Filter Recommendations

[Miss Wiggle]

same old topic for you guys i guess....

looking to upgrade one of the filters on our 60gal as one of them is on it's last legs.

we have a fluval 405 which will be running alongside the new filter so can take the extra filtration capacity of that into account to an extent but I like to overfilter and to build as much redundancy into the system as possible. so ideally i'd like a filter that can manage this tank by itself to a reasonable degree if needs be.

Tank is currently only about half stocked but we will be increasing the stocking over the coming months, aiming for around 1.5" per gallon..... mostly small fish although there will be two BN's and a pair of angels in there eventually, rest of the fish are under 2" though so no big waste producers.

Looking to spend around £100 - £150, from past experience I like Eheims but happy to hear any suggestions.

 

[Lateral Line]

I use only Eheim now, have done for about the last 20 years. I would stay away from the Eheim ECCO range though. They were introduced to compete with the budget filters - a mistake in mine opinion as the build quality is not the same. Used to be everyone was happy with their first Eheim and never used anything else, now a newbie with an ECCO can end up thinking Eheim is junk.

 

[Colin_T]

How about a trickle filter. Basically you can use a spare tank and have it under the main tank. The water drains from the top tank into the bottom one where it goes thru various filter materials. They can handle huge biological loads and are easy to maintain. The only part that needs replacing is the pump and if you use a good pump to start with it will last as long as the tank.
There should be plenty of info in the marine section but trickle filters work equally well on fresh or brackish water tanks.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

I use only Eheim now, have done for about the last 20 years. I would stay away from the Eheim ECCO range though. They were introduced to compete with the budget filters - a mistake in mine opinion as the build quality is not the same. Used to be everyone was happy with their first Eheim and never used anything else, now a newbie with an ECCO can end up thinking Eheim is junk.

thanks Lateral Line, I'd looked at the Ecco range and basically thought 'god that's cheap for an eheim' if it's rubbish then i'll spend the extra and get one of the main lines.

How about a trickle filter. Basically you can use a spare tank and have it under the main tank. The water drains from the top tank into the bottom one where it goes thru various filter materials. They can handle huge biological loads and are easy to maintain. The only part that needs replacing is the pump and if you use a good pump to start with it will last as long as the tank.
There should be plenty of info in the marine section but trickle filters work equally well on fresh or brackish water tanks.

too noisy for the living room!!!

 

[Dan81192]

I've had a eheim pro2 2026 and its brilliant faultess!

i only paid £65 inc postage aswell. well worth it IMO!

 

[squeakytoy]

thinking about the trickle filter... a sump wouldn't have to be too noisy. If you had it in the base of the cabinet, that would stifle a lot of the sound, and if you ran a large closed "box" style sump, it might work rather well...

 

[Loony Fish]

I've had a eheim pro2 2026 and its brilliant faultess!

i only paid £65 inc postage aswell. well worth it IMO!

your brightly colored writing hurts my eyes!!!!!!
i'm a HUGE FAN of those marenland emperor power filters,
the new tetra ex ones are good too.

 

[Lateral Line]

Might also want to read through the sig rules as shortly, we, (the mod team), will be starting another crack down. The board is getting slow again amongst other things.

 

[OldMan47]

I have really liked the Rena XP series filters that I have obtained over the years. In the past they averaged quite a bit cheaper than equivalent Eheims but here lately the price has been climbing in the US, maybe it's just the exchange rate. The XP2 or XP3 would be great for a 60 gallon. The XP2 is big enough but if you like to overfilter, I am running an XP3 on a 120. The Renas are very quiet and very easy to clean and maintain. Everything just comes apart easily and goes back together in an intuitive fashion. Restart after a cleaning is as simple as wait about a minute for the filter to prime itself and plug it in.