Filter for 135 gal tank

[GuiltyPleasures]

I"m getting ready to buy a filter for my 135 tank, At the moment I only have 2 double whispers running on it which is totally not enough, esp for the sizes and amount of fish I have in the tank. I'm hoping to buy online from Petco since anything over 50.00 is free shipping right now. I was planning on going with Aqua clear, but also looking at this one: Rainbow Lifegard Mechanical filter which is suppost to be good for up to 100 gals. If I were to use it, I would keep both the whispers on it as well, until I can replace them with another filter that would do at least 100 gals. If I go with the Aqua clear, I can only do the big one that is good for up to 110 gals, as I can't afford to do two of those at this time. Any suggestions on what I should do? I'm trying to stay under 120.00 on my budget for this month.
I also just bought a very nice external air pump that can support up to 16 air hoses using the t's. Currently I've only got 4 air hoses running into the tank which seem to be putting out very nicely. I also have 1 power head that seems to be working okay, but planning to upgrade that to a better on maybe this month as well.

Thank you very much
Rene

[Star_Rider]

well if $$ is the limiting factor. add an additional HOB (AC)

but you may want to consider better filtraion in the future.(sump or cannisters)

remember you are trying to get water turnover some shoot for 10X turnover.

[AsaPW]

IMO, you're really going to need a big canister filter. They are a little more expensive than what your budget allows for though. I have a 125 gallon community and for filtration I use an Emperor 400 and a 280. I also have a Fluval FX5 canister filter which works great. You can get them for $180+/- shipped on Ebay.

But honestly, I would definitely go with a big canister. I'm not so sure that I'd have a big tank without any bio-wheels either, but that's just my preference. But, I wish you luck and enjoy!

[irishspy]

The Rena XP4 (http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp17290/si1685118/cl0/aquariumpharmaceuticalsrenafilstarxp4canisterfilte r) is above what you budgeted, but I think it would be ideal for your tank. :thm:

[GuiltyPleasures]

Thank you both for the input, I will have to re-think what I'm going to do now and see if I can afford a bit more. Does anyone know anything about the Rainbow Lifegard Mechanical filters? I would love to hear some input on those too.

Thanks,
Rene

[Sploke]

The lifeguards look like a decent system, but I've never used them. I think you could get comparable results for less money with a canister filter or a sump with a wet/dry filter.

[jm1212]

you can add an Xp2 to the tank and still be under buget, or 2 Xp1's and come out a little over.

adding an Emperor 400 to run along with the Wisper filters isnt a bad idea either.

[Star_Rider]

the pentair would require some plumbing and a pump/powerhead of some sort.

[GuiltyPleasures]

Okay how about this, I am looking at Big Al's site, they have a Aqua Clear (HOB) 110 which is good for up to 110 gals, on sale now for 47.99, also have a Marineland HOT Mag Pro which has a bio wheel on it, for 47.99, I could afford both of these with the shipping fee and still stay under budget. I could still keep one of my HOB Whisper 60's on the tank so that would give me 3 different filters for now, then next month buy another mag pro or aqua clean 110 to replace the whisper 60. How does this plan sound? Seems like a good amount of filtration with those 3 filters. I can only have two hang on back filters on my tank due to space between the glass stablizers that are on each end and in the center of the tank. With one canister filter I can still have two hob's as well.
Okay guys and gals, let me know what you think of this idea :)

Rene

[AsaPW]

Here's something that you can do. You can use DrsFosterSmith.com though Ebates. Ebates will give you 5 bucks for signing up, and they will also give you 6% cash back towards the amount of your purchase there. 6% isn't alot, but when you're on a tighter budget it helps. But make sure you read the terms about Ebates when you do this. You only get a check every 3 months or something from them, but they have a ton of stores and it adds up.

The Emperor 400 is 39.99 over there. It has 2 Bio-Wheels and is rated for up to 80 gallons. Thing is, you'll have more biological filtration than the filter that you were looking at (HOT Mag Pro) because of the two bio-wheels. Lots of people here love the Aquaclear brand also, but I have no experience with them.

Well, I just went look at the Aquaclear you want at DFS.com and it's about 15 bucks more expensive than Big Als, so you may want to stick with that store. Unfortunately though, Ebates doesn't deal with them. The Emperor 400 is the same price at both.

But here is the referral link to Ebates anyway incase you wanna check it out.

http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?id=33948508


Anyways, I don't know whether or not what you wanna do is good enough or not. When I got my tank, I only had it running for a week or so before I added my FX5 so I couldn't tell you. All I can say is to give it a shot. It may very well be plenty of filtration. I just think a FX5 would be a good idea in the future. :-)