swifty
Aquarium Advice Freak
I currently have an AC50 on my 20g long. It has housed a female convict, female firemouth, male BNP, and 6 black skirt tetras for the last 3 months or so. I've done 20-30% w/c every 3-4 days, however recently I've started doing 50% once a week. I thoroughly clean the filter intake/box/impeller with a toothbrush and rinse media (in old tank water) once every 3-4 weeks.
Ever since it's been setup it's always felt like it was under-filtered. I was told to buy a filter rated higher than what I had which is why I went with the AC50, but it doesn't really seem like enough. I have 2 sponges, 1 piece of quilt batting cut to size, bag of bio max, and the intake reservoir is stuffed with cut up sponge.
I see debris settle on certain parts of the tank, which seem like dead spots where water isn't flowing. That lead me to think of getting a powerhead, but I figured since the powerheads are the same price as a filter I might as well get the filter. I have the AC50 placed directly in the middle of the tank to try and spread the water out, but again, doesn't feel like enough. It doesn't seem as crystal clear as my friends 20g high which is lighter stocked than mine, which leads me to believe I need more filtration.
Canister filters just seem like they filter better; I've never liked the idea of HOBs seemingly filtering the same water over and over since the intake tube is near the the water outtake. I've thought of switching to a canister filter but the 2217 is about 80 bucks and an additional AC50 is 29, while an AC70 is 38.
Would it be wise to add an additional AC50, or just replace the 50 with a 70, or even run a 50+70?
Ever since it's been setup it's always felt like it was under-filtered. I was told to buy a filter rated higher than what I had which is why I went with the AC50, but it doesn't really seem like enough. I have 2 sponges, 1 piece of quilt batting cut to size, bag of bio max, and the intake reservoir is stuffed with cut up sponge.
I see debris settle on certain parts of the tank, which seem like dead spots where water isn't flowing. That lead me to think of getting a powerhead, but I figured since the powerheads are the same price as a filter I might as well get the filter. I have the AC50 placed directly in the middle of the tank to try and spread the water out, but again, doesn't feel like enough. It doesn't seem as crystal clear as my friends 20g high which is lighter stocked than mine, which leads me to believe I need more filtration.
Canister filters just seem like they filter better; I've never liked the idea of HOBs seemingly filtering the same water over and over since the intake tube is near the the water outtake. I've thought of switching to a canister filter but the 2217 is about 80 bucks and an additional AC50 is 29, while an AC70 is 38.
Would it be wise to add an additional AC50, or just replace the 50 with a 70, or even run a 50+70?
