New Owner of a 120 Gallon Tank. Which Canister?

[boadams87]

Yes. 2 fx5 filled with media can get the job done. Use pond matrix as media.

I got both of mine on amazon for $425 including shipping. It's worth it, but I feel like canisters take long to clean on a weekly basis. That is the only drawback. So think long and hard before you decide.
I went from 4 hob to
2 hob and 2 fx5 to
1 big sump in the making

Lots of trading around, but sumps are awesome for fish with high bioload. Plumbing is tricky, but I enjoy doing it. If canisters didn't take long to clean, then I wouldn't be trying to trade both of mine away. I keep top notch water quality, but it shouldn't take that long. 2 fx5 takes about 40min to clean/rinse every week while I do my 50% water change. But you might not even mind taking up 40mins of your day.

R u trying to sell ur fx5?

 

[DirtyMechanic]

I never really see anything above 10 maybe a little above. Seems to me like your removing the waste before it has a chance to break down and I through the cycle. And you might have low beneficial bacteria.

 

[Terrance]

I never really see anything above 10 maybe a little above. Seems to me like your removing the waste before it has a chance to break down and I through the cycle. And you might have low beneficial bacteria.

The amount of bacteria in a tank depends on the rate of fish waste. Monthly water changes will result in more bacteria due to the ammonia released by the waste. Nevertheless there will be enough bacteria in the tank regardless of monthly or weekly changes. The issue is more with the amount of dissolved organic waste and other waste floating around. Filtration and beneficial bacteria do not pick them up and get rid of them. They stay in the water and it's not healthy for the fish. Signs will not show up immediately on the fishes appearance, but they will over the long-run. Over the long-run, most people don't realize how good or bad their fish looks unless comparing to another tank with similar fish that gets weekly water change.

Often, there are members here who claims that their overstocked tank is well and healthy, regardless of whether they do weekly or monthly water changes. After some time, the result is always the same - bad water quality (first sign is high nitrate reading) and/or dead fish. Even a good planted tank won't be able to soak up all the waste from these types of tanks. SW tanks are able to get away with good water quality in an overstocked tank with the help of Skimmers, macro algae, and ability to house anaerobic bacteria.

HTH

R u trying to sell ur fx5?

Yeah I'm trying to sell both.