Preferred Filtration...

[nevchewy]

In all of my fish experience I have only used the HOB filters which have all been with Aquaclears...

Once my new house is built, I plan on drawing up plans and incorporating a Fish room in my Basement. I kind of like the idea of building a tank in a wall to put on display.

I'm toying around the idea of buying a 6ft. or 8ft. tank but need to decide what type of filtration i'm going to have.

I would like the clean look of over flows but I have no experience with the whole setup.

I have been doing a little reading on the net and on a big tank it looks like a sump would be the only way to go.

Just wanted to extend this question to AA's Community to see that the over all general consensus is with filtration.

Please share any good or bad experiences with your filtration.

Thanks!!!

nev

Edited February 22, 2007 by nevchewy

[canucklehead]

I like the overflow/sump route with bigger tanks, surface skimming is very beneficial as is the exposure to air in a wet-dry, they can take some time to perfect if you go DIY but I have seen some very nice turnkey set-ups, particularly form concept aquariums.

on the other hand the new large canisters like Fluval FX5's and the big eheims are nice as well

[jvision]

What I've started doing over the last couple years with HOB is filling them with Lava Rock for biofiltration, and rootin a terrestrial plant in it - they work great this way at removing nitrogenoush waste!

For bigger systems, I do like the sump. I set it up with lots of Lava Rock, some ploy and, if there's any light down there, add a house plant.

[Vallisneria]

I only have HOB filters in my tanks(except sponge in fry tanks sometimes). I find them easy to use and they do a great job.

If I were to get a bigger tank, I think I would probably go with a cannister or 2. As sumps scare me, lol

[JORG]

I like Hobs mostly because I've never had a sump

[African_Fever]

I use a mix of HOB's and canisters. I love my Eheims, but I'm still amazed at the flow rate of the FX5 and am curious as to how it's going to work long-term.

If I were to go with a giant tank, it would depend on where I was putting it and what was going into it. For salt, definitely a sump, for fresh, if it were in a living room or something and a show tank, most likely a sump (as long as I could get it quiet enough). In a fish room, would depend on how the rest of the room was set up.

[Murminator]

I noticed Live Rock and skimmers were not choices.... so I had to settle for overflow and sump

[Danzig]

I use HOB's/Canisters but ifi did have a large tank 125g + i would definately use a sump system.

[Vapor]

I have only used the HOB types. Have considered trying a canister though.

[Sam Chicklets]

I have HOBs, corner filters, internal filters, sponge, and a canister filter. The sponge is by far the easiest to maintain, but the power filters and corner filters have a variety of media.

[Slough Shark]

I have also used HOBs, Corner Filters and a Sponge Filter. I would agree with Nick, the spong was by far the easiest to handle. But the HOB was more useful in the larger tanks that i've owned

Edited February 23, 2007 by Slough Shark

[Qattarra]

I use HOB, sponge, sumersible and canister. I by far, prefer the canister but that wasn't a choice. In my 25s I use a combination of HOB and submersible. The sub is strictly for bacterial growth and I only shake off excess when waterflow gets impeeded. The HOB is the main filter and gets regular maintenance. On my larger tanks it's canisters as IMO they perform the best for me. I don't have giant (120 gal +) tanks but when I do , I think I'd like the sump. Sue

[skinless]

6 or 8 foot tank

overflow with sump.

+ FX5 just in case lol

[RD.]

Hey Nev,

The filtration can be as simple or complicated, economical or expensive, as you choose.

On my 125 I have 3 AC 500's (110's), overall I'm very happy with the results, although I have to admit that this type of set up does come with s slight noise factor. Nothing major, but it's there.

I spray painted my intakes with Krylon Fusion black paint, have 2 black Stealth heaters, and against a black background and with the lights pulled forward it's a very clean looking set up. The canopy hides the filters as well. You can see a pic of my 125 shortly after it was set up in the link below:

http://www.ida-may.com/other/tank125i.JPG

In a freshwater system, large sumps allow you an increase in overall water volume, and can allow for a cleaner look depending on your equipment & background choices, but if properly set up a simple HOB combo will provide enough bio filtration to float a small pony. As an example, the large over the counter display tank at Golds (approx 350 gallons) is filtered by 3 AC 500's.

In a perfect world I would have preferred a 75 gallon sump just for the extra water volume, but in my situation that simply wasn't an option. Large weekly water changes seems to keep everything in check.

[Albertan]

I'm currently in the design phase with Aquarium Illusions to design a central sump system for approximately 1000 gallons of water with an hourly turn over of 10X. It's not going to be a cheap setup (I may start a small company as a breeder just to write it all off in my house), but the opportunity to do a complete water change of the whole system in fifteen minutes without lifting a five gallon pail is very attractive. You might want to discuss options with them if you are planning a fish room. They can provide you with good ideas even if you plan on going the DIY route. Ask them to show you the setup they use on their quarantine tanks. The fellow I am dealing with there is named David Morris, and he used to work at the Sydney aquarium. He seemed to be very knowledgeable in the area. Good luck.