Filter Advice For 260l Tank

[stevo_gti]

need bit of advice about filters for my 4ft 260L tank i will be having african malawi in the tank but not sure of what filter to go for its either a Tetratec EX2400 or the Aqua One Aquis 2450 UV-C External Filter? any advice on what these filters are like and if anyone has any pictures of them working/set up that would be great also.

does the aqua one have the same sort of inlet and spraybar for the outlet like the tetra?

thanks.. mark

 

[rabbut]

The Tetratecs are good, they are all I run on freshwater now I'd get two EX1200's in your case, as it works out cheaper and gives are redundant system in the unlikely event of a failure. The EX2400's have pretty much just been released and thus aren't yet proven or de-bugged and you also pay through the nose for the privelage of becomming one of the first to own one when you compair the cost of an EX1200 to an EX2400 Last I checked you could get 3 EX1200's for the price of 1 EX2400

An EX1200 should do that tank on it's own, but more is always better If you have budgeted for an EX2400, you can afford two EX1200's and thus I'd recomend getting two EX1200's anyway for the advantage of additional filtration

The AquaOne canisters were what I was going to go with prior to getting a Tetratec. They are supposed to be good and get frequent good reviews, but I have never used one personally

The spraybars are similar, having seen both out of the box

All the best
Rabbut

 

[raptorrex]

need bit of advice about filters for my 4ft 260L tank i will be having african malawi in the tank but not sure of what filter to go for its either a Tetratec EX2400 or the Aqua One Aquis 2450 UV-C External Filter? any advice on what these filters are like and if anyone has any pictures of them working/set up that would be great also.

does the aqua one have the same sort of inlet and spraybar for the outlet like the tetra?

thanks.. mark

i would suggest two ex1200, that still would not give you much redundancy, the ex1200 has an actual flow rate of more like 600-800lph so this will achieve 5x turnover pulse a little. it also allows you to clean one filter at a time, reducing the bacteria loss each time. if you are looking at this as a tank you will not be upgrading for a good few years. it may be worth looking at the Ehiem range of externals. the dont seem to filter any better than the Tetratech, but the experience of members here, suggest that they just keep going and going and going.

 

[stevo_gti]

The Tetratecs are good, they are all I run on freshwater now I'd get two EX1200's in your case, as it works out cheaper and gives are redundant system in the unlikely event of a failure. The EX2400's have pretty much just been released and thus aren't yet proven or de-bugged and you also pay through the nose for the privelage of becomming one of the first to own one when you compair the cost of an EX1200 to an EX2400 Last I checked you could get 3 EX1200's for the price of 1 EX2400

An EX1200 should do that tank on it's own, but more is always better If you have budgeted for an EX2400, you can afford two EX1200's and thus I'd recomend getting two EX1200's anyway for the advantage of additional filtration

The AquaOne canisters were what I was going to go with prior to getting a Tetratec. They are supposed to be good and get frequent good reviews, but I have never used one personally

The spraybars are similar, having seen both out of the box

All the best
Rabbut

thanks rabbut, i assumed the ex2400 was out the same time as the ex1200 but i never thought of getting two 1200 insted of one 2400 which would have cost me £150 but the cheapest i found the 1200 is £64 so think i will get two of them

after reading up on the aqua filter i dont want it anyway it only filters 1500lph and i was after more than that as im going to be keeping malawi so will need to overstock to keep aggression down so need good filtration

 

[stevo_gti]

i would suggest two ex1200, that still would not give you much redundancy, the ex1200 has an actual flow rate of more like 600-800lph so this will achieve 5x turnover pulse a little. it also allows you to clean one filter at a time, reducing the bacteria loss each time. if you are looking at this as a tank you will not be upgrading for a good few years. it may be worth looking at the Ehiem range of externals. the dont seem to filter any better than the Tetratech, but the experience of members here, suggest that they just keep going and going and going.
[/quote]

so is the ex1200 not 1200lph like it says on all the websites?

 

[raptorrex]

so is the ex1200 not 1200lph like it says on all the websites?

no not in the least. that is the pump rating, (and you will notice they state Max flow rate too) measured with nothing in the cannister and 1m of tubes. this is information sent to my by Tetratec, not my opinion. so by the time you have added media, sponges and floss. plus 2 0r 3 feet of tubing, the flow rate is closer to 700 than 1200. obviously the type and amount of filtration media will effect the flow differently. only Eheim do flow tests with a full set of media in place and 50cm of tubing. judging from Eheims figures, you loose about a third of the flow adding the media and the other furniture.

 

[stevo_gti]

so is the ex1200 not 1200lph like it says on all the websites?

no not in the least. that is the pump rating, (and you will notice they state Max flow rate too) measured with nothing in the cannister and 1m of tubes. this is information sent to my by Tetratec, not my opinion. so by the time you have added media, sponges and floss. plus 2 0r 3 feet of tubing, the flow rate is closer to 700 than 1200. obviously the type and amount of filtration media will effect the flow differently. only Eheim do flow tests with a full set of media in place and 50cm of tubing. judging from Eheims figures, you loose about a third of the flow adding the media and the other furniture.

ok thanks i never knew they tested it with an empty canister, seems bit wierd as its not gonna be used empty

well i will probably be using all the media that comes with it but change the carbon for some more floss and about a meter of hose but two ex1200 running at the same time should be enough filtration i hope

 

[raptorrex]

so is the ex1200 not 1200lph like it says on all the websites?

no not in the least. that is the pump rating, (and you will notice they state Max flow rate too) measured with nothing in the cannister and 1m of tubes. this is information sent to my by Tetratec, not my opinion. so by the time you have added media, sponges and floss. plus 2 0r 3 feet of tubing, the flow rate is closer to 700 than 1200. obviously the type and amount of filtration media will effect the flow differently. only Eheim do flow tests with a full set of media in place and 50cm of tubing. judging from Eheims figures, you loose about a third of the flow adding the media and the other furniture.

ok thanks i never knew they tested it with an empty canister, seems bit wierd as its not gonna be used empty

well i will probably be using all the media that comes with it but change the carbon for some more floss and about a meter of hose but two ex1200 running at the same time should be enough filtration i hope

yep, i think they will fit the bill well, let us know how you go

 

[rabbut]

I'd shelf the carbon. It has it's uses, but when it saturates in a week and stops doing it's job, it works out costly to run long-term if replaced when saturated, and wastes space that could be better used by other medias if you don't replace when it saturates Keep it for emergencies and for medication removal, but i personally would not use it on a regular basis

Eheim don't always test their filters with a 50cm length of hose and canisters full of media. In fact, I'm having trouble finding one that is rated like that, rather than the industory standord of empty canister and NO hoses

All the best
Rabbut