Michigan Cichlid Association
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: rcombs on February 03, 2014, 01:37:20 PM
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I currently have a Hydro 5 sponge on it with a powerful powerhead. What would be a good addition to this in aspect of upping the filtration. I was thinking of adding an AC110. Would a canister filter be a better route that the AC110? Also for heaters, what would be the best way to heat the tank. Thank you.
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An AC110 would be fine. Two would be better. There are many other options, I just like the ACs. As for heat, it depends on how cold the room it sits in is. A 300W heater should be fine for it.
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An AC110 would be fine. Two would be better. There are many other options, I just like the ACs. As for heat, it depends on how cold the room it sits in is. A 300W heater should be fine for it.
Awesome. Thank you Emil. Now to find 1 AC to start and a better heater. Tank is colder than I would like it. Was moved to a different spot out of the way and is a bit cooler than it should be. Have a couple small heaters in it, but not holding temp as good so wanted to see what I should change. Maybe a better recommendations on the brand? I use ViaAqua Titanium's.
1-300 W heater and 1 AC110 it is.
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When I had a 90g last year, I ran either 1 Aquaclear 110 or 2, depending on the stocking. For plecos, definitely 2, because of how much waste. For overstocked africans, possibly also 2. For a smaller CA biotope (like I did a Thorichthys + swordtail setup for a while) or a community tank with tetras/angels/etc, 1 is probably fine.
For heaters, I had decent success with a single 200W in my 90g, but the 250W I upgraded to ran less often. I like the Aqueon Pros, but heaters are pretty much whatever your experience has been drives your recommending a brand. I've had good success with the Aqueon Pros and have gotten them cheap when Petco has sales, especially the free shipping plus 20% sale plus coupon, and I'll also click through from Discover or a similar site to get that cashback in addition. There are other cheap sources though.
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As another option: (2) Emperor 400's would provide great GPH as well...
IMO - I prefer HOB's as they are much easier to maintain. I have (2) canister filters (Magnum 350 and FX5) but I don't clean them out as often as I do the HOB simply because of the east access...
Good Luck in your search !
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Rack up another vote for the AquaClear. 1 or 2 will depend on what you have in the tank as others have hinted at already.
Heaters... I prefer two smaller heaters myself. Then if you have failure, you likely will not kill your fish if it fails either way. But, I am paranoid about heater failure.
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Rack up another vote for the AquaClear. 1 or 2 will depend on what you have in the tank as others have hinted at already.
Heaters... I prefer two smaller heaters myself. Then if you have failure, you likely will not kill your fish if it fails either way. But, I am paranoid about heater failure.
Good point on the heaters. Maybe 2 150W instead.
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Did you guys have problems ever getting your heaters to sync temp? I always felt like one or the other one was running, vs. them turning on or off together. I never measured power usage though so I can't say definitively if that was a problem or just an annoyance. :)
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Did you guys have problems ever getting your heaters to sync temp? I always felt like one or the other one was running, vs. them turning on or off together. I never measured power usage though so I can't say definitively if that was a problem or just an annoyance. :)
I just put them in opposite corners and do a little adjustment at the start if I see one on a lot more than the other.
I actually have 3 heaters in my 140 gallon and 150 gallon tanks.