Need Filter Advice

L

lin

AC Members
Nov 6, 2009
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Just a few days at this site and I've learned so much about fish keeping . . . thank you. I've realized that I need an additional filter for my tank based on aqadvisor.com's paramaters.
I have a 46 gal. FW with platies, tetras, mollies . . . total 34 fish. My filter is a Marineland penguin 350 w/ bio-wheel.
My question/s: What filter (or anything else) would you recommend to supplement the Penguin 350 . . . and any other advice to offer??? I understand, if that's right, that 2 filters can "compete" against one another if not done correctly..???

I apologize for not being able to give credit to the member who had the info. for aqadvisor.com . . . but I spent all night just selfishly "gobbling" all this info. on this forum . . . like an addict.
Thank you
 
I have two penguin 200's on my 60 gal...it all depends on your specific situation.

How are your water parameters? Is your water cloudy? Do you have plants?

If you're dead set on getting a new filter, you should have two of the same rating (gallons per hour) or the stronger one will compete. Plus, if one breaks you have one going to give you time to replace it w/o an emergency trip to the store.

Welcome to AC!
 
lin said:
I understand, if that's right, that 2 filters can "compete" against one another if not done correctly..???
Click to expand...

trigiver01 said:
If you're dead set on getting a new filter, you should have two of the same rating (gallons per hour) or the stronger one will compete.
Click to expand...

huh?!?! i'm gonna have to claim ignorance on this one. how are we competing here. are you guys just talking about circulation in the tank or actually one filter doing all the work or what? i run a cascade 1000 and a whisper 30/60 on one tank with no issues. my other tank runs a fluval 1 plus and an airpump with lots of sponges with no issues either. i say as long as you don't have the inputs next to each other and the flow is uniform (uni-directional) i see no problems with it. maybe i'm a blundering idiot for not knowing better by now... idk?
 
I like the aqua clear HOB lines + they are reasonably priced for the performance you get vs. other brands & vs. canisters.

try www.kensfish.com.

welcome to AC.
 
I don't think you will have to worry about the filters "competing". No need for the filters to be matched.
 
As far as competing goes - I've read on here where a few people have had trouble with multiple filter situations in which the stronger filter, since it out-competes the slower one, gets an uneven share of gunk and therefore clogs more often than if it had been in a balanced placement.

I've only had 4 tanks in my experience, and my largest is the only one that has two filters (2 x Penguin 200) and they're placed on opposite ends of the tank (it's 4' long). No problems here.
 
Thats not "competing"....its is normal....a functional of fluid flow.
 
I have 2 filters on most of my tanks & like sushiray I like Aquaclears. An AC 50 would probably be a good addition. Those & weekly water changes of 30-40% & you should be good.
 
I have to agree with RBishop.

You can place as many filters in a tank as you like.
They will all take up the amount of waste that they would operating normally.

Maybe if there was some excessive flow or something smaller filters might have a problem sucking in particles and such, but it seems like it would have to be pretty extreme.
 
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