Newbie 75 gallon - Filter question

[vthokie]

Hi everyone,

I'm in the process of setting up a 75 gallon tank. I had a couple of small tanks when I was about 10 yrs old, but didn't know what I was doing. So for practical purposes I'm a newbie.

Anyway, I've been doing a lot of reading, but still have lots of questions. I'll start with filters.

Currently, I'm considering stocking with one of the following schemes:

1) a school of tiger barbs, a couple of kribs, and maybe a severum, or
2) a school of congo tetras, a couple of kribs, and some upside-down catfish

(opinions on the above stocking schemes will be the subject of another post)


My question is, do I need a canister filter or would an HOB (AquaClear 110) be enough? I'm guessing the bioload would not be too bad to warrant a canister, but would like to hear your opinions.

Besides filtration, my concern with an HOB is noise. With canisters, I've heard that there can be problems during power outages, stuff clogging the tubes, etc.

I would consider having both eventually, but since my wallet is taking quite a hit right now, I'd like to just have one to start off with.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

- JW

 

[Pufferpoison]

well if it were me, i would use two filters on a tank that size one on each end on the back, as i do with my 55G.

If I was setting that up, here's what i would use, A Emperor 400 HOB and a Magnum 350 Pro w/ biowheel setup. about $130 at www.drsfostersmith.com but i do like marineland products.

 

[stingray4540]

I think the 110 would be fine for right now, and IMO they are not noisy at all. I even check to make sure they are on sometimes cause I can't here them. AC's are my favorite, but I also have an emporer 400 that I like alot, but if your going with just one filter the AC filters 500 gph as aposed to the 400 gph of the emporer.

 

[ejk0799]

We are currently running an Emperor 400 and an Emperor 280 on our 75 gallon right now and we are very happy with that. We also run a UV Sterilizer for that little extra.

We have an Aquaclear 50 running on our 37 and having both, I prefer the Emperors.

 

[mykidsmylife]

I run two emperor 280's on my 75 gallon. I also run a Magnum 350 cannister with it. Sometimes I shut the magnum off and just run the two emperors, but I think my water looks cleaner with the magnum. My fish are messy eaters (rainbows, bloodparrots, large corycats and brochis,) and it seems to really keep my water nice and clear.