Internal Or External For New Tank

[jaycat]

Hi,
just planning a new rio 180 tank for Discus. It has an internal filter, but not sure whether to take out and have external one. Thoughts would be very welcome as this will be my first time keeping Discus.
If so which ones do you use?

Thanks

 

[rabbut]

I cannot yet call myself a successful discus keeper, but I'll give my thoughts anyway....Ignore them if you whish.

It is best practice to use an exturnal if possible, as these can keep the water quality better than the internals and can run longer without cleaning. They are also more versitle than internals for the media choice available. This said, I know of people running Rio 180's with discus, without having any problems what-so-ever, using just the standord equipment. It is possible to do, but the most commonly advised method is to swap the internal for an exturnal.

I'd personaly run both. The extrunal can do the bio and chemical filtering, and the internal can be loaded with floss for polishing the water.

HTH
Rabbut

 

[ox5477]

as rabbut was implying, water quality is very important to discus as they are very sensitive to chemicals in the water. So what you think may be the best biological filtration is what should be used. But, an external has the distinct advantage of being external. Even though they have tubes that need to be placed in the tank for outputs and inputs, they still take up less room in the tank and are usually less of an optical obstruction. And, if you stragtegically place some plants or bogwood, then you won't even see them

 

[freerunner416]

Yo!!

I have discus. Well did. I recently tried to drop the ph slightly, dropped it too far and killed 4 out of 7. (dont make that mistake)

I use an external filter. I have the big tetratec which way over filters my tank but thats the way you want it.

In my opinion i would be taken as big an external as you can afford and have space for as they are easier to clean and do a better job and free up space in the tank and give you a bigger capacity. But hey its your choice!

 

[Evad]

I won't argue internal vs. extrernal - but I will tell you that if you have a big tank with nice expensive stuff in it - you should always have TWO filters. That way if one breaks down, or if you need to clean one out - the media in the other filter can keep the load stable while the cleaned filter recovers.

I am a big fan of redunancy when I have lots of expensive stuff in my tank.

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

Personally, externals are the way to go, I have a Aquaclear 70, and a Liberty 50 on my 50 gallon, and does the trick! I think that the main key is to have the tank over filtered (but with as little current as possible), and reliable filter(s)!

 

[jaycat]

Hi everyone,
thanks to everyone for your opinions. I shall be opting for an external filter for my new tank. I may well keep the internal one going also.

Thanks again

When I'm setting up I'll be asking what your favourite ones are.