Lifegard system

[lwdiscus]

Hi, everyone,
I'm new to this forum, but not new to fishkeeping or discus. (There are currently 7 tanks running in our house.)
On our current 65-gallon discus tank we have a Fluval 404, plus a Merlin running off one powerhead on an undergravel uplift tube, and a uv running the same way off the other end of the tank. We hate the appearance of the white tubing in the tank, plus all of the other visible equipment.
We are about to set up a 125-gallon tank for more discus, and are seriously contemplating using the Lifegard system for filtration, using their sand filter and the uv unit along with the mechanical and chemical filtering modules and a heater module. We like the idea of everything set up in sequence and no equipment inside the tank. Has anyone had experience with the Lifegard system, and if so, are/were you happy or unhappy with it?
Thanks,
Lisa

[henryD]

Lisa,

I had a lifeguard system. The ones by rainbow? It was nice. Ran pretty smoothly for a number of years. In fact I think the only thing that end up break was the quite one pump. It got replaced. Although I found that it was a good system, I found it to be very expensive. I think you can save money by going the wet/dry. You will not have alot of plumbing inside of the tank and everything could be hidden underneath the tanks just like the lifeguards. I would guess that you can build up more bacteria in the wet/dry system than through the fluided beds. The other benefit of a wet/dry is the maintance are easier IMO.

Henry

Ps. If you are really handy you can build your own wet/dry for around $40-70. Which will save you more money for fish.

[korbi_doc]

:bounce2: :bounce2: Lisa, I agree with Henry, maintenance is much easier with the w/d, & it will be less expensive. I have a w/d on a 90g tank & the Lifeguard system on a 125g. I do like the latter, but I had both left over from SW days & wanted to use them. I am at present going to set up a 110g for growouts. Have AC 500 & sev'l sponge filters for it, but that does put equipment inside the tank. Even with the Lifeguard, one has an intake in the tank & everyone suggests using a prefilter which can be seen. Those & the sponge filters don't bother me, but you could definitely get by with either approach. & I do use the UV in the tanks with no problems, have yet to set it up with the LG, & don't use the fluidized filter at the moment. I just need a helper for all these projects, lol, Dottie