What Heater Should I Get

[waterdrop]

truck, I knew that Dave and Andy and Aaron over in planted were pretty convinced about high flow keeping the ammonia pockets away and thus the algae, but its interesting to hear that you are another one. Did you have any direct experience with this in your own tank or did you come to it via them or other readings?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Truck]

truck, I knew that Dave and Andy and Aaron over in planted were pretty convinced about high flow keeping the ammonia pockets away and thus the algae, but its interesting to hear that you are another one. Did you have any direct experience with this in your own tank or did you come to it via them or other readings?

~~waterdrop~~

experienced it myself, i had an out break of hair algae, it was doing my head in, i then upped flow from 5x turnover to 17ish, and my problems were gone.
i think its in my journal somewhere

 

[Davo86]

(davo wrote)

I wouldn't say so, I've never used Powerheads and have always stuck to 5x turnover with great results

(truck wrote)

depends on the application and media used, if you use sand then detritus will settle with 5 times turnover, i had 17x turn over in my rio 125 and still had dead spots

davo,truck, Interesting conversation. On advice from this forum I "upped" my initial plans from something smaller to what I thought was "huge" at the time (in flow rate, media volume and cost) going to a 5x external cannister filter. Its an awesome piece of machinery and I've never regretted it but of course when you do things that seem new and challanging at the time they often change your perspective. A turnover rate of 5x no longer seems so large and violent to me and looking from the plant perspective I'm beginning to appreciate the kind of thing truck is talking about.

From a beginner's perspective I think the difference between 5x and greater is pretty subtle. Of course flow rate is only one dimension of a filter and many of the kinds of filters we're talking about here, especially the cannisters, will give you the ability to have a beautifully running tank.

I'm interested davo, in particular, where you stand with the planted thing. I've got it in my head that I'm remembering you having some cichlid tanks perhaps without many plants but I may be totally wrong and just remembering some picture not really associated with you (?) I already know that truck planted tanks in some capacity or another, right truck?

~~waterdrop~~

yep im into my plants, the higher flow IMO is a very beneficial thing, it can prevent algae in short. the higher turn over means that more water goes through the filter an hour, which means ammonia is being processed quicker, and along with higher flow it can get to the filter effectivly.

but youve got to remember, ehiem are th only 'honest' filter company in there out put rates, there out put claims are with media, where as the other brands claim 1200lph when your actually getting half that due to media and curved pipes etc.

but with higher turn over bigger fish arent a good thing because theyre bulky and have a relatively large surface area so maybe blown about a bit. this is why angelfish dont fair too well in some planted scapes with high turn over.

I do agree that when setting up a heavily planted setup or a mbuna rock setup that has many isolated caves, for example, that yes a higher turnover is necessary and extra powerheads can be valuable in keeping the tank running smoothly, however sometimes I feel that people don't think about the situation at hand and class every fish tank as the same.

I generally take each case as it comes and in this instance it seems highly unlikely that the OP is going to rush out to spend hundreds on a high tec planted setup, IMO they are more than likely to be wanting a community of smaller tetras etc. and if this is the case then IME there is no need for extra powerheads, provided filtration is adequate, IMO adequate filtration for a community tank that isn't densely populated with decor would be one that gives a turnover of between 4-6 times per hour.

As for my current setup, It is roughly 460L and does indeed contain a number of cichlids, dithers and catfish. It also contains Java Moss and Anubias plants mainly rooted to bogwood, I run two external filters giving an overall 'true' turnover of 6x per hour, I do weekly 50% water changes and on average test fortnighly for nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia, the latter two always being 0,

 

[Truck]

what im trying to get at is one fluval 4+ wont be sufficient, you would need 1 and a powerhead, or 2 of the internals

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, thanks for commenting, both of you, I value both of your opinions as experienced hobbyists. There do seem to be a range of options that can work very well for different situations. I do think there's a bit of a problem in the hobby in that you can take different approaches (eg. "beginner community", "advanced large fish", "advanced planted") and for some people, each might rather easily result in "crystal clear no problem", whereas other individuals might experience "algae problems." I like to take some of my queues about algae from the planted tank hobbyists partly because I know them to be extra-fussy about the looks of things (meaning they will go nuts over things like algae and research the heck out of it ) I do still speculate a bit about whether the "high water movement" solution might somehow be successful in "high-tech-planted" tanks but might not be universal for other approaches (eg. either that there might be other ways needed for other tank approaches or that it as well as other solutions (and I'm not saying I know what they are, unfortunately) would work on other appraches, if you can follow that.) But, clearly, algae problems still remain pretty widespread but the "high water movement" solution, if indeed its universal, is only very slowly being recognized (of course, again, my perception of the range of its adoption may be too limited.)

~~waterdrop~~
ps. (simon, apolgies for all the hijacking going on here..)

 

[simon10]

will a Fluval 3+ and a Powerhead be ok? thanks

 

[simon10]

Would this filter do? or is it a cheapy make:

http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aqua-Flow-400-Intern...A1%7C240%3A1318

 

[Davo86]

Would this filter do? or is it a cheapy make:

[URL="http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aqua-Flow-400-Intern...A1%7C240%3A1318"]http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aqua-Flow-400-Intern...A1%7C240%3A1318[/URL]

its too small for your tank size,

 

[Truck]

Would this filter do? or is it a cheapy make:

[URL="http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aqua-Flow-400-Intern...A1%7C240%3A1318"]http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aqua-Flow-400-Intern...A1%7C240%3A1318[/URL]

looks like a cheapy make, buy a fluval 4+ , skimp out now and it will cost you later

 

[simon10]

Would this filter do? or is it a cheapy make:

<a href="http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aqua-Flow-400-Intern...A1%7C240%3A1318" target="_blank">http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aqua-Flow-400-Intern...A1%7C240%3A1318</a>

looks like a cheapy make, buy a fluval 4+ , skimp out now and it will cost you later

How about a Fluvel 3+ and a power head?

 

[Truck]

Would this filter do? or is it a cheapy make:

<a href="http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aqua-Flow-400-Intern...A1%7C240%3A1318" target="_blank">http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aqua-Flow-400-Intern...A1%7C240%3A1318</a>

looks like a cheapy make, buy a fluval 4+ , skimp out now and it will cost you later

How about a Fluvel 3+ and a power head?

the fluval 4+ is only about £4-5 more, and is the best option.

 

[simon10]

Would this filter do? or is it a cheapy make:

<a href="http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aqua-Flow-400-Intern...A1%7C240%3A1318" target="_blank">http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aqua-Flow-400-Intern...A1%7C240%3A1318</a>

looks like a cheapy make, buy a fluval 4+ , skimp out now and it will cost you later

How about a Fluvel 3+ and a power head?

the fluval 4+ is only about £4-5 more, and is the best option.

Right i have just bought a Fluval 4+ online, all i need now is a pwer head right? thanks

 

[simon10]

Would this filter do? or is it a cheapy make:

<a href="http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aqua-Flow-400-Intern...A1%7C240%3A1318" target="_blank">http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aqua-Flow-400-Intern...A1%7C240%3A1318</a>

looks like a cheapy make, buy a fluval 4+ , skimp out now and it will cost you later

How about a Fluvel 3+ and a power head?

the fluval 4+ is only about £4-5 more, and is the best option.

Right i have just bought a Fluval 4+ online, all i need now is a pwer head right? thanks

 

[Truck]

Would this filter do? or is it a cheapy make:

<a href="http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aqua-Flow-400-Intern...A1%7C240%3A1318" target="_blank">http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aqua-Flow-400-Intern...A1%7C240%3A1318</a>

looks like a cheapy make, buy a fluval 4+ , skimp out now and it will cost you later

How about a Fluvel 3+ and a power head?

the fluval 4+ is only about £4-5 more, and is the best option.

Right i have just bought a Fluval 4+ online, all i need now is a pwer head right? thanks

yeah, go for a koralia 1

 

[simon10]

is this the one:

http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/HYDOR-KORALIA-1-PUMP...A1%7C240%3A1318