rena xp3

[mooseman1]

:boxed: i just bought a 150 gal tank ,it came with an xp3 ,just wanting to know if its big enough for the tank and where in edmonton i can get media and sponges for it? can i have plant's in the tank if i use it? i'm new at this so i need all the info i can get.thank's :well:

[Ruadh]

I have a 175 gal tank that I wanted a new cannister filter for and when I was looking, I settled on two Rena XP3's. I don't remember the exact wording on the box but IIRC the XP3 was rated for up to 180 gal or so.

Now the thing most people don't know is that the rating most of these companies publish is for the filter cannister with no media in it and no 'head' pressure. The 'head' pressure is the distance that the pump has to raise the fluid above the level of the pump. That is to say that if you filter is on the floor and the outlet in your tank is 3 feet off the floor, there is a 3 foot 'head'.

By the time you put filter media in the cannister the flow is cut by 25% or so. After the unit runs for a few days and gets clogged with crap, the flow can be cut as much as 40% or more.

this is one of the reasons I would advise the use of two cannisters rated at or above the size of your tank.

As well as having lots of capacity, there is the redundancy factor to consider also.

The same reasoning goes for having two heaters.

The filter media can be bought at Natures Corner, one of our supporting vendors here. They're also on line, but I don't have the URL handy. I'm sure Henry will be on here and post it for you.

For the final filter media, the top layer inside, I use the multi-coloured sponges bought from the grocery store. The ones that come 8 to a package for a couple of bucks. I cut two of them down to fit and put polyester batting on top when I want to "polish" to water. The batting can be purchased at a sewing and notions store, or in smaller quantities from the LFS.

Enjoy your big tank, they're great.

Rick

:boxed: i just bought a 150 gal tank ,it came with an xp3 ,just wanting to know if its big enough for the tank and where in edmonton i can get media and sponges for it? can i have plant's in the tank if i use it? i'm new at this so i need all the info i can get.thank's :well:

[BettaFishMommy]

since you are out of town, i'm not sure what you have for lfs up in your area, but most lfs here in edmonton sell rena canister media.

i use the sponges made for the rena, any kind of biomax, and filter floss on top. i buy a big bag of quilt batting from zellers, lasts forever and i can custom cut it for any of my four filters. works great. i find most media for any filter can be customed to fit in another filter.

[Dmaan.]

xp3 is not enough for a 150 gallon, i'd actually go with 2 xp3's.

you can get all the stuff for it at big al's on the southside!

[jvision]

I ran one on a 90 that was HEAVILY planted - I mean, there were times when fish ran out of room! However, I didn't feel comfortable running just the XP3 on the tank when it wasn't heavily planted - just not enough, IMO.

[mooseman1]

yea i'm looking to get an fx5 but no one want's to give me one LOL, i mean no one has a nice one for sale in my price range,maybe i should just get another xp3 ? :boxed:

[digital-monk]

I have 2 XP3's on a 150, plus 2 powerheads and built-in canopy filtration. You could do it with one if it wasn't heavily stocked, but you'd be changing the cannister much more often and need to vaccum frequently.

2 would be my vote.