Planted Tank Filtration & Flow

[bumbleweasle]

Aloha!

I think I'm about a week from taking my dodgy old Fluval 4+ & launching it out of a window... There are many, many reasons for my (increasingly extreme) hatred, so I'll not bore you.

It's currently in my 48"x12"x18" (about 140l) tank alongside a Hydor Koralia 900 for increased flow. I'm looking to replace it with a nice external filter, so here are my questions....

-Would an Eheim 2324 Pro Thermal sound about right for my tank?
-If I got said Eheim, would it be best to remove the Koralia, or keep it in there?
-How would I go about introducing it without disturbing the chemistry/balance too much?

Thanks, if you need any more info just let me know.

 

[Blubble37]

for a planted tank you want as least 10X flow rate as the plants will slow the flow down

if you wanted to put it in without unbalancing the tank - you take all the media from the fluval 4+ and put it in the external filter, that way it is instantly capable of supporting the stock the fluval was used to!

 

[bumbleweasle]

Cheers!

 

[fleeing]

To be honest I've heard good and bad things about the Eheim thermals, but if you are considering that kind of capacity I would definitely keep the Koralia running. It seems to be agreed that with planted tanks you should be trying for circulation of 10 x tank volume. Although in the end it's up to you to observe and ensure that water is being moved round the tank enough.

I've always added new filters and kept the old one running for about a month, to be sure that there was plenty of time for bacteria deposits to build up. If running the two in tandem gives too much flow, just throttle down both filters. Others just move some filter material from the old filter to the new one. But I'm admittedly over cautious when it comes to my fishes' well being.

 

[bumbleweasle]

Hmmm.. so would it be better to go for that + the Koralia, or look at a filter with larger flow rate? (It doesn't have to be the Eheim, I just noticed a couple 2nd hand on eBay, hehe)

 

[fleeing]

Whatever filter you choose, do keep the Koralia so you can adjust your flow. However powerful a filter is (meant to be) it can be difficult to set it up so that your flow is reaching all corners of your tank, which is pretty much what you want.

Your Koralia is just what you need to take care of that.

Find a filter that fits your wallet and your tank population (more fishies produce more s***e), and use the powerhead to make sure the water (and nutrients) get pushed around properly.

 

[bumbleweasle]

Excellent, thank you!