Internal Vs External

[Torred1771]

Picking up 180 litre tank on wednesday thinking of going to an external filter. The internal one im running at the moment is capable of 200 litres but its currently in a 90litre tank and i think its struggling. Obviously im doubling my tank size, so my first obvious choice was to buy a second internal and run it with carbon filter, but part of me is thinking just to switch to external all together. My question is, how do I do that, my media filter from my internal obviously wont fit in an external...help.

 

[fluttermoth]

Of course your filter media will fit! Just stick it all in the bottom tray, top up with new media and away you go

 

[RocketAquatics]

Picking up 180 litre tank on wednesday thinking of going to an external filter. The internal one im running at the moment is capable of 200 litres but its currently in a 90litre tank and i think its struggling. Obviously im doubling my tank size, so my first obvious choice was to buy a second internal and run it with carbon filter, but part of me is thinking just to switch to external all together. My question is, how do I do that, my media filter from my internal obviously wont fit in an external...help.

Hi I would definatly look at switching to an external filter, in my experience they just better for larger aquariums and not to mention easier to maintain.

I would think about doing the following:

Run the new external filter and internal filter alongside each other (turning down the outputs if necessary) that way you will not loose the bacteria that has built up in the filtration system.

Hope this helps

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Your media will fit in an external, it's as simple as moving it into the external. Good luck with the new tank!

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with the other members that you can seed the new filter with the media from the current filter. The advantage of moving your media to the new filter is that it will allow the bacteria to colonize the rest of the new media in the new filter much faster than if you simply ran the old and new filters side by side on the new tank. That will allow you to retire the old filter sooner and settle into your new setup more quickly.

Moving media to a new filter is a very reliable change but whenever you do this sort of thing it is a good idea to test frequently and watch for any possible disturbance to your ammonia and nitrite readings.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Gvilleguy]

Hey Waterdrop! Keeping NC straight?

 

[waterdrop]

Hey Waterdrop! Keeping NC straight?

HaHa, yes GVG, the water has flowed through my filters for another year. Paranting and work life just getting in the way of my TFF time, you know how that can be! Actually looking forward to a water change today

WD