Invested In External Filter

[Harlequins]

Hi all

well after thinking about getting an eheim classic 2213,i decided against this one and opted for a Tetratec ex700 canister filter.

Is anyone using one of these?

Also in my 20gal i still have 2 filters running,an eheim aquaball 2006 which came out of my 30l and an aquaflow 100,can i take out both filter media from these 2 and put them into the canister filter or is it best to just run the new external filter into the tank also and run along the other 2?

I know the filter is rather large for my tank but i am hoping to upgrade to a bigger tank in the future,and managed to get this new filter for £56

So now just awaiting its delivery

 

[OldMan47]

You are right that a filter that size is on the big end of what people would put on that tank. You are looking at a turnover rate of 8 or 9 times per hour. If you can make all of the present media fit the baskets, it would be better to not also have 2 other filters running since the new one will be more than enough by itself. If you can turn the flow down on that thing it will be a very nice filter for your tank and provide as much flow as plant people like to see on a tank.

 

[Harlequins]

You are right that a filter that size is on the big end of what people would put on that tank. You are looking at a turnover rate of 8 or 9 times per hour. If you can make all of the present media fit the baskets, it would be better to not also have 2 other filters running since the new one will be more than enough by itself. If you can turn the flow down on that thing it will be a very nice filter for your tank and provide as much flow as plant people like to see on a tank.

Ok thanks

Just a question please ,if i do remove the 2 filters and put the media into the external,then just have the external running,would it go through a mini cycle?

 

[Tropical_Fish]

So is that going on the 20gal?

If so it should be OK. I'm running an external filter on my 20gal which is rated for 1000L / hour and it seems fine. I will let you know if there is any problems when I put in the fish at the weekend!

I get a fair wave across the whole surface of the water due to the way I have it positioned at the moment.

 

[Harlequins]

Now plan to put this in a 200l tank,the water flow is 700lph,so should be ok!,i just gotta decide whether to clone and move the fish over or do a fishless cycle.

 

[Tropical_Fish]

700lph is a bit on the low side for a 200l tank - the recommendation is 5x - so you really need 1000+lph for a tank that size

 

[Davo86]

Also just a heads up but the real flowrate of an EX700 is nowhere near 700LPH,

the 700lph flowrate is what the filter can do when it is empty of media, and once media is in place this can be reduced by upto half depending on what media is used

 

[OldMan47]

You are indeed going to have a lower flow rate than some people would recommend, you just heard from two of them. I find that with a canister I worry much more about the capacity of the baskets. If your filter has nice big baskets full of mature media, the only problem with a low flow rate is that it will take a little longer to clean out the particles that sometimes end up in your water. Your fish will not care at all as long as the biofilter is functioning right. I use a gravel vac to remove particles as sediment and often run tanks with just sponge filters and power heads. Good biological filtration is a must, everything else is aesthetics. Plant folks will advise somewhere around 10x filtration but what they really want is good mixing. The mixing can come from a power head as easily as from a filter so even there it is not a problem if the filter itself is giving lower flow than they want. I must assume that your new filter is rated to serve a tank of 200 litres meaning it can hold enough biologicals for a tank that size. If so, I would not worry about the numbers at all.

 

[Harlequins]

The site says the canister is ok for tanks up to 250 litres,i don't plan to put live plants in has they just don't grow for me,

Now i'm worried this filter won't do the job properly

 

[Tropical_Fish]

It sounds like you'll just about be OK especially if you don't overstock - just keep an eye on the water stats - if you're struggling to maintain good stats then buy a second identical one and run both - that will give you more than enough and it gives you a failsafe. You may find that you never need the second one.

 

[OldMan47]

I would just monitor ammonia and nitrites in the new tank for a while to make sure everything is OK. Chances are good that the filter will be fine but it is always nice to check and know for certain.

 

[Harlequins]

I would just monitor ammonia and nitrites in the new tank for a while to make sure everything is OK. Chances are good that the filter will be fine but it is always nice to check and know for certain.

Regarding putting in my cycled media,i was wondering which part of the filter media can i remove from the canister to put it in?

I thought i could remove the carbon media,but it has 4 trays all together each containing media,which are...

bottom tray-ceramic rings and biological foam filter on top
second tray-bio filter balls
third tray-biological filter medium 2 units
fourth tray-biological filter foam,carbon filter media,filter floss pad on top.

If i can't fit my media in,which is the best to remove to replace cycled media please?

If you get my drift ,brain won't compute at the moment!!

Thanks

 

[OldMan47]

With your load of media, I would replace the carbon with the used media if it will fit.