Filtering suggestion for my 29 gal?

[Jherr]

I currently have a HOB Cascade 150/200 filter on my 29 gal, and one of those undergravel filters. Im looking to upgrade to something better, what would you all suggest?

Also, I have never had any heaters in my tanks because I live in South Florida, and it's rarely cold down here, but would you suggest having one anyways?

 

[dax29]

I would get rid of the UGF and get an additional HOB. I like Aquaclears and Penguin's new BioWheels. I don't know about a heater. I'd get one, probably a 200 watt, just to be safe.

 

[Guest]

take out the UGF, those things are NOTHING but trouble.
I live in FL also and i keep a heater in mine becasue my house temp is usually around 75 degrees and i like to keep my tank at about 78 for my angels. But i always have to leave the thermostat really low to keep it from overheating.. when i first put it in, i heated the aquarium up to 85. 8O

 

[Blazeherd2306]

Get rid of that UGF. All they do is collect waste and they are a pain to clean out...I know from experience. Like Dax29 said, get another HOB, preferably an Aquaclear or a Penguin. I live in Cocoa, Florida (Central Florida) and I always use heaters for the Winter months (to be on the safe side) and take them out for the summer months.

 

[severum mama]

I agree that you should ditch the UGF. I use the Aquaclear 70 on my 29 gallon tank and I would recommend it if you want to stick with the HOB type. It's really quiet for a HOB, has a large media chamber, and you can order it cheap online.

 

[Jherr]

damn, I'll get rid of that UGF asap. Thanks for the info guys. I'll be checking online for one of those penguin filters

 

[gheitman]

I would suggest going with the Penguin BIO-Wheel 200 power filter for a 29 gallon tank. I use just the Penguin BIO-Wheel 170 on my 29 gallon tank and it performs flawlessly. Of course a lot does depend on how heavily stocked your tank is and what size fish you have. I concur that getting rid of the UGF makes sense, especially if you have live plants.

A heater also makes sense depending on what fish you have and what temperatures they can tolerate. Have you checked to see what temperature your tank drops to? Even if the heater is only used occasionally it still makes sense to have once for those unseasonably cold nights.

 

[Jherr]

Well I bought 2 Marineland Penguin 150B Power Filters, and a 200 watt heater. Currently, my tank is in a mess. I lost 2 loaches, and 2 tetras in the past 4 days due to a nasty ich breakout. Ive been treating it with a chemical called Ich Attack to see if I can save the 3 tetras that are left. Whoever survives, is going in my 10gal QT tank, while I remove the UGF from the 29 gal, as well as clean everything out, and recycle the tank.

 

[dax29]

Gosh. That does sound like a mess. Sorry to hear about the problems but you should be more able to do battle with ich with that 200 watt heater. You should also like those 2 Penguin 150s. Mine are all super quiet. Do you have a good thermometer? You will need one for future ich battles b/c you will need to crank the heat up to between 86 and 90F for about 2 weeks and maintain it. Adding aquarium salt in addition to the heat helps fight ich too. I'm not too sure about that Ich Attack stuff. I tried some malachite green once when I got impatient but immediately did a big water change and added carbon to get rid of the malachite green. I was scared the malachite green would hurt the fish, especially my loaches. Good luck.

 

[severum mama]

Good idea, you'll be thanking yourself for buying the 2 Penguins if one of them ever quits on you. Good luck saving your tetras, have you checked the article on this site for treating ich?