Best Filter for Discus and for my money!

[ekurutz]

I'm currently planning a tank upgrade from a 20 gallon to a 55 gallon and I'm wondering what filtration system is the most ideal for my Discus, and which also fits into my price range (I plan on spending no more than $150, but if there is one that is much cheaper that works just a well as a more expensive I'd definlte choose the cheaper option). Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[alpine]

Aquaclear 110 and two hydro IV s.
Enjoy that new Big Tank !
Roberto.

[tacks]

Hi if you go to the auction section you will see one there and at a great price HTH ed

[gotfish?]

i would go for of the classic ehiem canisters(ehiem 2217), I THINK its the best bang for your buck. so if ever you feel like upgrading your 55 someday, the ehiem should be sufficient for the most part

my two cents

[ekurutz]

Aquaclear 110 and two hydro IV s.
Enjoy that new Big Tank !
Roberto.

What exactly do you mean by two hydro IV s?

[Eddie]

Basic sponge filters, see the link. They are the best it really depends on what your situation is. Is your tank gonna be bare bottom, how many fish do you have, what size?

http://www.aquariumguys.com/hydrosponge1.html?productid=hydrosponge1&channelid=FROOG

Eddie

[aquadiva]

I love the Aqua-Clear 110 filter. It works fantastic and is so easy to maintain! :smash: I also have a large hydro sponge filter which is an excelllent addition to any tank. :thumbsup: If you have a cultured sponge filter going, you can also use that to "cycle" a new tank if you should start another one up. In addition, I have a Rena XP 4 cannister filter. It runs great, not sure how it compares to Eheim's etc. :confused: My HOT Magnum cannister filter is used to polish the water.

Lots of good filters out there, these are just the one's I have and they seem to be doing a good job. I am curious as to what other's think of the Rena XP4 cannister compared to other cannisters?

:sun: Anna

[1077]

Emperor 400. It's economical, easy to service and get parts for, and provides outstanding surface area for bacteria (good kind) to colonize. IMHO

[wow_it_esploded]

The magnum 350 Pro System (with the biowheels) costs a $109.99 at petsolutions.com and (sometimes) you get a free marineland t-shirt! Turns over 350 gph and had great mechanical media. Couple that with 2 extralarge biowheels with spraybars and you have a very very nice filter. Cheap and easy to clean.

The rena filstar canisters are good too, cheap (but high quality).

Of course, you could get the ultimate canister filter, the Fluval FX5. $200 shipped from ebay (new, not used) and it is the most bang for it's buck, for real. It turns over 607 gph when it is full of media, 950 when empty. Most filter companies rate the flow on the box at the empty speed. While fluval gives you both (btw, this is the only fluval filter I would ever consider purchasing. Period. Just because they are normally known for expensive media, high cost, and suckish products. The FX5 breaks this streak).

Hob filters are another story, I like emperors and aquaclears. Emperors are especially good for bio because of the biowheels, but are expensive for the quality (which is mid to low grade IME).

Aquaclear filters are very expensive (unless you know where/how to buy them, see link and instructions below) but are the quietest filter and they have the highest flowrate of any HOB. Except for the sound of water (yah, water, who guessed that an aquarium would sound of water! haha) there is no noise. No deep backtone that you can hear from the emperors, or vibrations from anywhere else. If you want the aquaclears for cheap, I mean cheap, go to DFS (http://www.doctorsfostersmith.com) and search in the search box (on the left nav bar) "aquaclear". You will get a few results, including aquaclear powerheads. Find the filters (they are grey) and scroll to the bottom. Find the model that you want and copy the model number. Paste it into the search box, but (this is the important part to get to the second listing) change the D in the number to a K. This will bring up a page with the filter again, scroll to the bottom, enter how many you would like to purchase, and press "Add to cart". Checkout and whablamo. The Aquaclear 110 (former 500) is 33.99 with this listing and 79.99 with the default one. DFS made a second page with the aquaclears on it for some reason, but it works for me!

On another forum that I frequent (Ofish (http://www.oscarfish.com)) the rule of thumb for filtration is:
10x per hour tank turnover for HOB filters
4x per hour tank turnover for Sumps
4x per hour tank turnover for Canisters

This allows good water movement and superior filtration. Though this is the rule of thumb, the messy fish (oscars and discus are both very messy. the oscar because of it's size and the discus because of how much it is fed and the straight intestinal tract) we deal with on a daily to daily basis make those rules of thumb really the minimum. I have a sump with wet/dry running about 500gph, a magnum 350 pro, and an emperor running on my main tank. Guess what size it is! 125, 150, 180??? No, 75.

Hope my rant has given at least a smidge of help! (though, if nothing else, it has shown you where to get cheap HOB filters!)