Marineland 37 Vs. BioCube 29

J

jsamps

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Oct 20, 2009
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I need some advice on setting up my 1st tank after about a 15 year break. I want a freshwater setup and I'm looking at the BioCube 29 or Marineland Eclipse 37. Aesthitics and looks are important because I have convinced my wife to let me do this in our den, so it needs to look classy not cheesy, I don't have a problem with cheesy personally so hopefully no offense taken.

I was hoping for a well planted tank with possibly a moss wall, a little unsure about the fish I would be putting in there, here are a few that have crossed my mind, of course I realize some of these are not compatible:

 Otocinclus Catfish
Dwarf Puffer or SA Puffer
African Cichlids (maybe too big?)
Tetras
Ghost or Cherry Shrimp
Small Pleco

Here is what I have learned so far:

Eclipse 37:
Bigger tank almost 10 gallons more. It has a Bio Wheel which I like, but heard they make a dripping noise. Regular fluorescent light, No lunar lights. Only 250gph filtration.

BioCube 29:
Sleek design. Compact fluorescent lamps, lunar blue LED lights. Better 316gph filtration. More expensive. Curved Glass Front Corners. Its smaller.

Of course I can just buy a tank and start from scratch, which I'm not excited about, I have a 15+ year old Eheim canister filter that I can break out...

I was also wondering if one of these tanks was louder than the other. Thanks in advance for your help, I am also interested in hearing any advice on what to stock the tank with. Thanks again.

Jimmy
 
I don't have either of the tanks you mentioned but I do have a bio-wheel filter on one of my tanks and the dripping is very quiet after the first couple of days and is actually very calming.

So I would go with the tank that has a bio-wheel because bio-wheels are very good filters when it comes to biological filtration.
 
in my personal experience, i am not a fan of the biowheels. I had a penguin 200 on a 20 gal, and i had a penguin 350 on my 46 for a while. Both biowheels never seemed to keep the water clear for me.

IMO, i would buy things separately. This way you can tailor it to exactly what you want, instead of buying something pre set-up.

What kind of eheim canister? Becuase my 2215 works very well by itself on my 46 bowfront.

I don't know if that was any help, but there's my 2 cents
 
stratusfearrr said:
in my personal experience, i am not a fan of the biowheels. I had a penguin 200 on a 20 gal, and i had a penguin 350 on my 46 for a while. Both biowheels never seemed to keep the water clear for me.

IMO, i would buy things separately. This way you can tailor it to exactly what you want, instead of buying something pre set-up.

What kind of eheim canister? Becuase my 2215 works very well by itself on my 46 bowfront.

I don't know if that was any help, but there's my 2 cents
Click to expand...


Yes it's very helpful, I have an Eheim 2217 perhaps its too much filtration, if there is such a thing.
 
no, too much filtration is never bad. On my forty six bowfront, i have an eheim 2215, and a fluval 305. Thats about 10x turnover an hour. The only issue you might run into with the 2217 on a 35 gal or so would be too large of a flow for your fish. However, this is easily fixed by getting those double tap valves, and slowing you output flow from time to time. Also, eheim classics are AMAZING filters. Im trading my fluval in so i can have two eheims.

Most seem to reccomend atleast a 5x turnover by your filter per hour. Also, over filtration allows you to have a bigger bio load. aka, you are allowed to put more fish in your tank without having to worry about the bioload messing up your nitrates and nitrites (not 100% sure which one is affected more).

Jake
 
stratusfearrr said:
in my personal experience, i am not a fan of the biowheels. I had a penguin 200 on a 20 gal, and i had a penguin 350 on my 46 for a while. Both biowheels never seemed to keep the water clear for me.

IMO, i would buy things separately. This way you can tailor it to exactly what you want, instead of buying something pre set-up.

What kind of eheim canister? Becuase my 2215 works very well by itself on my 46 bowfront.

I don't know if that was any help, but there's my 2 cents
Click to expand...

The Bio-wheel won't keep the water clear of everything, that is the filter flosses job.

The Bio-wheel is for removing ammonia and nitrites by allowing lots of benificial bacteria to grow on the filter media and then allowing them to have access to more oxygen by spinning and exposing the bacteria to air.
 
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Jspigs said:
The Bio-wheel won't keep the water clear of everything, that is the filter flosses job.

The Bio-wheel is for removing ammonia and nitrites by allowing lots of benificial bacteria to grow on the filter media and then allowing them to have access to more oxygen by spinning and exposing the bacteria to air.
Click to expand...


Ill clarify: the biowheel filter, with its simple cartridges and all, i found to be not evry efficient. Within hours of adding a canister filter, my water cleared. The eheim classic canisters are quite the amazing series of filters.
 
Did you cycle the tank/filter?

EDIT: What I am trying to say is the Bio-wheel is extremely good for Biological filtration which many people agree is the most important kind of filtration.
 
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yes, the biowheel is good for biological filtration. However, IMO, its creates too much surface agitation and does a sufficient job with clearing the water. It doesnt get rid of any of the small particles in the water.

On the other hand, canister filters with micron ppads do an excellent job at clearing up the water, and keeping it clear.
 
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