Your current Fish tank Setups!
- Thread starter Malt_Vinegar
- Start date
Looking for some advice please.
I’m currently in the planning stages of bring back to life an old tank that’s been stood empty for a number of years now. It’s a 4ft x 18”(h) x 12”, volume roughly 174l maybe around 160l once substrate (Unipac Silver Sand) and décor has been added. The idea is for it to be a community tank, fish wise undecided as of yet but they’ll be 6 – 10 zebra danios in the later stages of the cycling process(4+ weeks), and longer term I like my bristlenose pleco and maybe some cherry shrimps as well
. Semi planted with a few amazon frogbit on the surface as well.
So the advice part…
I’m stuck on my filter selection, previously used internals but I’m looking at an external unit now (budget circa £100) and have narrowed it down to four:
Fluval 306
Tetratec EX1200
[FONT="]APS 2000EF[/FONT]
Eheim Experience 250
Heaters, narrowed it down to two:
Hagen Fluval Vuetech E 300w
Hydor External Heater 200w
And last thing, test kits. I’m looking for a robust kit that test all the necessary to make sure I have healthy happy fish:
Aquarium Nutrafin Mini Master Test Kit
API Freshwater Master Test Kit
Tetra Aquarium 6-in-1 Test Strip
Cheers
I’m currently in the planning stages of bring back to life an old tank that’s been stood empty for a number of years now. It’s a 4ft x 18”(h) x 12”, volume roughly 174l maybe around 160l once substrate (Unipac Silver Sand) and décor has been added. The idea is for it to be a community tank, fish wise undecided as of yet but they’ll be 6 – 10 zebra danios in the later stages of the cycling process(4+ weeks), and longer term I like my bristlenose pleco and maybe some cherry shrimps as well
. Semi planted with a few amazon frogbit on the surface as well.So the advice part…
I’m stuck on my filter selection, previously used internals but I’m looking at an external unit now (budget circa £100) and have narrowed it down to four:
Fluval 306
Tetratec EX1200
[FONT="]APS 2000EF[/FONT]
Eheim Experience 250
Heaters, narrowed it down to two:
Hagen Fluval Vuetech E 300w
Hydor External Heater 200w
And last thing, test kits. I’m looking for a robust kit that test all the necessary to make sure I have healthy happy fish:
Aquarium Nutrafin Mini Master Test Kit
API Freshwater Master Test Kit
Tetra Aquarium 6-in-1 Test Strip
Cheers
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I have the Tetratec EX1200 filter, it's very good, does have it moments when trying to bleed the thing after a clean out, just make sure the taps are off and let the air suck out and away you go i do fancy moving to the Eheim series at some point, they are great filters, do you plan on getting a uv sterilizer, i would recommend getting one, Seachem purigen does wonder to polish the water in your tank, try it and see what i mean
i do fancy moving to the Eheim series at some point, they are great filters, do you plan on getting a uv sterilizer, i would recommend getting one, Seachem purigen does wonder to polish the water in your tank, try it and see what i mean
Any reason the JBL isn't on your list Sharkie? As that would be my recommendation.
The Hydor heaters are excellent, and I'd really recommend them.
As mentioned by Spook, Purigen gives some excellent water clarity results, although I'd personally say there's no need for UV - if you have a healthy tank then it's surplus to requirements.
Test kits are all well and good, but all you really need is Ammonia, Nitrite, and pH. The merits of any other tests are highly debatable, especially in aging test kits.
Hope that helps!
The Hydor heaters are excellent, and I'd really recommend them.
As mentioned by Spook, Purigen gives some excellent water clarity results, although I'd personally say there's no need for UV - if you have a healthy tank then it's surplus to requirements.
Test kits are all well and good, but all you really need is Ammonia, Nitrite, and pH. The merits of any other tests are highly debatable, especially in aging test kits.
Hope that helps!
Thanks Spook187
I'm leaning toward the Eheim kit as it seems very highly regarded but the EX1200 seems to do everything i need.
No plans to start with a UV system but something i would consider at a later date. They just cut into the existing external pipe work from what i've seen so not a big task to add.
Purigen is on my shopping list after reading most of this thread a few times and see it crop up, so thanks for that. The before and afters on YT look good as well. Going to get some Biohome Ultra mini media to put into the filter as well so hopefully it'll be a solid setup.
How about the heaters and test kits? And if you were to go the Eheim route is the 250 Pro a comparable unit to the EX1200?
I'm leaning toward the Eheim kit as it seems very highly regarded but the EX1200 seems to do everything i need.
No plans to start with a UV system but something i would consider at a later date. They just cut into the existing external pipe work from what i've seen so not a big task to add.
Purigen is on my shopping list after reading most of this thread a few times and see it crop up, so thanks for that
. The before and afters on YT look good as well. Going to get some Biohome Ultra mini media to put into the filter as well so hopefully it'll be a solid setup.How about the heaters and test kits? And if you were to go the Eheim route is the 250 Pro a comparable unit to the EX1200?
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The API Freshwater Master Test Kit is very good. Has served me well.
Here's my tank, these photos are from over a year ago so I'll try take some soon of what it looks like now to get an idea on the coral growth. I still have a problem with algae and have had the whole time, its frustrating as my corals generally do really well and my fish are fine and healthy.
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Seems to tick all the my requirements i'll take a further look, thanks.
Anyone any other feedback regarding filter choices?
Fluval 306
Tetratec EX1200
[FONT="]Eheim Experience 250[/FONT]
JBL e901
[FONT="]
I'm no fan of Fluval as I find them more awkward to work on due to their compartment layout, and I hate the ridged hoses, I think they look really ugly.
The Tetratec gets mixed praise - quite a few people get leaks with them, but I've never owned one myself so can't provide any first hand insight.
Out of the Eheim and the JBL I'd go for the JBL due to a) personal preference, and b) 200lph extra throughput.
The Tetratec gets mixed praise - quite a few people get leaks with them, but I've never owned one myself so can't provide any first hand insight.
Out of the Eheim and the JBL I'd go for the JBL due to a) personal preference, and b) 200lph extra throughput.
They're all sound choices to be honest. I personally like fluval and am running two of them at the moment.
You wont have done bad getting any of them though.
As for test kits, I along with many other people think they are a total waste of money.
As long as you're keeping your aquarium clean and do regular large water changes every week, sit back and don't worry about it, by the time you've noticed something is wrong in your tank its already to late for a test.
Plant and fish health are what you should be keeping an eye on.
These threads might help you decide
http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/accuracy-of-test-kits.20009/
http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/which-test-kits-are-best.1243/
http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/what-test-kit-for-a-beginner.8755/
Added a few new plants to the tank Friday so thought I'd take a few photos.
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What are the noise levels like on the JBL (which model do you have)? The e1501 looks quite appealing from Zooplus.de compared with the UK prices.
Thanks, going to go through those threads and absorb some more infofamas said:
Thanks, down to the e1501 and the ex1200 now
Cheers for the all the help. Gone for the e1501 in the end, it was very tempting to pick up a ex1200 for £85 though but went for the JBL unit, hope it's worth the extra!
Tried to order a Hydor external heater but the dealer i spoke with said stock has dried up because Hydor are modifying the product due to a faulty component (dodgy relay i believe). No eta on the revised version yet.
Tried to order a Hydor external heater but the dealer i spoke with said stock has dried up because Hydor are modifying the product due to a faulty component (dodgy relay i believe). No eta on the revised version yet.
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Most of mine have come from these two suppliers
http://www.thegreenmachineonline.com/
http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk
http://www.thegreenmachineonline.com/
http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk
The other half and I are looking to get into this, not literally I mean..we're not literally looking to get into a fish tank...er , hang on, I digress.
We'd like to get a tank, for the lounge, but we don't really know a great deal about it all. She likes the tanks that have those slightly bowed fronts on them. The area we are looking to fill is around 3ft - 4ft wide. She likes the smaller fish , brightly coloured, tetras and so on. She'd like a tank that will have quite a few of them in it, along with the plants and corals etc.
Are there any good starter guides around? Something that covers the outlay costs, recommendations for tanks, fish etc?
Also, what are the running costs like for a good size tank?
Any advice or tips, or links to starter info is welcome, thanks !
We'd like to get a tank, for the lounge, but we don't really know a great deal about it all. She likes the tanks that have those slightly bowed fronts on them. The area we are looking to fill is around 3ft - 4ft wide. She likes the smaller fish , brightly coloured, tetras and so on. She'd like a tank that will have quite a few of them in it, along with the plants and corals etc.
Are there any good starter guides around? Something that covers the outlay costs, recommendations for tanks, fish etc?
Also, what are the running costs like for a good size tank?
Any advice or tips, or links to starter info is welcome, thanks !