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20g Tank / filter system advice

2K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  stevenjohn21 
#1 ·
Hey guys

Newbie here and I currently have a 5.5 g tank and thinking of going to 20g in the future, my question is I have a MarineLand Penguin 100 that cycles 100g per hour and I was wondering should I get another for the 20g tank?​
This filter does an amazing job on the 5.5g and cycles the tank about 18 times an hour (prob an overkill to you experts out there) where as in a 20g it would cycle the whole tank 5 times/hour.

Do I go with more power or will my current filter be good enough?

Thanks
 
#3 ·
It really depends what you are looking to keep.

For lightly stocked tank with slow moving fish/shrimp you'd be fine with the current filter.

Some larger bio load fish, brissle nose plecs etc you will need more bio capacity. Prefferably something like an external canister.

If you are going for a planted tank I the current filter will prob have enough bio capacity but you need more flow.
The current filter plus a powerhead for flow would be your best bet then.

You need to look at the type of tank you want to keep before deciding.
 
#5 ·
Flow isn't an issue then as the platys and angels won't need massive flow.

I'd say due to platys being a bit greedy (remind me of goldfish in that respect) you'd need more bio filteration.

My recommendation is get a cheap(ish) canister filter as you have much more room for bio media with that than an internal or hob.

After getting my first canister I couldn't go back to another type on anything less than a 5-8g tank!
 
#6 ·
I have a 20 gallon long tank which holds mollies & platies, i use a marineland 350b which might be over kill to most but when i saw it on amazon for $35.00 with free shipping i couldnt resist. You could advertise your filter on craigslist and see if anyone would trade you for a bigger filter (maybe somebody wants to down size)

But i think if you change 5 gallons every 2-3 days and keep the filter you have, you should be ok.
 
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