New 38 Gallon Fancy Goldfish Tank

[Mumma.of.two]

If you can cut the hood to allow for another AC50 that would work. You can run a canister along with the HOB then if needed you can use the HOB as a hospital tank filter. Or upgrading to a AC110 would work also. Its really up to personal choice. If you do replace the filter you will need to run the new one along side the the old one to seed it for about a month or move all the filter media from the old filter to the new one so you don't loose the BB.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Currently in my aquaclear filter I have two bags of biological filtration and one sponge (I removed the carbon filter and replaced it with additional biological filtration). Will this allow me to stay with the aqua clear 50 for my tank?

No, because it's the amount of water flowing through the filter not the amount of media that 'cleans' the water.

 

[ryukins]

If I replace with the aqua clear 110 will the flow be too powerful for the fancies? I am worried they might get sucked into the intake valve. The aqua clear's have adjustable flow rates, so should I set it to low?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

If I replace with the aqua clear 110 will the flow be too powerful for the fancies? I am worried they might get sucked into the intake valve. The aqua clear's have adjustable flow rates, so should I set it to low?

I've never used one personally (too pricey for me) so I can't tell you. I know if you look on YouTube there are clips showing how to fix part of a soda bottle to the outtake to stop the high current but not obstruct the flow from the filter. I like to suggest aquatop canisters. The are cheap and pretty good for what they are. A healthy fish should be able to swim away from a filter intake tube no worries.

 

[jlk]

If the uptake suction seems to be excessive, you can place a piece of filter foam over the end uptake tube to prevent anyone from being sucked up. Not likely to happen, but i did have one of my fancies get stuck to an uptake before. Water will still flow freely through the tube & the foam will be home to additional bacteria.

 

[ryukins]

Some bad news Turns out the aquaclear 110 won't fit in my tank because the length is too long to fit my hood. I really don't understand why the cut out hole is so small on my hood (cutting it larger is not an option).

For canister filters do you require a large hole or can I fit both my aquaclear 50 and also the canister intake and outake in the hole? The hole is about 9 inches wide.

 

[jlk]

You will need to do some measuring to see what will fit. Just a suggestion, but the hood really isnt necessary unless you have a light that sits on top. They make lights that clip/screw on the sides of the tank with brackets- all of my tanks are open without any issues.

 

[ryukins]

Yes the only problem I have with keeping it open is that it is very dry at my place, especially in the winter. My 5 gallon tank evaporates about .5 inch per day and I would like to avoid this with my bigger tank. Yes and my light sits on top of the hood, it is some special LED light that has a day and night mode. For canisters, will it work if the hole is located only on one side of the tank?

 

[jlk]

Ill let Mumma answer this- i dont have any canisters on my tanks! I am just venturing a guess on your light- is it a Marineland LED?

 

[ryukins]

Yes it is a Marineland.. Is that good or bad from your experiences?

 

[jlk]

The night lights are nice but, from my experience, it is useless if you want to keep live plants (except for anubias which will survive but not thrive).

 

[ryukins]

This is what my hood looks like:

http://www.marineland.com/uploadedImages/Marineland/Products/32995 - Open.jpg?n=0.7439788829069585

Does anyone know if a canister filter would fit on this?

 

[KaylNeko]

Canister filters usually only need holes in the back the size of the hoses, so if you have a HOB on there already, I would think the canister hoses will probably work.

 

[ryukins]

Great thanks for the information. Would something like this be a good fit for my tank?

Eheim Ecco Comfort Canister Filter- 2236

Eheim Ecco Comfort Canister Filter- 2236 : Canister Filters

I am open to all suggestions on different canisters to us for my tank size!

 

[jlk]

Eheim makes great products & this would def work! Im sure others will have some suggestions as well.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

If you've got a spare 2-3 inches in your hood a canister will fit. All that needs room is two hoses.

 

[ryukins]

Update:

I just bought the EHEIM classic 2217. It is rated for 159 gallons, so it might be a bit overkill

The price difference between this and the smaller one was only $30 so I think it is worth it in case later I decide to get a bigger tank.

I am going to install the canister and let you guys know how it goes!

I am going to remove the bio bags from the aqua clear and put it in the canister, after that will it be safe to remove the aqua clear and keep just the canister running?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Yep. Just remove all media from the AC to the new one. carbon, sponge, biomax, everything you can fit.

 

[jlk]

I would move any filter media in the old filter to your new filter & you should be good to go! No need to keep both running.

 

[ryukins]

Quick update:

I have had the canister running now for 2 days. I love the filter! It holds so much media and my water is so clear!! The circulation is really good as well and I think my fish are loving it too.

I also added a wisteria and amazon plant to the tank as I read they are fairly easy to care for. So the fish have not started eating them yet but it might be because I had plastic ones?

Some light at the end of the tunnel. My nitrites seem to be finally dropping. They were only .5ppm today before I did the pwc (usually they were 2ppm overnight). I hope this is a sign my tank is finishing the cycle.