45 Gallon questions, filtering

[SpeedEuphoria]

Well I guess I'm getting a 45gallon tank for free here soon. I'm pretty excited about it, just want to actually do research before getting fish and setting it up. Compared to my current learn on the fly/evolving tank

I will deff want to have plants but its going to be a low tech setup since so far its not going to be at my house, it will be at my GF's house. I have not even seen this tank yet so not sure what kind of lighting it has or if its just the tank. So I guess it could just be a nonplanted tank, I'll know more when I know exactly where its location is going to be and after I see what comes with it. I'm not sure what the stock is going to be yet either, I need to go look around at my LFS to see the possibilities. I would consider GBR's and maybe a couple loaches and the 1st stock will prob be some RCS if my population takes off in my 10G(yeah I know the RCS will get eaten, kinda depends on how many plants I can put in it depending on the setup)

I know most of you would prob suggest a canister filter for a 45gallon tank(36" tank AFAIK). I hear good things about the about the Rena Filstar's and price seems OK I think many would use an XP3 for this size(which may be slight overkill). This tank is going to be a budget setup, so I was wondering if a XP1 would be OK, or possibly even 2 AquaClear HOB's, like 2 50's or 2 70's.

I'm a newbie at much of this stuff so I assume that the canister filters have a pump in them. Not sure how powerheads work either, do they come with a pump? or do you buy an extra pump b/c the powerhead is just a flow director/outlet?


Can I hear your thoughts on this please.

Thanks in advance

[neilanh]

I'd recommend an XP2. I don't think an XP1 would cut it. I run a XP3 on my 46 and love it, but believe the 2 would do ok as well.

A pair of HOBs would work ok too, or even a single, larger one.

Yes, canisters have a pump, as do powerheads. The difference for powerheads is that there's no filtration, it's purely for flow.

[SpeedEuphoria]

Thanks Neilan, what size HOB would be OK? Would a single AC 70 be OK? I'm kinda leary of a single on a 36" tank but that would be my proffered option for now till I know more.

If it ends up at my place then I will deff get a canister, prob an XP2. And it will be highly planted, w/ CO2 in the future, ect..

[haykay]

I absolutly love my rena, you could get and xp1 and a HOb for "backup" My goal is to have all my tanks this way soon!
I plan to get a rena for all my tanks over 30 gallons soon! (which really only leaves it to one!lol but I'd like to run 2 on my 125 and a hob to harbor all that yummy bacteria

[FishEggs]

I have a 40 gal tall planted tank which is 36" wide and run a single AquaClear 50 on it with a power head to give it some circulating current. i started out with just a few plants and no power head and didnt seem to have any problems and now it's heavily planted. you can see what it looks like in my profile albums. the light i use is a 2 x 39 watt t6ho which is just about 2 wpg.
If you're worried about water flow i think 2 AC50s would be quite sufficient and way cheaper than a canister. Some powerheads you can make into a filter with a cylindrical sponge that goes onto the intake but i just took some bonded filter pad material and sewed to sides together to fit over the intake basket and whahlah instant filter.