Filter choice

[jeff6898]

Would having a cannister filter and a hob overkill? If so what would be best for a 60 gallon freshwater tank?

 

[Aiken Drum]

Depends on the particular filters. I have a Fluval 406 on a 200litre (about 55g) and it works great. Its rated for 400 litres, and while i wouldnt use it on its own on a 400 litre its oversized for a 200 litre and it would be fine on a 60 gallon without a 2nd filter.

Having redundancy is always of benefit though in an emergency.

Do you have 2 filters in mind? I work on having 1kg biomedia / 100 litres if that helps with choosing filter sizes. I dont go off the rated values, i go off how much media it will hold. Another measure would be you want your filters to turn over the water in your aquarium about 4 to 6 times/hour.

 

[fishwonder]

You would like to have about 450-480 gph on your filter(s). When you add all your media, tubing, media and U bends in your tubing, you are looking at a 50-60% reduction of flow. This would give you your 4-5 times flow rated recommended after the reduction. What's more important is the media you use. Never use any hard, non porous media as water just goes around that stuff. You need good media where water flows through the media at all times like 10/20 ppi foam or simple pot scrubbies. Two filters... up to you.