Wondering if I have the proper filtration.

[hillbillyamber]

I inherited a Eheim Professional 2 canister filter with the 180 gallon tank I got. I was planning on sponge filters. I had some older heaters that seem to only be able keep the tank at 82 degrees and no warmer, so my questions are...
a. What is the best for my tank? Still trying to figure out what I am doing size wise for my discus.
b. What will go best for filtration with sand driftwood and eventually a few live plants?
c. Can I use carbon or not? I have never used a canister filter before. How many sponge filters will I need?
d. How many heater and what wattage would you recommend? Thanks in advance.
Also It looks as though I am going to get a free tank soon. Not sure of the dimensions, but at least a 55 gallon. any impute is welcomed.

[discuspaul]

Filtration is largely a matter of preference/choice for many discus-keepers. Not familiar with an Eheim Professional 2 canister but I would expect it would do a good job combined with a couple of sponge filters.

Your 180 gal tank could easily easily keep 16 to 20 large, near adult or adult discus, but would perhaps be too large, unless divided, if you're planning on growing out young smaller discus.

For heating, I'd suggest getting 2 - 300 watt Eheim Jaeger calibrated heaters, with one backing up the other. They'll heat to over 90 F if need be.

No need to use carbon in a discus tank. You could use Purigen if you're looking looking for very good water clarity.
Hope this helps somewhat.

[Eddie]

Filtration is largely a matter of preference/choice for many discus-keepers. Not familiar with an Eheim Professional 2 canister but I would expect it would do a good job combined with a couple of sponge filters.

Your 180 gal tank could easily easily keep 16 to 20 large, near adult or adult discus, but would perhaps be too large, unless divided, if you're planning on growing out young smaller discus.

For heating, I'd suggest getting 2 - 300 watt Eheim Jaeger calibrated heaters, with one backing up the other. They'll heat to over 90 F if need be.

No need to use carbon in a discus tank. You could use Purigen if you're looking looking for very good water clarity.
Hope this helps somewhat.

+1

[DerekFF]

Just fyi paul i believe the eheim pro models have heaters built into them. I havnt seen new ones in years.....i think theyre no longer made if im not mistaken. They did work well though and cost a lot too lol

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[discuspaul]

Thanks for the info, Derek - I'd never heard of Eheim Pro canisters, but anything Eheim made would likely be pretty good.
And they had a built-in heater ?
I wonder if hillbillyamber could answer that ?

[hillbillyamber]

I will have to check it out, will let you know when I figure the dumb thing out! LOL!

[hillbillyamber]

No heater in the filter.

[hillbillyamber]

Okay, I have gone through all my stuff. 180 gallon Tank is filled and I have tried everything to see what is working etc. I have an Eheim Prof 2 canister , 2 internal Eheim or Pickup filters, & a Wisper hang on back filter rated for 55 gallons. The driftwood turned my water brown. So I took the one piece out as it seemed soggy. Decomposing maybe. The other was nice and hard. No gravel or sand yet, bare bottom. Can I ditch the Wisper? I was told my Eheim canister wasn't big enough from LFS. gonna check out the heater that was recommended.

[Trier20]

This is what I use in my 90g tank. I run a cascade 1000 and two sponges rated for a 75g tank. In my cascade I have a tray of bio balls and two sponges. Just bio media. I use a sponge as a pre filter on my canister. This helps by keeping crap(literally) out of the canister. I highly suggest using some sort of pre filter. Just food for thought.

[hillbillyamber]

So, i make it so that my filter sucks through a sponge first? Did i see a post on this? My LFS said not to do this. Any idea why?

[Trier20]

So, i make it so that my filter sucks through a sponge first? Did i see a post on this? My LFS said not to do this. Any idea why?

I see NO reason not to do this. Doing daily water changes keeps your water clean. Without a predicted your canister would suck all the crap and food inside it. Even though your tank would appear clean all the water has to pass through the festering crap and food. This is why pre filters are important. Plus it's cheaper and you don't have to buy expensive filters from your LFS. I might see that as why they would tell you this. I'm not saying all places don't care but remember they are there to maximize their profit where they can. They would rather see your fish and tank suffer to keep you coming back. Yes you have probably seen a few posts on this. I started one called "Not consciences about pre filters" there are a lot of different methods. I prefer a sponge with smaller pores to catch more junk. What you do is up to you but I do highly suggest one! HTH!

[GrayLadyPat]

a short note: You had asked about carbon...

I only use carbon in my canisters to remove leftover medication. Carbon is a chemical filter. Whether you believe it can leach back into the tank or not, all it does is remove certain chemicals from your water.

It took some time for me to get over my fear that not having carbon would be detrimental, but since my increased water changes keep the water clean, and it is simply not needed as it is in a normal community tank...

[DiscusLoverJeff]

You could always get 2 Fluval 406 canisters or 2 Rena XP's. I use them both and have hand really good luck. They have many different media choices available to give you the mechanical, biological and chemical filtration options. Google them and see the difference they can make.

[MSD]

I have used both of these filters and by far the Fluval 406 (newest model) is the only choice. The Rena has a propensity to leak, especially from where the cord attaches to the motor in the pump head. The 406 primes in 4 pumps of a small primer plunger, has great filtering capacity and is simple to service and upkeep.

[Cocobid]

On one of my tanks that will soon hopefully become a discus tanks a 55g, the end has a full piece of poret rigid foam that is about 3-4" and a small space behind the foam a void area about an inch or two that I have the intake for the Eheim. This way you are really tripling your bio abilities without dirtying up your Eheim. The poret acts like a black end wall. That said another tank 60g has same filter 2028 it has a large tall cube of poret, the intake has a lot of openings rather than your standard open with strainer attached. Both do the same thing, but in different ways. It intakes the water through the poret. This creates a tremendous amount of pristine water and bio nirvana. The Europeans use air driven Poret filters and that really is about all they use!!!! Just an idea to help with the large tank without going to the expense of adding another large Eheim.
Good Luck and get us some pics up :) Karen

[hillbillyamber]

Any thoughts on the FX5 as a replacement?

[MSD]

The FX5, which I had on a reef tank, is a great filter. Just make sure the tank can handle the flow which is very high.

[hillbillyamber]

Its a 180 gallon, eventually have full grown discus in it I hope.

[Gaber]

Hello bro
i have a 238G tank i used to run only the filter Eheim professional 3 1200XL but its not enough flow for the tank cause its wide 3 meter tank
i used to run the tank for a year with that filter only with american cichlids -strong monsters-
with Discus i added another cheap canister external filter i bought it for 120$ made in china clled Minj or something unknown like this but its fine with the ehime its 2400 liters/h holding 4 baskets for the material
i also added two sponge filters connected to a 1000 liter/hour air motor which is so important as a bio filtration and also oxygenating the water

i suggest you add two sponge filters connected to a really strong motor i think that will be fine with your filter now and if you can add another canister filter even if not so strong that will be awesome with the sponge and the one you have now

for heat i use 2 EHEIM JAGER Heater 300 and they are hardly giving me the 29c while its set on 30c -but that cause my house is kinda cold here in egypt we dont temp isolate the houses so when its cold out side its cold inside too-
but for you i totally suggest two EHEIM JAGER Heater 300 will do awesome work