Noob Question.

[N0body Of The Goat]

They are nowhere near as easy to source, but Yellow Tail Congo Tetras (Alestopetersius caudalis) or African Red Eye Tetras (Arnoldichthys spilopterus) for example [basically smaller African community characins] would be far more suitable in a 3-foot tank, rather than Congo Tetras (Phenacogrammus interruptus) that grow to a chunky ~10cm as adults. There are a whole host of African characins (eg. the "moon" tetra group) out there that I barely knew existed until I picked up a group of Phenacogrammus cf. nigropterus in mid March, its such a shame that they are so hard to come across because of the political unrest in places like the Democratic Repulic of Congo.

 

[Wills]

They are nowhere near as easy to source, but Yellow Tail Congo Tetras (Alestopetersius caudalis) or African Red Eye Tetras (Arnoldichthys spilopterus) for example [basically smaller African community characins] would be far more suitable in a 3-foot tank, rather than Congo Tetras (Phenacogrammus interruptus) that grow to a chunky ~10cm as adults. There are a whole host of African characins (eg. the "moon" tetra group) out there that I barely knew existed until I picked up a group of Phenacogrammus cf. nigropterus in mid March, its such a shame that they are so hard to come across because of the political unrest in places like the Democratic Repulic of Congo.

Was hoping you would see this Great advice and suggestions! Not come across those Moon Tetras before, African fish are certainly starting to prick my ears!

Wills

 

[fluttermoth]

The points to remember with filtration v stocking are;

the fish will still be producing the same amount of ammonia and thus nitrate, whatever your filtration

they still need to be able to swim comfortably and have their own territories

I have Congo tetras, and wouldn't be happy seeing them in a three foot tank. Mine are in a four foot, and that's the minimum size, IMO. I know an extra foot doesn't sound like much, but that's the equivalent of ten or twelve feet in human terms.

 

[mattlee]

i had an FX5 briefly on a 4ft 240L tank and it was a bit overkill tbh. on a 3ft tank i would imagine you would have to turn it down quite a bit to prevent the fish thinking they were in the middle of a whirl pool... if this happens to be the case then its not really worth getting such a powerfull filter unless its a temporary thing like mine was as i was awaiting a new tank to arrive.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Given that FX5s now cost >£200 new from what I can see (despite getting one myself for £140 ~18 months ago), if I had fish that needed ~2300lph of real world filtration turnover in a 3-foot 200l, I would be far more inclined to spend ~£120 on two AllPondSolution 2000EFs.

Right now I have two Fluval U4s and and Eheim 2078 giving ~2800lph of filtration in my Rio240 (I also had the integrated 1000lph running until this afternoon), but this is for Ilyodon xantusi teenagers (besides a heavily pregnant female expecting newborns anytime) and 49 Steatocranus casuarius including "mum", both very rheophilic (current loving) fish. The filtration overkill is to help ensure all toxic ammonia and nitrite from this very high stocking (albeit the youngers are 3-5cm) is processed into far less toxic nitrate, but I still feel I have to do ~50% water changes every couple of days to prevent toxic levels of nitrate happening. Once the youngsters reach 5cm, a LFS is buying them off me, so this tough maintainance regime is only temporary... thank goodness!

 

[mattlee]

also something to think about is that the fx5 pipework is very wide and when I had it on my roma 240 the lid wouldn't shut properly. So unless you have a wooden lift off type hood I would do some measuring and work out if the pipework including bracket which is essential will fit and the floppy lids will sit flush.