I have a filter question please

[Bosk]

Greetings,

I've recently started getting into the aquarium hobby having owned a small 2 gallon tank with a single male Betta in it for the past month.

I would like to expand to a larger tank with more fish, and plan on buying a very stylish 60cm x 20cm x 25cm tank (8 gallon i think?) at my local fish shop next week.


I am not using a filter or water heater in my current tank and eveything seems fine, but i know i'll need both for the new one.

Problem is this tank will be kept in my bedroom, only a metre or so away from the bed so I'm worried the noise from the filter will disturb me.
Being a bit of an audiophile i'm very sensitive to sound and want to get the *quietest* filter i can.


After reading a little on this board and others, the three options i was considering were the Aquaclear Mini, Eheim Canister Classic 2213 and Eheim Canister Ecco 2232.

Cost isn't a consideration so long as i get the quietest, most suitable filter for the new tank but I'm not sure if these models will be too large/powerful?
I've also read that the Canister filters are more trouble for a newbie like me to setup and of course they are much more expensive.


Thanks for reading, any advice would be really appreciated

 

[jersysman]

The Eheim is not really that hard to set up and prime. What size tank are you thinking about getting? The would determine what model Eheim you should get. The Eheim is the quietest filter that is out there IMO. My best friend has one and you don't even realize that it is running. I think that you can't go wrong with this filter.

 

[mattrox]

I am not sure that a canister is the way to go with that small tank (Surfs Up) . The fish might be pushed around by the flow a bit. You may be able to get a very small internal power filter, but in my experience thay don't last too long (cheap and nasty) .

I had an Aquaclear mini. It isn't loud, but you will hear water trickling. On the plus side you could adjust the flow rate so your fish won't get blown out of the tank. If you adjust the tank water level so the filter is not creating any "waterfall" it will be quietest. Ceratinly quieter than a pump.


Here is an Eheim version of the hang on back, it looks cheaper. Don't know anything about it though.
http://www.aquaria.com.au/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/6_34_42/products_id/4636

Whatever you do, shop around.

 

[Bosk]

The Aquaclear sounds ideal, I'm just concerned over the noise level.. if i have to spend four times as much on an Eheim to get total silence i think it would be worth it.

Still, I don't like the idea that the Eheim might be a bit too powerful.. 8 gallons isn't a really large tank and I wouldn't be planning to upgrade to anything larger in the forseeable future.

Just wondering though, seeing as I was planning to buy online in any event what are people's opinions on www.aquaria.com.au?
Are they trustworthy, prices competitive etc.? I'm very new to all this and want to make sure I buy from a reputable dealer

 

[mattrox]

There are the 4 online retailers that I have found. I have used 2 of them and not had any problems. You can check out prices too. They have sales sometimes and you might get a bargain.

http://www.equarium.com.au/store/
http://www.aquaticlifeaquariums.com.au/
http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/index.htm
http://www.aquaria.com.au/catalog/index.php?cPath=6

 

[Bosk]

Thanks very much for those links, I'm going to do a huge fish-shop-surfing-marathon

One further question though, is it generally a bad idea to buy fish online?
I'm not sure I like the idea of buying a fish i can't inspect personally but I'm guessing one could find rarer & more exotic fish online than in the local stores.

 

[kaaikop]

Welcome to AA!
I am also an audiophile, and can understand your concern
Any kind of un-wanted noise just kills me! (my tank is in my listening room...)
Get an Eheim! (the smallest you can find) these are the BMW of filters, they are
very quiet, and some of em I think you can "reduce" the flow, but hey, why don't
you get a little larger tank? say 20, 30 gals. you wont regret it. The smaller a tank
is, the harder it is to keep it healthy IMO.

 

[asaint]

With an 8 gallon tank a hang on the tank filter would be ideal. I think a canister filter might be a bit much for such a small tank.

Enjoy your new bigger tank.

Asaint

 

[Bosk]

Cheers for the welcome

Actually I would love to get a larger tank, particularly as that'd allow me to keep some of the larger fish (I heard all about Oscars at my local fish shop and would love to try them) but we are *very* cramped for space right now and the 8 gallon I've picked out is about as large as I can go.

Regarding filters I'm inclinded to lean towards the Eheims, mainly because I'm using an Eheim 1048 pump in my PC's watercooling setup and I know they have a great reputation as far as pumps go - pretty much the quietest magnetic pump you can get.

I'd love to hear from someone who's tried one of their cartridge filters in say a 10 gallon tank so I can be sure I won't be creating a whirpool in there

I've checked and the cheapest Eheim cartridge is also around 3 times the cost of the Aquaclear Mini. Although I said cost is no object I would naturally like to put my money to best use and I don't think I'd be comfortable forking out the extra for the Eheim unless I knew it was a genuine step-up from the Mini.


Oh and thanks for all your comments so far this newbie really appreciates them!

 

[asaint]

There is a review of the Eheim cartridge filter (Liberty filter) at this link;

http://www.cloudytanks.com/reviews/filters/eheim.htm

Best of luck,
Asaint

 

[severum mama]

I've heard some not-so-great things about the Eheim Liberty filters. I would go with the Aquaclear if I were you, I use 2 of them and have found them to be very quiet. Plus, you don't have to change filter cartidges because they use a foam block instead, which you can just rinse out in tankwater every month or so during a water change.

 

[extremenewb]

I've used http://www.aquaticlifeaquariums.com.au/ and http://www.aquaria.com.au and both did the job for me. THe first when I wanted the cheapest price, the 2nd when I wanted a specific item.

Maybe try a sponge with a good quality air pump?

 

[zilla870]

After reading a little on this board and others, the three options i was considering were the Aquaclear Mini, Eheim Canister Classic 2213 and Eheim Canister Ecco 2232

go with the aquaclear

 

[czcz]

I've moved over 200gph through 8g. Currently 140gph (measured) to keep it calmer for some new fish If youre doing a kuhlii loach or like tank it will work. You can see pics and log of this tank in link in my sig if you want. I originally used just 100gph (rated, not measured) Cascade HOB and was very happy with it. Aquaclear, etc would also be good if HOB is preferable -- keep output of filter below water line to keep it quieter. You could also do natural tank (plants as filter, no noise) - search TankGirl's posts for pics of her pretty 5g if you want inspiration