Filtration for my 50 gallon Mbuna

[yvez9]

All right, i set my mind to a 50 gallon Mbuna.

I'm still hesitating between using the gravel the guy gave me with the tank or using sand and keep the gravel for other tanks...

anyway. I have an aquaclear 300 right now setup on it. The guy gave me a bio=-life filter with it but frankly, it looks awful in the tank so I'd much rather go with a canister filter.

I was looking at fluval and eheim filters. I've never used any kind of canister filter before nor do i know anyone who has one!

Which would you recommend to filter this tank along with my aquaclear? It is currenlty rated at 300 gph so that's a turnover of 6 times per hour. i doubt it would be enough for mbuna right?

Finally, would i require additional powerheads?

 

[jflowers]

mbuna lakes go through tides just as the sea does so a good flow is required. Can you run the filters you got and the external? (ehiem pro's would be good if they are in your price range, you pay for what you get and ehiems are expensive but good quality) I am not familier with aquaclears, get sand if you like it, much better IMO.

Additional PH's are needed to simulate the living conditions these fish come from.

Jon

 

[yhbae]

I'd go with your AC300 and one of the canisters. I'd recommend either Eheim 2217 or Filstar XP3. You should choose these over Fluvals. With this combo, your tank will be well-filtered and you won't need to worry about filtration in the future even with a overstocking practice in a typical mbuna tank setup.

 

[yvez9]

thanks
i took a look at big al's and i can get the eheim 2217 for 199.99 CDN, the 2215 for 149.99 and the filstar xp for 149.99.

It says the xp3 is rated 350 gph, the 2217 is 264 gph and the 2215 is 164 gph.

am i better off with the xp3 since it is less expensive and provides more waterflow? or is the 50$ difference for the eheim worth it?

 

[yhbae]

thanks
i took a look at big al's and i can get the eheim 2217 for 199.99 CDN, the 2215 for 149.99 and the filstar xp for 149.99.

It says the xp3 is rated 350 gph, the 2217 is 264 gph and the 2215 is 164 gph.

am i better off with the xp3 since it is less expensive and provides more waterflow? or is the 50$ difference for the eheim worth it?

2217 is reported to be slightly quieter (although XP3 is also much quieter than typical power filters such as Aqua Clears) and in the long term, Eheim might also last longer. Both owners seem very satisfied from what I have seen so far.

You shouldn't be paying too much attention to the flow rate in these filters as their philosophies are different - Eheim likes slower flow to give bacteria more time to convert those bad bacteria. I guess both methods works.

I am also located in Canada, and I almost always order from US. Shipping is rather expensive, but it still coms out significantly cheaper if you order enough supplies, especially with the current exchange rate. Why not look into www.petsolutions.com?

 

[yvez9]

thanks alot for the info
i checked out pet solutions and their 2217 comes up about 60$ cheaper than at big al's, shipping included!

I'll check it out some more to see if i need something else

 

[yhbae]

Good luck!