Newbie with two tanks--filter question

[emmaS]

Hi. Last week my sister (who was moving) gave me her 20 gallon tropical fish tank, with the fish still inside. The tank is about 10 years old--and has one fish who's lived in it all his/her life and 4 others who are currently four. Since then I've been researching as much online as possible.

Two days ago my other sis gave me her 29 gallon aquarium, again w/ everything (food, nets, gravel, decor, filters, etc . . .) except her tank was empty and has been for about 2 years, so no fish. So right now the 20 gallon tank is set up but the 29 gallon is empty.

I noticed the filter looked different on the tanks. The 20 gallon tank has an older Penguin Bio-Wheel 170 on it--but it's missing the hood and wheel. Is the new Bio-Wheel 150 sufficient or should I buy the 200. I also have a package of size C Penguin filter refills (she gave me) for that filter.

The 29 gallon has the Bio-Wheel 125 w/ the wheel and all it's equipment. Is that a good enough filter or should I also get a new filter for this aquarium? If so, should I get the 150 or 200?

And finally, what about if I put the Bio-Wheel 125 onto the 20 gallon tank, and then buy just one new filter for the 29 gallon? Will it matter if I change filters from a tank that's setup to an empty tank?

Okay, thanks!

 

[blackwolfXKAV]

i do not think that the 150 will be sufficient for either.
normally, to much filtration decisions are made on "gph" (gallons per hour, it should say on the package), but seeing as these are both penguins w/ biowheels i would shoot for something that filters the water at at least 29 gallons per hour, if not more. this cycles the water fully at least once an hour.

 

[hmilstead]

The C cartridges are for the Penguin 200 and for those size tanks, I would put a 200 on each. The Penguin 150 takes B cartridges I have one on my 10 gallon). If you go to buy your filters, and you have a Petsmart close - go the Petsmarts online website, print out the pages for the Penguin 200 or whatever you decide to buy and take the printout into the store. Petsmart price matches and their website is very discounted and the filters will cost you much less. Good luck.

 

[coupedefleur]

It depends on what fish you have, how overcrowded they are, and how much you overfeed them.

If you have big messy eaters like rift lake cichlids you will need to over-filter the tank, and rinse out the dirt often. It doesn't do a lot of good to have the filter full of dirt and run high-speed water past it.

Some people do very well with just a little 10-gallon sized filter on a 29 gallon tank, and others would just use an air-driven sponge filter. One of the best angelfish breeders around swears by air-driven sponge filters! The filter people and stores would like to sell you bigger stuff, of course. Some of the plant people don't use ANY filters, but I think it's a good idea to have some water movement past the heater to make a more even temperature.

My philosophy, gained through many, many years of fishkeeping is that you shouldn't run so close to the edge that you need the water roiling to keep the fish alive. If you depend so much on filtration, a short power outage or clogged filter can spell a lot of belly-up fish in a short time. If I have to overcrowd a tank in an emergency I'll put a big filter on it, but I know I'm taking a risk. And if I was keeping coldwater fish like darters that live in fast-flowing streams I'd use a huge filter as well.

 

[Marinemom]

Definetly go to the petsmart website and print out what you want to buy if you can. You will save a considerable amount of money. I just bought a new filter for one of my aquariums because the old filter died and I saved something like $15.00 on it.Although I think that a penguin 200 would work on each of these aquariums, the companies that manufacture these filters tend to over rate the performace of these filters and the GPH is usually based on the filter running with no media in them. Most everyone does run media in thier filters so that lowers the performance and the GPH of these filters. I have a penguin 350 running on my 25 gallon tank and although it may seem like overkill it really is not since so many things need to be taken into consideration when you filter a tank. I like to give my tanks a little more filteration then they technically need so the fish have more oxygen and there is more room to play with so to speak with the filtering needs of the aquarium. I do not believe that you can overfilter a tank. If you do decide to go with the penguin 200 on each of these aquariums then I think that you could run the additional filter that you already have with them.If I were you I would go for a penguin 350 on each of these aquariums. That should keep your fish very happy.

Marinemom