:hi: Could someone give me a couple of suggestions on a good filter for a 55 Gallon Tank? I'll be purchasing a 55 gallon this summer and want to keep african cichlids. I've looked at the Emperor brand with the bio wheels and have heard some good reviews on them so far. Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated!!
Filter Suggestions for a 55 Gallon Tank
- Thread starter TinaMarie33
- Start date
I have a 55 with africans and put two Emperor 400's on it. Love them. Never have hight test results. And anyone who tells you that they are too loud are doing one of two things wrong.
1, they are leting the water level in their tank get to low or...
2, they are not seeding the impeller correctly when puting it together.
Go with the Emps and load those media baskets full of Seachem Matrix or ceramic media!
1, they are leting the water level in their tank get to low or...
2, they are not seeding the impeller correctly when puting it together.
Go with the Emps and load those media baskets full of Seachem Matrix or ceramic media!
I was looking at a 55 Gallon that came with an Emperor 300 (or 330??) and was considering adding an Emperor 400 to it. Do you think that would be enough filtration?
Just depends. If you get africans to put in it you (IMO) need to "overstock" it because it disperses aggression. With that you have more fish and more fish do-do. Africans already poop a lot (I have Mbuna and look out!) so the more filtration the better! Lots of water changes too!
Good luck with you new tank!
Good luck with you new tank!
I have Filstar xp2 on my 55 gal. I think if you were planning a heavy bioload you might want to go with an xp3. I have plants in my tank and am pleased with the filtration. I had 2 of the Emporer 400 biowheels on the tank before and am much happier with the results with the Filstar.
True..if you keep the tank topped off, you get less splash noise, but why sweat it? If I get some evaporation..which I do between weekly water changes, I have my return spraybar below the water surface..no noise.
Also...the coment about having the impeller properly seated is true. But once they get some age on them you need to get new impellers, they get noisey. I bought 2 at the same time. One crapped out way before the other one. I also has one that was hard to get reprimed for some silly reason. To reprime, you have to pour water into the part on the back, and I was rather sloppy at times and ended up dumping water behind my tank.
I think cleaning cannisters is much easier. To clean a hang on back you have to lift it over the tank..the cord is dragging...the intake tube hanging off...rather messy. With the cannister you just flip a leaver, the intake/outake tubes are disconnected, you unplug the thing and take it to the sink and break it down.
Now that said...I've only had this going for a couple of months and don't have the wear on the cannister that I did on the Emporers. I had them going for about 3 years before the great kitchen remodel disaster that made me take my tanks down.
What I would like that neither does is to skim the surface and clean it. I'd be interested in hearing suggestions for that.
True..if you keep the tank topped off, you get less splash noise, but why sweat it? If I get some evaporation..which I do between weekly water changes, I have my return spraybar below the water surface..no noise.
Also...the coment about having the impeller properly seated is true. But once they get some age on them you need to get new impellers, they get noisey. I bought 2 at the same time. One crapped out way before the other one. I also has one that was hard to get reprimed for some silly reason. To reprime, you have to pour water into the part on the back, and I was rather sloppy at times and ended up dumping water behind my tank.
I think cleaning cannisters is much easier. To clean a hang on back you have to lift it over the tank..the cord is dragging...the intake tube hanging off...rather messy. With the cannister you just flip a leaver, the intake/outake tubes are disconnected, you unplug the thing and take it to the sink and break it down.
Now that said...I've only had this going for a couple of months and don't have the wear on the cannister that I did on the Emporers. I had them going for about 3 years before the great kitchen remodel disaster that made me take my tanks down.
What I would like that neither does is to skim the surface and clean it. I'd be interested in hearing suggestions for that.
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