Fluval 305 External.

[rlhirth]

Lol turtles are cool,are they expensive and do they need to be water turtles

i have a florida softshell... is a completely auqatic turtle... (actually have to force hime to bask everyone once in a while) they can get very big.... so with tank size they can be... he eats pellet food as a staple and once a week he gets something meaty snails or pinky mice something like that.... so thats like 3 bucks a week in meats and i can get the pellets cheap...

so other then the decorations he tears apart and water/electricity and the occational $100 vet bill he aint to bad....

i have a male.... so alot smaller than the female... they say the female need a minimum of a 300 to 400 gallon tank and thats the bare minimum (thats y im happy with my male (120- 200 gallon)

 

[Jjsmith46]

How much do they go for,just wondering!

 

[Timmy_Bee]

OP, do you have a Juwel Rio 180? (i do...)
Have been thinking about swapping to an external, but not sure yet.How quiet are these Fluval 2/3/405? what advantages would i gain by swapping?

 

[Jjsmith46]

Yeah and a rio 300/350 the 305 is good no probs other than geting the thing open but i would recomend,only been running a week though

 

[Timmy_Bee]

can you be cheeky and use an external filter to do water changes?

 

[Jjsmith46]

Yeah just open aquastop valve into bucket or somthing,wouldnt recomend doing that though.

 

[Timmy_Bee]

no on second thoughts i cant see that going well. And you would still need to gravel vac...

 

[FishTankCrazy]

I have the Fluval 305 for about 3 months now and its excellent! I had it leak on me once but that was because i put the lid on and secured it using the handles only but for a proper seal you need to put the whole filter on the floor and push downwards for a proper seal. It is quite running and has many options for media however it could do with a better flow rate for my 50G tank but that's just probably because i use a lot of aquarium floss in mine. Spare parts are really cheap and its easy to fit but buying fluval branded media can be costly if not bought in bulk from Ebay for eg...

 

[Jjsmith46]

Im geting a dribble from the seal its by both lift lock clamps its not enuff to panic and it started after i put some more media in,maybe i dint push down harder nuff,but its only a dribble now and then,next time i open it ill lube the seal and jump up and down on it to c if sorts out,my opinion of these filters has some what gone down as its only been running two weeks

 

[FishTankCrazy]

Mine leaked again today but its because i tried to sneak some carbon in without emptying the water out and must of created a vacuum or someting made a small puddle but emptied some out which sorted it out. Still a good filter though in my opinion. What you think? What media you got in?

 

[Jjsmith46]

Bottom basket has 2 polishing pads and peat mid has biomax top has biomax too,i also dont empty the can when media fiddling as it saves blowing all them bubbles when re filling canister,ill c how it goes over the next month,do u lube the rubber seal often!

 

[FishTankCrazy]

Bottom basket has 2 polishing pads and peat mid has biomax top has biomax too,i also dont empty the can when media fiddling as it saves blowing all them bubbles when re filling canister,ill c how it goes over the next month,do u lube the rubber seal often!

I thought about adding peat because i have a PH of 8 but decided not to as i read that it tans your water and your better off using the natural ph of your water as it doesn't stress the fish etc. Don't know if it's true like lol

 

[Jjsmith46]

Yeah u could b right,i mean my clowns have put up wid ph 8 for over a year,so should i use peat or like u say a consitant ph mite b better 4 them

 

[FishTankCrazy]

Yeah u could b right,i mean my clowns have put up wid ph 8 for over a year,so should i use peat or like u say a consitant ph mite b better 4 them

I'd say so because i've got tetras which prefer softer more acidic water and they are fine. I've got the same media set up as you as well. What's your flow rate like? I'm thinkin about getting a powerhead as i'm having algea problems at the minute either that or i'm investing in a co2 system!!

 

[Jjsmith46]

My 305 been runing neally two month now,no problems and had it open a few times to add media,very easy to do,i think the foam blocks are a bit useless though as they dont seem to get very dirty,but i do also have other filters so maybe they are cleaning most the grime,such a good filter im now thinking about the 405 for extra media space.