Fairly new Cichlid tank

[Convict2161]

I think to say "don't buy a HOB" is a unfair statement. Coming from someone who had a fx5 and a AC110 running on my 75 gallon, I hated the fx5, a pain to clean and heavy to carry to the tub or outside. Difficult to add or remove media because you need to shut down flow and drain a little water then open it up to add/remove media.

With all that said this is purely my own opinion and based solely on my experience with ONE canister. For me, the way I take care of my tank it was easier to just run AC110's I can remove media or add media in about 10 seconds. That's key for me because I like using poly fill and that needs to be removed every few days.

It's to each there own. Something's work for others that won't for another.

But a blanket statement "do not buy an HOB" is just a fair statement IMO

To the OP both are good options. Both do the job. It's preference IMO. My parameters are fine and my water is crystal clean running 2 HOB's on my 75 gallon. It's your choice shop around and ask others. And please understand my statement about a canister is ONLY based on my personal experience with ONE canister and I didn't want to go back.


For me and my needs I'm very happy with my filtration system.

Good luck!

The Con

 

[imtcurveball]

I think to say "don't buy a HOB" is a unfair statement. Coming from someone who had a fx5 and a AC110 running on my 75 gallon, I hated the fx5, a pain to clean and heavy to carry to the tub or outside. Difficult to add or remove media because you need to shut down flow and drain a little water then open it up to add/remove media.

With all that said this is purely my own opinion and based solely on my experience with ONE canister. For me, the way I take care of my tank it was easier to just run AC110's I can remove media or add media in about 10 seconds. That's key for me because I like using poly fill and that needs to be removed every few days.

It's to each there own. Something's work for others that won't for another.

But a blanket statement "do not buy an HOB" is just a fair statement IMO

To the OP both are good options. Both do the job. It's preference IMO. My parameters are fine and my water is crystal clean running 2 HOB's on my 75 gallon. It's your choice shop around and ask others. And please understand my statement about a canister is ONLY based on my personal experience with ONE canister and I didn't want to go back.

For me and my needs I'm very happy with my filtration system.

Good luck!

The Con

Sorry guys, I stated that horribly. I meant to say not to buy a kit that already has the HOB filter because in my experience they're not very good. And if you want to run two filters go for it, but I don't suggest only using the filter that came with a kit.

 

[imtcurveball]

What's wrong with HOB filters? The aqua clears are fantastic filters. Now I do prefer a canister but hang on filters work just fine. There's a lot of members here that run hang ons only or hang on in tandem with a canister and have nothing bad to say about them. It's always a good idea to run two filters anyways for redundancy.

I understand this and I have nothing against hang on back filters, especially I'd you use 2. But I don't like them for lots of reasons.

 

[tbrazil230]

Sorry guys, I stated that horribly. I meant to say not to buy a kit that already has the HOB filter because in my experience they're not very good. And if you want to run two filters go for it, but I don't suggest only using the filter that came with a kit.

I kinda agree with that, I bought the topfin kit and the filter was horrible,

 

[Guppygulp]

Question on the black diamond sand... Does it take as long to rinse as the pet store stuff does? And is it thicker then the pet store stuff? And thank you very very much for the substrate tips! You just saved me a fortune!

 

[Rlavassor86]

Question on the black diamond sand... Does it take as long to rinse as the pet store stuff does? And is it thicker then the pet store stuff? And thank you very very much for the substrate tips! You just saved me a fortune!

Mine took a while to rinse clean but it was worth it IMO because it was so much cheaper and looks great. Not sure what you mean by thicker but you can get it in different screen sizes. I think mine was like 30/50 and the grains are pretty fine. So thickness of it will depend on what you buy

 

[MMantelli]

I have the API fillstarxp medium on my 20 and it is amazing. I also have a reaction 4 stage from drsfostersmith.com on my 55and am 50/50 with it I also have a bio-wheel 250 on my 10g quarantine that works great. So depending on what u get and what u got depends on ewther or not u will be happy but I do reccomend the fillstar xp

 

[Guppygulp]

Yeah I have a penguin bio wheel on one tank and a regular hang on the back filter on the other I'm not happy with either and the local pet stores including pets smart stopped carrying replacement bio wheels and filters for the other one. They don't work for my needs, they are noisy, I am just going to upgrade until I can get sumps.

 

[mariah]

demasoni... I think that is what the blue guy is

 

[Brizo]

You guys are making me nervous about my penguin 350 on my 55. Even tho I've already been told I'd need another one once my black diamond cichlid (polleni) bichir and fire eel grow

 

[tbrazil230]

You guys are making me nervous about my penguin 350 on my 55. Even tho I've already been told I'd need another one once my black diamond cichlid (polleni) bichir and fire eel grow

Its always a good idea with cichlids to run 2 filters, but there's really nothing wrong with the penguin filters, but you'll never be able to customize your media to suit your needs like you can with a canister or an aqua clear

 

[michelle5012]

The Blue and black one a demasoni, they are dwarf mbunas. They are very aggressive but awesome to look at!

 

[ff.rice]

What about this little guy?!?! He's small and very chilled out compared to my other ones.... Is he a dwarf? Will he stay small? Will he get aggressive? What is it?!?!

 

[ff.rice]

Hopefully it is not too blurry!

 

[garfy]

Looks like a Tropheus Duboisi juvenile.Which will eventually look like this :





May be ok but in my experience they are pretty tough and could bully some of your other fish.

 

[ff.rice]

I also have what the pet store called a rubber lipped Pleco..... When we first put it in the tank he was all over the place..... Now he hangs out in a tunnel and doesn't do anything unless he's nudged.... Is this normal behavior? I normally see them all over a tank, so I was just wondering!

 

[Crawdaddy]

I never see my rubber lip, unless I'm tearing apart the tank for some reason. I believe they are more nocturnal.

 

[kjacks]

Yea lol. It cost me! New shoes and a purse and I got my 75 gallon setup.

Hmmm you guys got it easy the hubby thinks he should get to match me dollar for dollar on what i spend for my fish.. 3 tanks later he has lots of new comic books n movies n basketball cards n crap..

Now back to topic i use 2 hob filters n im settin up my canister filter prolly this weekend. I have a top fin on 3 of my tanks not bad filters but I would prefer something else. Then i have the penguin bio wheel which is alittle noisy but to me gets the job done alot better then the top fin. Not sure about the canister yet as i havent used it.. I also have a powerhead n my tank... n the hobby definately sucks you in.. i keep tellin the hubby i want a big tank like andrews n he is like no i cant even talk him into a 60g which we have empty n the shed. on substrate i cheated n bought the expensive one that required no rinsing and keeps the ph higher naturally. Cheaper would have prolly been better but i didnt feel like fooling with it .. you know us women are impatient (most of us anyway)

 

[kjacks]

Yea lol. It cost me! New shoes and a purse and I got my 75 gallon setup.

Hmmm you guys got it easy the hubby thinks he should get to match me dollar for dollar on what i spend for my fish.. 3 tanks later he has lots of new comic books n movies n basketball cards n crap..

Now back to topic i use 2 hob filters n im settin up my canister filter prolly this weekend. I have a top fin on 3 of my tanks not bad filters but I would prefer something else. Then i have the penguin bio wheel which is alittle noisy but to me gets the job done alot better then the top fin. Not sure about the canister yet as i havent used it.. I also have a powerhead n my tank... n the hobby definately sucks you in.. i keep tellin the hubby i want a big tank like andrews n he is like no i cant even talk him into a 60g which we have empty n the shed. on substrate i cheated n bought the expensive one that required no rinsing and keeps the ph higher naturally. Cheaper would have prolly been better but i didnt feel like fooling with it .. you know us women are impatient (most of us anyway)

 

[aaronjohn20]

You guys are making me nervous about my penguin 350 on my 55. Even tho I've already been told I'd need another one once my black diamond cichlid (polleni) bichir and fire eel grow

I've got 2 marineland penguin 350's and LOVE them. I've got one on a 20g and the other on a 46g bow front. Don't ever have to clean or replace the biowheels and I've been able to swap filter cartridges anytime I want with no ill effects!