I need heater/filter recommendations :)

[Sati]

I've decided that you're all smart for going with the 2 heaters, 2 filter per tank idea. For filters, I think it's probably a good idea to do one canister, and 1 HOB per tank. I've never owned a canister filter before, but obviously I want something quiet, reliable, and as economical as can be. Since there are going to be two filters per tank that means I should tone down the filtration a bit and go with some models that combined will provide the right amount of filtration, right? Same goes for heaters?

Here's what I'll need suggestions for. Keep in mind that I'm a fan of overstocking when I can make it work:
• 55g, probably a cichlid tank but heck, I might even try SW... Who knows - Need 2 heaters, 1 canister filter, 1 HOB
• 20g, I was thinking a fry tank, but I think I know myself well enough that I'll probably end up putting fish in it. Especially the way free fish come up on my aquarium group mail list. - Again I'd need 2 heaters, 1 canister filter, 1 HOB
• 38g, and up and running community tank. I hate it's filter so I want knew. It has one VisiTherm 150w heater currently.
• 25g hex, will house angel pair

My 10g sucks too, at least as far as heater. It has a AquarClear mini filter that works fine. But it has a Penn Plax heater that just sucks so bad that it's not even worth explaining. I don't know if I want to upgrade this, except for the heater.

I also need a filter that is safe for fry that will be used on the 10g, 20g, or even a plastic tub or something. All suggestions appreciated. Please suggest brands and specific models if possible. I want to start a big shopping list because I've got to spend my tax refund quick before it goes to bills or something silly like that

I'll be adding glass tops to all tanks and building my own lighting systems and hoods. Am I forgetting anything? Oh yeah, filter media for the canisters as well

 

[Christmasfish]

I have good luck with hagen's Themal Compact line. Nice small sizes available, reliable and mid range pricing. The penplax freeze out and STOP working and that other brand cooked my fry! Twice! I forget what it was..(i posted against it somewhere. aqua blue and bulky never look at again.)
My daughter looked at inline heating for her tanks...wary of the concept for now.

 

[grimlock3000]

I would reccomend Ebos for heaters. My Ebo "leaked" but apparently it was condensation from when it was first built or something. I use VisiTherms now, but the previous Ebo I had held the heat at a specific temp much better. Both of my Visitherms are not the greatest at holding a temp, and one of them CLICKS when it turns off. I would get equal sized heaters for each tank that would add up to 6 or more watts per gallon. That way each heater would be moderately capable of keep the tank at temp (3 wpg) if the other failed, and if one heater stuck on, it would like not kill all the fish.

For filters go with Aquaclears for the tanks. I like the Aquaclears myself because you can easily load them up with different media as needed. The media area can be stacked however you want and you can get media bags to seperate the media. It is like a mini canister setup in the media holder, and gives you a lot of flexibility Aquaclears also have an excellent mechanism for adjusting the water flow. You already have a AC Mini, so this is probably all just a rehash to you. For each tank, I would get AC suitable to handle the entier tank by itself, then you can just turn it down as needed. I am not a big fan of Bio Wheels, but would reccomend the Penguin filters if you wanted to go that route.

I would reccomend Rena Filstars or Eheim ECCOs/Pros for canisters. Fluval never excited me, espcially with the running changes they made to the filters which essentially made two different 04 filters with the same name (but they take different parts):

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=36915

This is the reason people have such different experiences with Fluval, some people have the old ones and others have new revisions which work better. I think the (new) 04 filters work good, but I hate when companies do stuff like that

For filter media, sponges for whatever you get should be pretty cheap and can be rinsed and reused. I would also reccomend filter floss in each canister for water polishing. For bio filtering, pretty much anything will work, though I would reccomend ceramic rings (like BioMAX) or sintered glass media (Ehfisubstrat) if you want to pay for it. Other specialized media can be used as needed, but do not go over the top with miracle media

 

[William]

I have good luck with hagen's Themal Compact line. Nice small sizes available, reliable and mid range pricing. The peen plax feeze out and STOP working and that other brand cooked my fry! Twice! I forget what it was..(i posted against it somewhere. aqua blue and bulky never look at again.)
My daughter looked at inline heating for her tanks...wary of the concept for now.

I love Hagens Thermal Pre-Set line. I swear by it, even. Run it in every one of my tanks excpet one, which has a whisper [ Got it for free, and its decent ]

 

[grimlock3000]

Check product reviews here as well:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/reviews/category_display.php

 

[loganj]

I like the Won heaters. IMO, they are the best thing on the market right now. For HOB filtration, Emperor is tops IMO. For a canister, Eheim makes the best one...again IMO. I know all this stuff is a bit more expensive than some of the other suggestions in this post, but I believe it's better to spend a little more up front and get the best quality equipment you can than have to replace something prematurely. As you know, heaters, filters, ect... usually quit at about 10:00 pm on the night before a holiday when everything is closed or so my luck goes.

 

[Enki]

I LOVE my WON Pro-Heat! It is only a few $$ more than the EBO-Jager and it has the control on the outside of the tank, a separate temp sensor and is MUCH smaller. I like my Ebo-Jager too, but even though it is pretty tough, glass just is not as tough as titanium and the the 200w EJ is twice as long as the 200w Pro-Heat.

I have a filstar xp1 as well and it rocks!

 

[Sati]

Great suggestions! I'm going to read up on those brands and price things. I think I may go with the titanium heater because I have had heater glass break on me. It was my fault, but still...

 

[TheMadNucleus]

Ebo Jagers - been using them solely for better then 20 years - never let down by anyone of them. Had them in every tank size from 20 gal to 125 gal. Nailed the temp for years in all of these tanks - never even saw a degree variation.

Cheap, simple, incredibly reliable - don't understand how any others stay in biz

 

[Sati]

OK, for the filter should I try to find an avaerage between the HOB and canister so that combined they reach the desired GPH? I'm not sure how many times over I want it. Do you all think 10x is too much?

 

[grimlock3000]

10x is fine, and you would probably want a bit higher than that in the 55g for Cichlids, and maybe a bit lower in the 25g hex for the Angels. With most HOBs, you can turn down the flow rate, so it is OK if you go a bit overboard and then need to turn it down a bit. Plus a large filter that you turn down will have much more media area than a smaller one running full speed.

Right now my 26g has about a 12->13x turnover and everything is fine.

 

[TheMadNucleus]

For canisters - I'd like to second Grimlocks suggestion for one of the more popular brands - I replaced an old Ehiem about a year ago on a 55 fresh I have, with a rena fillstar XP3 - I am so shocked that this actually worked out because I have been a long time fan of eheims (still believe they are great filters).

The things Ehiems always did well was filtering and silience - but they were a pain to service. The filstar does all three very well. Not only that but it's cheap. For a 55 definitely go with the large xp3, for the few extra bucks it really works great. After I do a water change and general clean-up in the tank you can't see through the muck (very old tank - been running for about 10 years) the filstar has it polished in about an hour.

I'd stay away from HOB - if you like them for the ability to quickly load stuff, then switch to a Fluval submerisable and leave it hanging arround.

Tom

 

[Sati]

Tom, now I'm totally rethinking this, lol. I'm thinking about going with canisters only and leaving it at that. And as I watch the price add up I'm asking myself how often a heater goes out...? I've never had that problem, and I know it could happen. I wonder if I shouldn't just get one good heater per tank though. Even with wattage difference they basically cost the same amount, so getting two doubles the price.

 

[Centurion]

if they were my tanks:

55g: filstar xp3, won pro 200w
38g: emporor 280, VisiTherm 150w (current)
25g: penguin 170, ebo jager 75w
20g: penguin 125, ebo jager 75w
10g: penguin 125, ebo jager 50w

my reasoning:
6x turn over: in my tanks, seems to work good for me, no problems yet. the only reason for the 125 on the 10g is that i dont like the mini.
3w/g: my tanks stay plenty warm, 5 seems a bit like overkill.

a sponge prefilter on the intake should make any hob or canister fry safe id think.

hth