How big a filter for 29 gal tank?

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You want 6x gallons in the tank for gph. Some people will say 4x. It also depends on how often you change the water.
 
Personally, on a 29 gallon, if you were going to go with a Penguin product, I would go with the Penguin 330. I love mine on my 38 gallon, I have had absolutely no problems with it whatsoever. It has two biowheels, perfect for helping cycle another tank if you ever get one, not to mention almost completely silent if you keep your water level at the same place where the water flows back in.

I guess it is up to personal preference, but I have heard there is no such thing as too much filtration. Admittedly, you would be over 10x the gph, but you wouldn't have to worry about poor oxygenation. If I let the water level drop down an inch, I have two streams of water pouring in, and tons of surface disruption. Also, it would pull out impurities and ammonia and nitrite faster. No need to worry about the fish getting sucked in either. All of my fish can swim right by the intake without any apparent exertion.

I would also imagine that the 1" of fish per gallon rule would become a little bit less rigid with that much filtration. Not recommending overstocking, but 29 gallons fills up quick! :)

Paul
 
I put an Eclipse 280 on mine. I felt the penguin 330 (my first choice) was too long for my 29 gallon tank. Initially, I did have a penguin 125 on it and a whisper 10gallon filter at the same time (the whisper filter would be used for QT whenever I needed it). That was when I first started out the tank though and I had to use an "extension" tube because the tube that came with it was not long enough for my 29gallon tank IMO.

I would say 6X or more with HOB filter and 4X or more with canister...atleast that is what I have observed as the consensus among a few people here.
 
The Penquin 125 is rated for tanks up to 20 gallons. If the tank will be heavily planted I would say yes. If not then I would go with a Penquin 170.
 
I am trying to put in 6 tiger barbs , 4 zebra danios and 2 scanvengers of some kind (not decided) yet, will the above filter be fine ? Also its going to be a planted tank. Also will a 150 Watts heater be enough?
 
That list looks pretty good to me. Maybe others have had issues, but I don't think you'll have any problems with that list. You didn't mention which filter you had chosen, but I think the 170 would probably work just fine.
patryuji is right, the Penguin 330 is pretty long, probably half the length of a 29! :)

A 150 watt heater should be just fine. My LFS recommened 50 watts per 10 gallons.

Paul
 
pkremer said:
That list looks pretty good to me. Maybe others have had issues, but I don't think you'll have any problems with that list. You didn't mention which filter you had chosen, but I think the 170 would probably work just fine.
patryuji is right, the Penguin 330 is pretty long, probably half the length of a 29! :)

A 150 watt heater should be just fine. My LFS recommened 50 watts per 10 gallons.

Paul

yes i meant Penguin 170 :)
 
Also I saw in my LFS , that there are 2 type of tiger barbs - small and big(or jumbo) in 2 seperate tanks, are they the same kind as in the small will grow to be big ? :) the small were 2 inches and the bigger ones 3-4 inches..just curious
 
Yes the small will grow big. I have never owned tiger barbs but from what I have seen of their aggressive qualities I don't think you want to mix large and small ones as the larger ones may pick on the smaller ones too much.

I have seen them for sale as small as 1/2" long around here.
 
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