130 Filteration and Lighting Question

lol i missed it too lol.... i would go with marineland c series filters with t5 hagen or better yet tek lighting. what i would do is A stagger the lights so so you have less on the sides and more in the middle or i would just leave the lights in the middle and have lower light plants on the ends.

on tanks that large once you hit 3wpg if your having problems growing something check everything first then lastly the lights. just remember its a lot of work and takes time to understand. might want to start a lower light set up and work your way up.
 
Hi, my definition of high tech would be pressurized Co2, 3 WPG +, Dosing ferts, planting substrate, etc.

I am doing all the reading I can before starting, I currently have a 55 gallon, but it has horrible dimensions for a planted tank.

LOL the sump pictures made me even more scared, I skimmed through the journal thread and it seemed complicated too. IF I did a bad job and it leaked or somthing...I would literally be crying while watching 130 gallon of water fill my house :eek:

I'm going back to read that thread.

So knowing what kind of planted tank I want, what would you say is the best filter option for me? :confused:

Thanks :grinyes:
 
Mgamer20o0 said:
3wpg+ in a 55 is different then a 100+ gal.....

to be fair 130 isnt going to fill a house......

read up on CF and T5 its your best option depending on how much you want to spend.
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:grinyes: It sure is going to feel like it.

Anyway, the main reason I am considering the 130 is because of the dimensions and the fact that I pretty much have to get everything new again (lights, fish, filter, substrate, plants, etc) Why not get a new bigger tank while you are at it?

It was $800 for the tank + stand brand new, good deal imo.

I might start with the 55 to "experiment" or would that be too large of a tank?

I am considering T5 lights, the coralife ones but ....they don't come in 5 ft. :mad2:
 
Kevin007 said:
What would be the best filtration for a 130 Gallon tanked hi tech tank? I have in the past brought alot of stuff that I regret buying because it was "just enough" It left my water with "barely satisfied" I brought a internal Fluval 4 Plus for my 55 Gallon, what a POS that was, so i added another HOB by topfin to add to the filteration. Its still garbage. POS + POS = A bigger POS. So, I will not go that route again. For a 130 gallon which choice would you go with? What about a 55 gallon?

1. Fluval FX5
2. Ehiem 2028
3. Filstar XP4
4. Eheim 2028 + Filstar XP4
5. 2x Filstar XP4

:)

Just curious what advantage there is to mixing brands of filters? Why not 2 x Ehiem 2028, instead of Eheim 2028 + Filstar XP4:confused: Speaking for myself, I'd much prefer to have two of the same brand, unless there was a very marked advantage otherwise.

That aside, Eheim at least (and possibly Filstar and other manufacturers as well) grossly exaggerates the size of tank their filters can handle, at least in the Classic series which I've used.

They claim, for example that a 2213 can handle tanks up to 66 gallons, while most people who use them would not push a 2213 much beyond 30 gallons.

Not sure if they do this in other series as well, but at the very least, I'd take their recommendations regarding tank size as "under the most favorable conditions".
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Kevin here is another option that I find very interesting: notice Tom Barr's filtration on his 180 rimless.

tombarrs.jpg


This is the system plumed out

tombarrs2.jpg


this of course the layout getting a better understanding of the filtration system

tombarrs1.jpg


Tom used two canisters one for Mechanical and the second for Chem Bio this is how he describes it.

"They(OC's) are run in parallel.

Redundancy.

One is mech, the other is Chem and Bio.

If the mech clogs(which they all do), the flow goes to the bio/chem and the pressure goes up, which I can measure and read with the gages.

This design also places less resistance than running things in series.
Also, since I use 2 parallel lines, I can use both of them to make the heater loop and the CO2 loop.

Then they come back together and into the tank again.

You could drill another hole and have 2 independent lines, add 2 pumps etc.

But........I think adding another iwaki pump(or two smaller ones) is not worth the trade off at this size.

I have threaded 1" ball valves right below each bulk head here also, easy to remove, no issues with glue etc, then I have a true union after that, so I can remove any downstream items, also, threaded.
I can use softer reinforced tubing or flexible PVC tubing(Home Depot or Lowes has it), and some Christies blue PVC glue if I do glue anything."

Regards,
Tom Barr


Just on more thing to contiplate.... Might as well if your trying to decide

Troy
 
if you decide that a sump is not the way to go then i would say go with two or three canisters filters for the 130. for the filter Brand i would immediately steer you to the eheim for marineland C series just because those are my two favorite filter.

for lighting just listen o what has been said and give alot of thought to it.

Troy and that is why Tom Barr is one of the best
 
ron521 said:
Kevin007 said:
What would be the best filtration for a 130 Gallon tanked hi tech tank? I have in the past brought alot of stuff that I regret buying because it was "just enough" It left my water with "barely satisfied" I brought a internal Fluval 4 Plus for my 55 Gallon, what a POS that was, so i added another HOB by topfin to add to the filteration. Its still garbage. POS + POS = A bigger POS. So, I will not go that route again. For a 130 gallon which choice would you go with? What about a 55 gallon?

1. Fluval FX5
2. Ehiem 2028
3. Filstar XP4
4. Eheim 2028 + Filstar XP4
5. 2x Filstar XP4

:)

Just curious what advantage there is to mixing brands of filters? Why not 2 x Ehiem 2028, instead of Eheim 2028 + Filstar XP4:confused: Speaking for myself, I'd much prefer to have two of the same brand, unless there was a very marked advantage otherwise.

That aside, Eheim at least (and possibly Filstar and other manufacturers as well) grossly exaggerates the size of tank their filters can handle, at least in the Classic series which I've used.

They claim, for example that a 2213 can handle tanks up to 66 gallons, while most people who use them would not push a 2213 much beyond 30 gallons.

Not sure if they do this in other series as well, but at the very least, I'd take their recommendations regarding tank size as "under the most favorable conditions".
Click to expand...

Simple, ehiem is $300 and the Filstar FX4 isw $200 :grinyes: Which is why there is a 2x Filstar option but no 2x Eheim option.

Oh and how are the canisters Tom Barr is using? Again it requires some plumbing? But I want to make sure I'm on the right track before I get started.

I will read into the Marineland ones right away. I am kinda leaning towards the XP4 because it is cheaper and said to be suited for even larger aquariums? Or is the ehiem better because it doesn't exagerate as much? The ehiem 2028 is rated for up to 160 gallons and the filster xp4 is rated for up to 265 Gallons? The FX5 is rated for up to 400 Gallons, perhaps a FX5 and a XP4/ 2028 combo? I realize how bad the filters exaggerate my HOB and Fluval 4 + is garbage I am never buying another fluval in my life (other then the FX5) .I just want a filter or filter combo that can give me that crystal clear water I've always wanted. No more floating debris in my water.

For light, I'm guessing I will buy a 4 ft one, or maybe 2, I'll look in to the Coralife ones for now.

I guess my plan is to scape the 55 gallon, even though its my first planted tank, I am going to be different from other newbies because I will do all my research before starting.

I also want to thank you guys for the help, great forum, you guys were very helpful in my other help topic too. :headbang2:
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