filter upgrade

[Phoenixphire55]

I am using your average 10i and 20i Whisper filters, in tank kind. They tend to gather mold and gross slimey growths a lot and seem somewhat inefficient. Whats the next step up that works better and most likely costs more? My biggest tank is 30 gallons to I dont need some big canister thing, but what are some of my options?

 

[Purrbox]

I'd recommend going with a HOB (hang on the back) filter. The AquaClear is a highly recommended brand with plenty of room for media.

 

[p3purr]

I'd go with an AquaClear. They work great with the media that's made for them but they also have flexibilty in the media you can use. For example you can use those nylon pot scrubbers as biological media. Layer sheets of scrubbers horixontally then they can be removed from the botton of the filter basket cleaned and then replaced on top of the other sheetss without disturbing the remaining sheets. Filter floss or pads packed loosely can be used for the mechanical filtration. I've even put polishing pad on the top when my tank wasn't as clear as I'd like.

A HOB filter won't increase the water temperature like the internal filters.

What are you planning on doing with the goldfish? Are they going in their own tank or a pond? Goldfish are cold water fish and the temperatures tropicals are kept at will shorten the life of the goldfish. Goldfish also need a lot more filtration than the tropicals you have.

I've also used HOBS with biowheels on fish only tanks with a lot of success. I used an Emperor on fish only tanks for years and it didn't wear out. I didn't use the filter replacent cartriges for it because they're so expensive. Instead I used the Extra large Whisper cartridges and then I went to HBH pads on the whisper frame and added carbon to the other media tray. I wouldn't recommend a biowheel for a planted tank but for a fish only they work well.

Whatever filter you choose tank into consideration the cost of the replacement media. Sometimes a cheap filter ends up being a lot more expensive to run. Also a cheaply made filter may need to be replaced a lot sooner than a quality filter like AquaClear.

 

[Karackle]

I recently upgrade to an AquaClear for my 20gallon and i love it, my tank is looking the best and clearest that it ever has.

 

[Phoenixphire55]

The goldfish are going in their own larger tank in a couple months when I move. I know they're cold water fish, but the tank is at room temperature. I dont know how I can make the water in a new goldfish tank any colder than room temperature without buying an extremely expensive water chiller. What do other goldfish owners do?

Thanks for the info on the filters by the way, very helpful!

 

[p3purr]

If you have a room that tends to be cooler or has/can have a window AC put the tank there otherwise short of keeping the AC down, not much can be done. I didn't use heaters much on my tropical tanks in my apartment but in my mobile home I have too. The goldfish would love it here in the winter but the summer I have the opposite problem, too much heat.

 

[patryuji]

I always read aquaclear being recommended so they must be good.

A penquin 180 and Emperor 280 both did quite well for me.

I like canister filters (if you can swing the cost). I even have a canister on my 20gallon planted tank (and of course the larger tank).

My 10gallon planted tank has a penguin 180 with the biowheel removed but if I were to do it all over again I probably would have given an aquaclear a try since I don't use the biowheel anyways.