Fitlers....

[Spooky76]

Hi Guys,
I have used the forum berfore but lost details
I am just wondering what you all think about internal / external filters. Obviously its nicer to not have it in the tank, but does it actually make any difference to the quality of the water ? Currently I have a flugal 3 filter and seperate heater for tropical fish. I mostly have tetras, pleccy, louches, catfish, guramis etc.
I presume I would need to get a sump and pumps for external filtering ?
If you could let me know I would appreciate it.
Ta

 

[jarcher1390]

Hi Guys,
I have used the forum berfore but lost details
I am just wondering what you all think about internal / external filters. Obviously its nicer to not have it in the tank, but does it actually make any difference to the quality of the water ? Currently I have a flugal 3 filter and seperate heater for tropical fish. I mostly have tetras, pleccy, louches, catfish, guramis etc.
I presume I would need to get a sump and pumps for external filtering ?
If you could let me know I would appreciate it.
Ta

Basicaly i dont make that much different to the water quality but u can have it bigger on an external filter as ur not limited on tank space. u dont need a sump and pump an external canister filter from ehiem or fluval the cheaper 1s but not as good quality. To tell ya exactly what size filter is hard as we dont know what size tank u have got.

 

[newtotropical]

If you can go external, as jarcher says you can filter much bigger volumes than with an internal. Also you dont have to look at it in the tank! They are very easy to use, you dont need a sump & the pump is in the filter unit.

 

[Spooky76]

If you can go external, as jarcher says you can filter much bigger volumes than with an internal. Also you dont have to look at it in the tank! They are very easy to use, you dont need a sump & the pump is in the filter unit.

Hey guys, thanks. The tank is 3ft long, 1ft deep, 18" height.
Thats good, I might look into that. Does the filter really make that much difference ? I am having ich problems atm, not sure if a larger filter would help ?
thanks again.

 

[QuotheRaven]

The better the water flow per hour the better if I remember a decent filtration is 3-4 times the volume of the tank per hour flowing through the filter. A external is better as they are easier to clean and maintain maintenance aswell as they usually have a better flow rate and can be hidden so there isn't a huge filter in the tank but a mere spray bar and suction pipe.

The filter contains the majority of the beneficial bacteria which builds up in your cycle. There are some amounts of bacteria in the subrate and areas of the tank but the overwhelming "goodness" is in the filter which breaks down fish waste and food so you have zero ammonia and nitrite so the filter is definately needed in a Tropical tank however the jury seems still out in a salt water tank with sufficient live rock.

 

[SuperColey1]

Maybe I'm a cheapskate but I have a Fluval3Plus in my overstocked 125Litre, and it does a sound job (alongside the plants)

I clean the pads once a week at water change time (in the water I remove)

Only problem is sometimes you have to start the filter running before reconnecting the cannister or the impellor gets stuck

Never gets clogged up though and my Ammonia and Nitrite 0

To be honest I don't see why there are so many gripes about Fluval Internals.

The left hand back corner has the Filter and Heater (Both in Black) plus my CO2 ladder and Right Hand Back Corner has the FrF UV. Both are hidden behind the plants, and even when not aren't really that noticable.