Got The Bug! 64L > 110L > 500L......

[Ryan_W]

Sooooooooo,

ND Aquatics shall be making my tank in the next month or so...

It'll measure: 200cm long x 55cm deep x 45cm high. It shall replace both my old tanks and be the new home of all my tropical fish.

Now I'm more than happy with my aquascaping skills and I know what fish I want to stock (I think), but I don't know what filter to go for?! I can't have a sump since I'm not drilling through my granite work surfaces.

I'm guessing an FX-5 is a good shout, but I'm not too clued up on externals, so I'm after your help! I'll be transferring some of my old media to help the cycle along, how long do you think it'll take, couple of weeks?

So excited about this... The misses finally crumbled and I'm allowed a big tank

Cheers all,

Ryan

 

[Westwood]

I have just brought a fluval external canister filter, i couldn't be more happy with it. i would say a FX-5 would be good for your tank, but you could have 2 filters? 2 x 305 ?

 

[chrisrm]

have an FX5 and a eheim 2028 running on a 650l

I think 2 is better than 1 and you can alternate maintaince on them

 

[BigIan]

I`ve got an external from All pond solutions and its sweet as and much cheaper than fluvals ect.

give them a look.

 

[Ryan_W]

Hmmm, FX-5, Eheim 2075 or the Tetra Tec EX2400?.............

I'd rather just have one filter TBH...

Ryan

 

[bullit]

i have two

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

I'd get an FX5 for £137 and an APS 200EF for £75, both off ebay new...

 

[Liam50]

i'd have to say on my 400l i have two. I have an fx5 and an aqua aquis 500. Now i know the aqua1 is way weak and probably just add much to filtration but its just my fail safe with my fish stocking if anything was to happen to my fx5 i know i would still at least one filter running. also i wouldn't buy an fx5 mine has caused me so many issues, its loud, tough to maintain give the position your in i would buy an eheim pro 3 series.

 

[elisew]

Good news on the upgrade

I have a 360ltr tank with an FX5 running on it. My tank isn`t even heavily stocked but I`d say the FX5 is more than enough for it, the water is clean and crystal clear. However, on a 500ltr I would recommend having 2 filters of some sort or as has been suggested maybe a pond solution one? Having experienced the FX5 my choice would be to have 2 of them on a bigger tank but that`s just my personal choice. I`ve found mine to be very, very quiet and have had absolutely no issues whatsoever with it.

If you can transfer the water and all filter media from your old tank into your new one it would really get the new tank going pretty much straight away. I upgraded from 180-360ltrs and transferred everything over in one day and topped up with fresh dechlorinated water because I didn`t have the room to have 2 big (ish) tanks running and I had no casualties with my fish.


In relation to your filter choice, at least if you have 2 running you have the back up of one or the other should anything go t*ts up with one of them

 

[james_fish]

FX-5

James.

 

[always4lora]

you need either a sump or 2 filters, one filter will not do it. On my 450ish litre i use an fx5 and a eheim 2078e running and tbh could do with more.

 

[Ryan_W]

How about 2x FX-5s or a couple of Eheim Pro 3 - 600s?

I'd rather get 2 decent filters than one great filter and an 'ok' filter...

Could I not get 2 filters which were good for around 300L each and run as a tandem pair opposed to one good for 500L backed up by one good for 100L?....

PS: Tank may be a little bigger than before...

 

[kizno1]

I always aim for 10x turn over a hour with big tank. So for a 500l tank your going to want a filter/filters that are doing 5000lph. 2 FX5 would give you 4800lph which would do but thats the least i would go for maybe even another filter ontop of that to be on the safe side. But by the time your running 3 externals it might be just as easy to make a sump and then that gives you extra water volume aswell.

 

[Monty-2010]

Just stay away from Rena! i'm having a world of trouble with them!

 

[Ryan_W]

Hmm, since the filters are going to be on display, the filter has got have a decent design and the aesthetics are quite important. The Eheims are definitely the better looking filter over the FX5, are the Eheim Pro 3 - 600s any good? Is it worth me buying a £300 filter over two £150 filters and hoping for the best?

I know a sump would be best, but the tank will be on a granite work surface in the kitchen and I'm not drilling into it!