Filters and heaters

[Erynn]

Hi everyone,

Ok so with this 30 gallon I bought I got an Aquaclear mini (ha!), a Fluval 3 which I have never seen before, and a 100 watt heater.

So my first question.....is anyone familiar with these Fluval filters? How effective are they? I am buying an Aquaclear 300 to go on it instead of the mini and the Fluval.

100 watts....is that enough???? The heater looks kinda crappy so I might just go buy another one. How many watts do I need for a 30 gallon?

Thanks!

[kveeti]

Never used a Fluval.

The heater might be all right. The very general rule is 5 watts per gallon = 150 for yours, but there are other factors involved: how warm the room temperature is compared to how much you plan to heat the water, i.e. 78 degrees for some fish might would not be as hard on the heater as 82 degrees for others.

[RTR]

I have heaters only in my aging vessels and QT tanks. I do have multiple filters and lights on almost all tanks. My house total temp. range is 72-74F over the course of the year, my tanks stay at 76-82F. Heaters would do nothing, so I pulled them all.

[somefinnfishy]

I would just use the two filters you have when one dies buy a match for the one still running twin small HOBs will do a 30 fine clean them alternating weeks.
I'f you buy a heater get a 150W ebo jagger (accept no substitute)

[NJ Devils Fan]

You do not need a cenister for that small of a tank. All you need is an AC 300 or an Emp 280, thats it. No need to have 2 smaller filters, again, the tank is too small to really bother doing that.

As for the heater, 150 watts is sufficient. Tronic heaters are great, give them a try. Buy all of your equipment from Big Al's Online (http://www.bigalsonline.com). It has the best prices guaranteed.

[superstein61]

Originally posted by NJ Devils Fan
. Buy all of your equipment from Big Al's Online (http://www.bigalsonline.com). It has the best prices guaranteed.

Actually NJ - have to disagree with you. Several places offer a guaranteed low price match - and I have found places with lower prices than Big Als on certain things. It just varies. The problem I have with BigAls is I never have rec'd a complete order. you don't learn something is not in stock til your shipment arrives - and they don't provide backorders. So you are screwed on shipping costs if you need what didn't show up and have to order it again.

I would prefer to know upfront if something is / is not in stock - so I will stick with those companies that do this

[NJ Devils Fan]

If you find a price lower anywhere else, they guarantee to beat that price by 5%.

[RTR]

I have never considered any tank too small for a canister or for for multiple filters. I disagree strongly.

[Erynn]

But wouldn't an aqua clear mini and this Fluval thing I have equal an Aquaclear 300????? I will do whichever is a better idea.

[NJ Devils Fan]

Getting 2 filters for a ten gallon tank is completely useless. It just isn't worth it.

[Erynn]

It's a 33 gallon.

[NJ Devils Fan]

I know, I'm just making a point

[somefinnfishy]

He has two small filters allready why buy anything new at all?
the idea of twin filters on a 36"tank is no dead spots nice flow if your AC dies at 10pm (and it will) you dont have a rush to get a new one.Also if you clean one on one week the other the next you'll never run the risk of causing a amonia spike by cleaning your HOB.I only stated if one should DIE he should replace it with a match to the survivor.(future parts)

[somefinnfishy]

Originally posted by Erynn
But wouldn't an aqua clear mini and this Fluval thing I have equal an Aquaclear 300????? I will do whichever is a better idea.
This would be a great debate on which does the beter job single ac 300 or ac mini and fuval3 a toss up on who would win. Since he owns them save his money and buy something else.
My AC 300 I've had 2 yrs replaced the motor already:mad:
No wonder they dont restart after a power out they use the same motor on the mini,150,300 Thats why I like the mini more power.

[superstein61]

Originally posted by NJ Devils Fan
If you find a price lower anywhere else, they guarantee to beat that price by 5%.


Yea, but when they can never ship a complete order, what good is it ;)

If they did backorders with no extra shipping charges, then I would agree with you. But since they don't - any minimal savings you might get on them beating a best price by 5% is eaten up by increased shipping. Just my opinion. FOr instance - I placed an order today for about 12 things thru www.drsfostersmith.com - their site showed 2 items I ordered as out of stock and the date they will have it back in stock. I could order it - pay one shipping charge and they will send the backordered items out for no extra shipping costs when they get them in. And the cost of the items in total are really no different than BigAl - a few are less expensive, a few are more - but not by any significant amount.

If I would have placed the same order with BigAls - I would not know they are out of stock til my shipment arrived and I didn't receive the items. And since BigAls won't ship backorders - I would have to try reordering again, hope they are in stock, and pay another $7 or so in shipping . I have written to their customer service dept about this but basically was blown off saying the website is not always accurate. In this day and age, for a large company like BigAls not to have their web site be able to link and show real time inventory is hard to fathom

[NJ Devils Fan]

You have a point there. I hate it when a company does that.

[dona]

I have always used aqua clear filters and love them.

[125gJoe]

Originally posted by Erynn
.....So my first question.....is anyone familiar with these Fluval filters? How effective are they? I am buying an Aquaclear 300 to go on it instead of the mini and the Fluval......Thanks! Good choices for your 30 gallon. However, I do prefer Filstars over Fluvals. My opinion is that having a HangOnBack and a canister filter is a nice combination of filters. The only time I would not use a HOB is with live plants and CO2 in combination, since the HOB will 'remove' CO2 with it's surface disturbance.

[Philip]

This is for the Big Als -vs- Drs Foster & Smith debate.... I personally like www.drsfostersmith.com much better. Why? They have a much better website and the customer service is great, so far. One thing that truly sucks about www.drsfostersmith.com is that they ship stuff out via FedEx Ground (the old RPS) and it takes forever to get to my house. It shows standard 3 day ground delivery and it can take a week because FedEx Ground doesn't deliver on Monday. I recommend using the guaranteed 1-2 day FedEx Air services.. a little more but I'm impatient. I hate FedEx Ground with a passion!!!

[Heady]

Are canisters as much of a pain as they are made out to be? How do people feel about canisters vs. power filters?

I'm getting a 100 gallon, and I don't want filters that are difficult to maintain because I'm afraid I might put it off too much. Currently use only powerfilters and/or UGF.

[Faramir]

I find my canisters far less of a pain than any other filter I've used.

[Alex]

I found my canisters to be no more work than my HOBs.

Alex