External filter or Stock Filter?

[DGJ]

Hey Everyone,

I have been receiving conflicting ideas on whether to add an external filter or keep the internal filter that came with the Juwel Trigon 190L?

Would love to see what people think and if anyone has experience in keeping or changing?

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Hiya ??I'm in the same boat really, have no experience with an external but it's included with the new tank I'm getting (fluval roma 240) so I'll be lurking around here to see what peeps say ??

 

[P J]

I run both internal and external filters. Just position one on the left the the other on the right, assuming you have space. The external will need at least two months to be biologically effective. Double up and reduce risk from failure of one filter, it’s not a happy sight, an aquarium in the morning after a filter malfunction.

 

[AquaBarb]

Ive replaced my Jewel filter with an external (cainster). I find internals take up too much space and dont perform aswel.

 

[justinhill]

I found the Oase internal filter that came with my tank was ineffective and ended up needing to be rinsed out every three days. Also, taking the thing out all the time disturbed the plants etc. I've just upgraded to a fluval 207 external filter. Time will tell but apparently I'll only need to rinse that out once a month. Also, I'm looking forward to having the ability to put 'special purpose' media in its various baskets if and when I need to.

The 207 is over-spec'd for my 100 litre tank - in theory I could have got a way with a 107 - but the flow rate is adjustable and not as high as I feared. And you can't have too much filtering, I'm told...

 

[Essjay]

That is a myth, I'm afraid. Read point #2 here

Contact Support

 

[justinhill]

That is a myth, I'm afraid. Read point #2 here

Contact Support

Actually, @Essjay, I think we're on the same page here. I bought the 207 rather than the 107 for its larger filter canister - 5.3L instead of 3.7L. This I decided would mean more media volume/surface area for the water to pass over and thus longer maintenance intervals. The quoted 'basket volume' of the 207 is 1.8L (i.e. excluding the vertical pre-filter section). The Oase Thermo 200 that came with the tank has a quoted volume of 0.66L for the whole unit.

In point of fact, the quoted flow rate of the Fluval 207 is lower than the Oase Thermo 200 - 460L/h versus 650L/h. Of course, the Oase only managed full flow for about 12 hours after cleaning before the foam got clogged. Nevertheless, I was expecting to 'dial down' the output from the 207 but have found that it's fine wide open and, also because of the larger outlet 'mouth', it creates less water disturbance than the old one did.

 

[Essjay]

A lot of people think that adding another filter, or getting a filter rated for a much bigger tank is better. I was trying to point out to other members who believe more filtration is better that it's not