Extra filtration?

[Wolfy]

Right now I have a 55-gallon tank with one 7" Texas Cichlid and two 4" Silver Dollars, one 5" syndontis cat, and one 4" pimodella cat. For filtration, I have two Penguin 330s with Aquaclear sponges cut to fit and polyester batting stretched across the stripped Marineland cartridges. In the next few months, I plan on trading the fish in to set up an African Cichlid tank. I have been fairly happy with the water conditions. My understanding is that I will stock more fish with Africans, so therefore, I assume that I might want to consider extra biological filtration. Any suggestions on what kind of filter to add? I have tried fluidized bed filters in the past and I was not happy with the results. I have read some posts on UGF, both good and bad. Some of the local LFS actually recommend UGF. The other option I have considered is adding a cannister filter.

Thanks in advance for the advice!

[NickH]

If you are running the Bio-wheels on both Penguins, I find it hard to justify another biological filter. If you must, I would go with a quality canister filter. Use a good prefilter, fill it with biological media, and you are good to go. An Eheim wet/dry canister filter would be ideal, IMO, but a little expensive.

Definitely skip the UGF. They may have a place in planted tanks, but in cichlid tanks they are a mess waiting to happen.

[Wolfy]

NickH,

Thanks for the quick reply. Price is a consideration - funds are limited. Are there any other canister filters that I should seriously consider?

Thanks!

[slipknottin]

I think you should save your money for a larger tank down the line.

Your bio-filtration should be more than adequate.

[Wolfy]

slipnottin,

You are probably right. The two Penguin 330s do a nice job and I never have any problems with the biowheels. Using the polyester batting for filter media (I just recently added the Aquaclear sponges) has drastically reduced maintenance costs. Generally speaking, two power filters are probably fine for a 55-gallon tank.

Thanks!