filtration advice

[katy]

I have 75 gallon fw tank. I'm using cascade 700 filter. I'm questioning if I should get a second filtration system to use with my current one. If so, what is recommended?

 

[logansmomma1228]

A lot of people like Aquaclears on here, I also see a lot of recommendation for canister filters. I believe Fluval is one but I'm not sure. You want your filter to turn over as much water as possible w/o creating too heavy of a current (IMO anyways) i.e. twice as much as your tank volume. Like I have a 60 Tetra Whisper filter on my 29. It also depends on how many/what kind of fish you have and how often you do maintenance.

 

[BigJim]

I'm not familiar with the Cascade brand, so I can't tell you if you need a second filter. I'm a fan of the AquaClear power filters. For a 75g, I'd either get an AC110 or an AC70 as a second filter. I prefer to overfilter my tanks. I've got an AC70 on my 29g, an AC50 on my 20L, and an AC30 on my 20H.

 

[jsoong]

The cascade is a canister filter, although the 700 is only rated 185 gph.

It all depends on what fish (and how many) you have. Heavily loaded tank (or messy fish) needs more filtration. It is not unusual to have 10x turnover per hour in a big cichlid or a goldies tank .... <2-3 x like you have is bare minimum .... and most filter makers are over optimistic with their numbers ... you are not likely to get the rated gph>

I like to over filter my tanks (almost a necessity in a goldies tank ). I have close to 10x turnover (750 gph tested). You prob don't need to go that overboard .... Personally, I think canisters are better for bigger tanks (Fluval, Filstars, Ehiems are top brands),although some do swear by a big HOB like the big AC's.

 

[DragonFish71]

The cascade is a canister filter, although the 700 is only rated 185 gph.

It all depends on what fish (and how many) you have. Heavily loaded tank (or messy fish) needs more filtration. It is not unusual to have 10x turnover per hour in a big cichlid or a goldies tank .... <2-3 x like you have is bare minimum .... and most filter makers are over optimistic with their numbers ... you are not likely to get the rated gph>

I like to over filter my tanks (almost a necessity in a goldies tank ). I have close to 10x turnover (750 gph tested). You prob don't need to go that overboard .... Personally, I think canisters are better for bigger tanks (Fluval, Filstars, Ehiems are top brands),although some do swear by a big HOB like the big AC's.

+1 on the over filtering.


On our 20gLong I have 2 Rapids canister filters (each rated for 20g) a UGF and a sponge filter (rated for 30g). On our 55 (until it's converted to a river tank) I have an UGF, 2 HOBs (AquaTech 60s rated for 60g each). On our 120g I have an OceanClear canister with a Little Giant pump rated at 1000 gph (or something close to that) and 2 Fluval 405 canisters (that will be moved to our angelfish/tetra 115g when we set it up). All our other tanks have at least 1 filter rated for twice their size. None of them have "too much" surface agitation, surprisingly.

All our other tanks have at least an extra filter.

 

[HN1]

+ another on overfiltering.

Plus, I always run 2 filters whenever possible. Redundancy is a good thing IMO. If it were me... I'd add either an AC110 (as Bigjim mentioned) or an XP3. As far as canisters, the XPs are tough to beat for the price. Fluval and Eheim make excellent filters as well though.

 

[Lowryder]

Overfiltering is the way to go!

I have an AC300 (ac70) and a whisper ex30 on my 29g and a whisper ex20 and an AC30 on my 30g