I need to buy a new filter system for my 120 gallon freshwater tank. My fish are regular community fish (differnt varieties of gourmis, black shark, plectomus, etc). I had an old Fluval 403 that died. I am trying to avoid the HOB type filter as I do not like the waterfall sound affect. After reading about filters on different forums, would the Rena Filstar XP3 be enough for my tank? I currenlty have a pair of Powerhead 802s for water movement.
I would say that you should be fairly safe with that amount of filtration for a regular community tank. The thing to always look for is the gph rating, not what the manufacturer rates it at as far as tank size.
The XP3 is rated at 350gph, that means that the full volume of water in your 120gal tank should cycle through the filter a little more than 2.5 times every hour. That is a pretty good level of circulation. If your Fluval 404 worked for you (rated at 340gph), then the XP3 should be fine. You might want to get further opinions though since I am still an amatuer compared to many people on this forum.
I have also heard that it is easier to get parts for the RENA filters, but I don't know since I have a Fluval.
BTW, a great place to get good deals on a wide variety of aquarium supplies is...
IMO there is no such thing as too much filtration. (I use a Fluval 204 on my 20gal, cycles it over 5X/hr). But if the tank isn't over stocked it should be fine, I think. It definitely wouldn't hurt to get an additional filter in there though. If you can afford it, I would add another canister filter (perhaps a smaller one like an XP2 or something). If nothing else, you would certainly benefit by at least tossing on an Emperor HOB. If you keep your tank topped off well enough you won't get that "waterfall" sound you are trying to avoid.
A friend ran an XP3 on a 125 gallon pirahna tank and it was fine. But that was only with 4 juveniles.
I think it depends on how numerous your "community" is. I can see that variety of fish being pretty dirty. I have an XP3 on my 55 gallon tank that I consider maxed out. It does fine but I dont know if It could support a fairly fully stocked 120 by itself. I would do the XP3 and another XP1 or a good HOB filter.
If you dont like the waterfall sound you can make an extension onto the output with some thin plastic from a 2 liter or something. I used aquarium sealant to extend one of my HOBs and its always silent now. I only extended it by about an inch.
I just purchased a new Rena Filstar XP3 to replace my Fluval 403. Start up was a breeze and directions seem clear. It appears that it will be easier to restart than my old Fluval after each maintenance. The noise level is practically none existent, as even my wife commented that she didn't know if it was on or not. Hopefully this filter suits the need of my 120 gallons. Thanks to all for the input. Oh, by the way, I printed out Dr. Foster's onlice price of $89.99 and went to my local PetSmart and they matched the price. PetSmart had thiers for $179.99. PetSmart did not even hesitate to sell it to me for $89.99.
better to over filter than underfilter i would think... i ordered a xp3 for my 135gal which it adds to a magnum350, two powerheads rated at about 200gph and a 30gal wet/dry ran by an eheim that is rated at 898gph so after all said and done i should be running close to 2,000gph.
eta: i would probably purchase the xp3 over the xp2 since its only $14 more.
You know, there isn't really such a thing as overfiltration. But would you use a 10,000gph pump to drain a kiddie pool? You can put as much filtration as you want on a tank, but in the end there is only so much that can be filtered. And while mechanical filters do provide biological filtration. Thier main purpose is to remove debris from the tank to make cleaning easier for the owner. There is only so much that can be filtered, regardless of how much filtration you have.
