Opinions on these Power Filters

[newsalt]

I currently have a 15g high tank. I'm going to soon upgrade to a 30g. When I go to the bigger tank, I want to also get a ne power filter. I'm not sure what to get. I went to my LFS and they have 5 to choose from. I want some opinions on this different filter; which have you used, which should be avoided, stuff like that.

Top Fin 40
Tetra Whisper Triad 40
Aquaclear 150
Emperor 280
Penguin Bio Wheel 170

Thanks for the input


__________________
Equipment

15g high acrylic tank
20 lbs of Live Rock
20 lbs of Aragonite Sand
Skilter 250 HOB filter/skimmer (modified with air stone)
Auto Top-off
Heater (not sure of Wattage)
Single Bulb 15W Flouresent light

Inhabitants

2 Ocellaris Clownfish
4 Astrea Snails
7 Nassarius Snails
3 Bumble Bee Snails
2 Margarita Snails
2 Blue Leg Hemits

 

[Curtswearing]

I haven't used any of those products so I can't help you. I'm only posting to say WELCOME TO REEF SANCTUARY!!!

 

[fidojoe]

All of the above should be avoided. What type of setup are you doing? Fish only, fish only with live rock, or reef. When you get the bigger tank, get as big as you can, because the bigger the tank, the more stable it tends to be. As for the HOB filters, they are really only good for running the occasional carbon, or sponge. The biowheels, if you havew live rock, become nitrate factories. If you must have one, I would go with an AquaClear 500 or 300, because you can convert them into a mini HOB refugium, you can get them at some online retailers for less than $35. On my 50 gallon, I have a skimmer, and a fluval, and those are the only 2 mechanical filters I have on there, and the fluval doesn't have anything in it, I use it for circulation only. As for my 20 long, I have an AquaClear 150 that is intended for circulation, and the occasional carbon only, and I will soon be replacing that with a modified aquaclear 500 to be a fuge. HTH

 

[fidojoe]

BTW, over the 7 or so years that I did freshwater, I tried em all, and my fav is still the aqauclears.

 

[ReefLady]

Welcome!

Now, timew to start weening you off what may be bad advice from your LFS. Ready?

You don't need a power filter.

The only thing they really do is move water and trap particles for you to remove. The most important filtration is biological filtration, which is best handled by the 20lb of live rock you already have. With only 2 ocellaris clowns in a 30, that should be fine. If you want to add more bioload, your money would be much better invested in live rock.

The emperor/biowheel filters do a great job of biological filtration but, long story short, not nearly as well as live rock all things considered.

If you're convinced you need added filtration, and have to have a filter from that list, I would go with the emperor or a biowheel 170.

Power filters can be useful when you want to run activated carbon and for water movement, but I recommend you leave them at the store and concentrate on a natural filtration system for now.

HTH

Travis

 

[ReefLady]

LOL looks like fidojoe beat me to it... consider his advice "seconded" except I have no experience with aquaclears, but have heard good things about them.

T

 

[newsalt]

That's very interesting. With the Skilter I have now, the water is never really crystal clear. So I figured I needed something that I can add carebon to from time to time. Also, you both mention no power filter at all. Then how do your systems with no power filter clean up solid matter, fish waste, floating food, etc.?

 

[ste]

welcome to RS
all the creatures and bacteria the live rock brings with it take care of all waste products running carbon in a power filter from time to time will keep it sparkling do u use ro water?

 

[fidojoe]

Originally posted by newsalt
That's very interesting. With the Skilter I have now, the water is never really crystal clear. So I figured I needed something that I can add carebon to from time to time. Also, you both mention no power filter at all. Then how do your systems with no power filter clean up solid matter, fish waste, floating food, etc.?

A good skimmer, and I don't mean to bash you or you skilter, but skilters are terrible. Something like an AquaC Remora HOB skimmer, or I really like my ViaAqua skimmer would be well worth the investment. A clean up crew, like snails, and maybe a cucumber (which I haven't seen mine in a week...uh oh) or something like that help a lot. Also, use a lot of water flow via powerheads to keep the debris suspended in the water until your skimmer can remove them.

 

[newsalt]

All these great replies have got me thinking. I have a plan for a system similar to the "Berlin Method". I'm developing a sketch and will try to post it. Also, I'm planning to build my own counter current, air-driven skimmer I'll try to post a picture of that too.

 

[ReefLady]

you should be able to buy a mesh bag at (gulp) petsmart, put some carbon in it, and drop it into your skilter. (You'll have to pull the filter cartridge, but that's a good idea anyway unless you rinse it daily).

Please be sure to check out our research section here.... TONS of great info that you will find helpful, and will save you lots of $$$ in the long run!

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=13

T

 

[BoomerD]

It sounds like just about everyone is telling you the same thing. Dump the skilter, buy a GOOD skimmer, and do not buy a new powerfilter. I had a skilter 15 yrs ago when they first come out. They were crap then, and I think they still are today. Invest in a Remora skimmer. Possibly the best of the hang on skimmers out there. For a tank as small as a 30, you could use one of the Bak-Pak's, but IMHO, they're not good for much larger than a 30, and if you do use one of them, come back here, and we can tell you how to make it rumn better than it does from the factory. (dump the rio & use a Maxijet, how to put in an airstone to pump up the skimming ability) Stick with the Remora with the Max-jet upgrade. I'll also advise that if you HAVE to use a power filter, the Aqua Clears were my favorite for many years in F/W. You can toss a bag of carbon or Phosphate media in when you need it, just run it for circulation otherwise, and they last for years.

 

[fidojoe]

Hey Travis, why don't you like petsmart? I like petsmart, prices are much better there than petco, and their managers always give me what I want.

 

[Maxx]

To jump on the band wagon...(if there's any more room) I hafta agree w/ all the others. For what your trying to do here (assuming a reef tank) a HOB power filter really isnt much good. You can better w/ the other methods mentioned previously....Prolly the best advice I could give you would be to ask as many questions as possible here and other boards simply to get a non biased (not financially motivated to answer your questions a certain way) reply. I promise you, it will do much more for you in the long run...as far as dumb questions go...the worst we're gonna do is laugh at you, call you names and make you cry til recess is over....
In all seriousness, askng questions before you get to the " Why did it die?" stage of things is much easier for everyone... yourself mostly as it keeps you from making the same dumb mistakes we all made originaly, and will keep you from being discouraged.
Good luck, and happy New Year,
Nick

 

[ReefLady]

I don't hate petsmart, but I do avoid it if at all possible. I would say my main turn-off is the employees, but I realize the economics of the issue.

 

[wooddood]

listen to the advice given to you here it will pay off big time in the long run.as travis said reshearch first thats the best advice.

 

[JennM]

LOL so many opinions, so much anti-store rhetoric.

Nobody here could possibly have a "financial interest" in steering somebody to or away from a product if the interested person is hundreds of miles away....

FYI "Top Fin" is Petsmart's house brand. I believe that their power filters are made by Tetra, so those choices are one and the same.

Any power filter will do the job of mechanical filtration. Those who are saying you do not need one at all, are neglecting to suggest alternative ways of moving the water in your tank. Yes the live rock is Mother Nature's filter, and a good and natural way to clean the water of biological waste. A good skimmer, like a CPR BakPak will fractionate foam and remove dissolved organics. However it might not be enough to move a sufficient volume of water. You can achieve this several ways... powerheads can be used to agitate the water, but if you want to run carbon, this won't do. Ditto if you need to run a phosphate sponge or polyfilter for any reason. A power filter can be run with or without the biological wheel, grid, bag or whatever device it uses. It won't become a "nitrate factory" if there is an adequate balance of aerobic surface area (bio-wheel etc., AND live rock) and anaerobic and anoxic surface area (dense live rock, sand bed etc). With a power filter you have more options open - to simply use it to recirculate water, to use it as biological filtration or not, to use it as mechanical filtration or not, and to use it as chemical filtration or not.

The brand really doesn't matter - they all contain a pump, a biological device and a mechanical/chemical device. Pick one that moves the most gallons-per-hour for your buck, and one that you can easily get cartridges for if and when you need them.

I'm partial to Marineland (Emperor) for marine use, but really it doesn't matter which one you get, as long as it's appropriately sized.

I don't recommend canisters for marine tanks, they do not allow the water to de-gas carbon dioxide, as there is no contact with the atmosphere within the canister. I do use a canister occasionally to polish the water, pick up particulate or for emergency detox (tank disaster!), but I wouldn't run one all the time - they tend to promote nitrate build-up if they are allowed to go biological. If you run a canister, change the media often.

HTH

Jenn

 

[newsalt]

Thanks for all those great replies. Right now I have a 15 gallon high tank. It is FOWLR. This is my first SW tank. If all goes well, I plan on moving up to a 30 gallon. So that's why I initially asked about Power Filters. If I go to 30g I wanted a good HOB Power Filter. However, after reading these responses, I started to look into the Berlin Method of filtration. I developed the sketch which is attached on how I was planning to do it. Any thoughts on my ideas? My main question when you look at my sketch is this:

Do you thing the powerhead in the the aquarium that's rated for 295 gph will be powerful enough to bring water from the aquarium through the skimmer into the sump (or filter box) and back into the aquarium and provide enough movement in the aquarium?

Also, how big and what brand air pump would you recommend?

I'm open to thoughts on what I'm planning on doing. If there are links you could point me to that would be great too? I'm going to post this also as a new post on this forum to try and get as many replies as possible. The subject will be "Berlin Method Plans".

Thanks.

 

[wooddood]

personally no on the powerhead jmo though.im gonna follow that thread and will try and help you out if i can along with everyone else.