New Tank Advice Please

[SLIM]

Hi everyone

Tomorrow im purchasing a new Fluval Vicenza 260 Litre aquarium to replace my exsisting 60litre tank.

The aquarium comes with the Fluval 305 external filter. From what iv read, the Fluval 305 is capible of filtering aquariums upto 300 litres.

Having said that, from what iv read on here, most people prefer a filter with double the turn over.
For example, a filter that filters 500/600 litres for a 260 litre aqaurium.

Do you think the 305 will do the right job and cope or should i eventually replace it with a fluval 405??

Also my current 60L aqaurium is fully cycled (fishless cycled with no fish at present) running a internal Fluval U2 filter.

I plan to take out ALL the sponges, carbon and biomax/ceramic rings and place it all in the new 305 filter with new media too.
The 305 is about 5 to 6 times bigger than the U2 filter and obviously the water volume is 5 times more in the new tank to the old
So will this result in the tank cycling all over again?

I plan to dose the new aquarium with ammonia before i do anything, i guess im just hoping the Ammonia and Nitrites
will still drop to 0 overnite resulting in the introduction of fish alot sooner.

Any comments or advice is welcome and appreciated

Paul

 

[Skins]

Hi everyone

Tomorrow im purchasing a new Fluval Vicenza 260 Litre aquarium to replace my exsisting 60litre tank.

The aquarium comes with the Fluval 305 external filter. From what iv read, the Fluval 305 is capible of filtering aquariums upto 300 litres.

Having said that, from what iv read on here, most people prefer a filter with double the turn over.
For example, a filter that filters 500/600 litres for a 260 litre aqaurium.

Do you think the 305 will do the right job and cope or should i eventually replace it with a fluval 405??

Also my current 60L aqaurium is fully cycled (fishless cycled with no fish at present) running a internal Fluval U2 filter.

I plan to take out ALL the sponges, carbon and biomax/ceramic rings and place it all in the new 305 filter with new media too.
The 305 is about 5 to 6 times bigger than the U2 filter and obviously the water volume is 5 times more in the new tank to the old
So will this result in the tank cycling all over again?

I plan to dose the new aquarium with ammonia before i do anything, i guess im just hoping the Ammonia and Nitrites
will still drop to 0 overnite resulting in the introduction of fish alot sooner.

Any comments or advice is welcome and appreciated

Paul

Hello Paul,
When i bought my roma240 which also comes with a 305 i changed over to the 405 simply for the reasons you mentioned, but i'm not saying the 305 is not up to the job. After all the researching i had done i was given the impression that to over filter was a safer bet, especially if there is live plants in the aquarium. Another thing to remember is if you plan on keeping messy fish then good filteration is paramount.
Imo when you put your U2 media in your new 305 you will be in a cycle situation BUT a fairly short one, but you never know...

Keith.

 

[KittyKat]

Hi Paul, here is my experience with the 305...

I used to run the Fluval 305 on a 215 litre tank. First only lightly planted with a pair of messy green terrors (it did a good job), then on a Malawi themed (still a good job), finally on a heavily planted tank (the inlet and pre-filter needed cleaning once per week or more often). I found the filter sufficient for low-plant setups, even with a moderate bio-load, but would not recommend it for heavily planted set ups.

I have since replaced the filter with an Eheim 2076 (3e 450), which is rated for 240-450 litres. I found this a considerably better alternative for a planted set-up and run it at lowest flow rate during the night, second from highest during the day (the filter can switch automatically). So if I had a 260 litre tank, this would be the filter I would be looking at as an "upgrade".

For the media, I found the 305 to work best if all baskets are filled with "bio-media" (so, porous ceramic noodles, in this case), the pre-filter is left as is and the top-most basket has some fine filter wool (at the top) to "polish" the water.

In terms of moving the filter, you should not have any problems. If you would like to "fully" stock the bigger tank immediately, then do as you said you would.. it would probably take a few days for the bacteria to multiply and and a qualifying week. Personally, I would not go for that and just lightly stock the tank immediately (still seeding the filter with the old filter media), topping it up every week end with a few more fish.

Best of luck with your new tank!

 

[SLIM]

Brilliant

Thank you both for your input it has helped alot.

At this point in time im not actually planning on putting any real plants in the aquarium at all just plastic realistic looking ones.
I might opt for real plants sometime in the future tho.
So maybe the 305 will be ok afterall. If i need to upgrade in the future due to clogging then i will.

I think the plan now is to move all the media over from the old filter to the new 305 and keep all the baskets for ceramic rings like u suggested. Im also going to mix the old gravel with the new (which should also help) and cycle the new tank with ammonia for a week, maybe 2 depending on the water test results, and then lightly stock with 10 or 12 small fish.
Monitor for a month, if all goes well il add a couple of fish a fortnight.

Whats the general rule about stocking?? How many fish is too many fish??
Iv reasearched this but never seem to find a clear answer

 

[KittyKat]

I think the plan now is to move all the media over from the old filter to the new 305 and keep all the baskets for ceramic rings like u suggested. Im also going to mix the old gravel with the new (which should also help) and cycle the new tank with ammonia for a week, maybe 2 depending on the water test results, and then lightly stock with 10 or 12 small fish.
Monitor for a month, if all goes well il add a couple of fish a fortnight.

Whats the general rule about stocking?? How many fish is too many fish??
Iv reasearched this but never seem to find a clear answer

Assuming it's a standard shaped box (say 4ft long), this is what I would have:
* 20-25 5cm dithers (cardinal tetras, or harlequin rasboras, or whatever)
* pair of 10-15cm cichlids
* 6-10 Corys or trio 6-8" plecos
* gourami or two for the top

..but if you want to max out on fish, something like this would be the maximum for me..
* 10 sparkling gourami sized surface dwellers or small hatchetfish
* 15-20 5cm dithers
* pair of 15cm peaceful cichlids
* harem of small cichlids
* 6 Corys
* trio very peaceful plecos

..although, in my opinion, there's no point maxing out a tank like that. It would just means more maintenance would be required.

 

[SLIM]

Thats great just the push in the right direction i needed.
The tank is a bow fronted aquarium.. its 121cm long 46cm wide 72cm high.

Got a great deal!

260 litre bow front tank with stand, fluval 305 filter, Fluval E300W Smart heater, T5 lighting system with timer & tubes, 40kg Dorset natural gravel, 130cm aquarium background (which im not using.. ordered a 3d background) 5" fish net, water conditioner, a medium sized Gravel hoover, Tropical fish food and free delievery for 499.95 BARGIN!

Just the tank and stand alone on most websites go for £600+

Cant wait!!!!!!!!!

I know i definately want Angel fish, Gourami's and Corys altho 6 Corys in a 260L tank sounds alot as i kno these fish can get very large!
I really wanted silver Sharks too but had second thoughts with them because of the size they can reach!

 

[weezawoo]

I have roughly 20 corys maybe a few more in a 300 litre tank and they came from my 200 litre tank. Some people say it is too many bottom feeders but mine are all very happy and keep the tank nice and clean! The corys will be fine having 6 in there, you could add another type IMO aswell so 6 of each! I love corys they are so active!

 

[SLIM]

I have roughly 20 corys maybe a few more in a 300 litre tank and they came from my 200 litre tank. Some people say it is too many bottom feeders but mine are all very happy and keep the tank nice and clean! The corys will be fine having 6 in there, you could add another type IMO aswell so 6 of each! I love corys they are so active!

Oh actually i think i was thinkin of Plecos not Corys.
Plecos are alot larger than Corys right???

How many Plecos would b enough for a 260L in your opinion?

 

[weezawoo]

It all depends on which Pleco

 

[SLIM]

It all depends on which Pleco

Hmmm not sure. The ones at my pet store are just black all over. Il hafta do some research!
Most of em where small but they did have a large one and it must of been at least 5"
Hmmmmmmm maybe corys are the way forward. Like u say they are very active and dont get as mahoosive as Plecos.
Just love the look of Plecos

 

[Skins]

If it was me i would rather have a group of corys, very active like you said paul and also a lot less messy.

Keith.

 

[weezawoo]

I also have 1 Bristlenose plec with my Corys, he is quite funny to watch when I can see him as he is always hiding somewhere! The corys are great little fish!!!

 

[SLIM]

Hmmm yea that sounds good. 6 Corys maybe one Plec. What do u feed em when algae is gone?

 

[weezawoo]

My plec I drop in an algae wafer every 2 days or so, but the corys I feed JMC catfish pellets, they love them and my plec eats them too!

 

[SLIM]

My plec I drop in an algae wafer every 2 days or so, but the corys I feed JMC catfish pellets, they love them and my plec eats them too!

Other than Corys and the Plec, what other fish do you have?