the rather plasticky feel of the fluval 05 models. They're also usually cheaper if you're looking at second hand too. 3 year warranty, parts seem cheap, great customer service.

 

[cynic]

Fair enough, thanks for the info i'll search out the tec then.

 

[minnnt]

Also look into eheim too, but theyhold their value well. No experience of them, but they have a good following. I believe some of their designs are a bit dated but never got changed as they work... don't fix what isn't broke so to speak.