55 Gallon tank filter questions

[Drummer254]

I have a 55 gallon freshwater tank. Currently I am running a Marine Land penguin 150 and an aquaclear 110. I dont really like the penguin, and have been planning on getting rid of it. I also have been wanting to go cannister for quite some time. I purchased a 306 Fluval. I know while establishing the fluval I should leave one other filter running to help "cycle" the new filter. Question is is the 306 enough by its self? Should i keep the aquaclear with the fluval.

I am also interested in getting a UV filter. I am looking at the corallife Turbo twist 3x. As seen here, Ultraviolet Sterilizers | Coralife Marine & Freshwater Aquarium Supplies My question is can I run this off of the 306? Should I run a dedicated pump? Should I upgrade the 306 to a 406 or a G series?

Thanks for any help in this regard. This site it so helpful and thats all because of the great community involved in it.

 

[aqua_chem]

One of these was the first thing that I thought of when I read your post.

The thing about UV is that dose = intensity * exposure. You want anything in the water to be exposed to your UV light as long as possible. If you have a faster current running through your UV unit, it's not going to work as well as a slower speed at the same UV wattage. So, less piping/less effective UV, or more plumbing but better UV results. Mull on that a bit. There's not really a right answer, but it comes down to preference.

 

[Drummer254]

I've seen those but they seemed cheap. PLus I believe that separate components leads to less breaking down at once. If the UV goes on the fritz atleast I still have my filter. So I guess my question is what is the output of the fluval 306, which im sure i can find somewhere, and what is the proper flow for a Turbo twist 3x, which I'm also sure I can find somewhere, if those numbers are too far apart I guess I'll have to look into some sort of Pump which I know nothing about. Also any thoughts on running the 306 by itself with my aquaclear 110, or upgrading the fluval by itself.

Is the G series all its cracked up to be? Is it that much better then the 306 or 406?

 

[aqua_chem]

I'm not familiar with the G series tanks, so I can help you there. I can tell you that the Aquatop filters were initially treated with a great deal of skepticism, and after years of use by hobbyists we haven't really been able to come up with too many complains about them. They stack up well against all the main brands, and for the money they're a great deal.