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Canister filter delima....???

3K views 11 replies 5 participants last post by  Romad 
#1 ·
We recently purchased a used 75 gal fish tank from a friend and we brought it home... got it set up... and added tropical fish (after we had the water tested of course.) But, I'm still kinda new to the whole fish world.

Last week, our water started to get a little cloudy so we decided to clean the tank but we ran into a problem. When we took apart the Penn Plex Cascade filter (older filter that was given to us with the tank) the output valve cracked. We have decided to just go ahead and invest in a new canister filter because we have been unable to locate any replacement parts for this older model (and honestly can't even find Penn Plex on the market.) We've looked online and instore at Petsmart and have narrowed our decision down to ether an Eheim Classic, Eheim Ecco, or a Fluval 405. We've read some reviews but we're still unsure about which would be the best for our tank.

Can anyone please give us some advice on which filter would be the best?
 
#2 ·
Hello and welcome to the forum.

I have a 75 gallon and have a Rena XP3 canister running. I'm pretty sure it's rated for 150 gallons. I have to say that I absolutely love love love love this filter.

I've heard great things about Eheim but it was a bit more money than I could spend at the time.

According to your post, you added fish right away? How many fish and what type?
 
#10 ·
i fear some of your fish may be at risk of bodily harm from the tiger barbs especially the mollies. they are notorious fin nippers and are very territorial. also your knife fish will out grow the 75 gallon sooner than you think. i would do some serious research on all your fish and make sure you set a compatible happy community for all your fish. but first i would separate the tiger barbs. i just keep mine in a community of just barbs with some armored catfish. hope all works out well :)
 
#5 ·
Oh no! I may be new to the big fish tank world but I have some previous experience with beginner 10 gal tanks when I was younger. This is our first family aquarium.

The poor babies have been without a filter for almost a week... will they be okay long enough for me to research some more or should I just pick on and step on it?!?!?!
 
#6 ·
Do you have good water test kit on hand yet? That's really the only way to tell if you've got ammonia, nitrites, and or high nitrAte levels in the tank. How often are you changing the water and how much?
 
#8 ·
I'd suggest grabbing a filter of some type soon if it's been a week already. Any of the filters mentioned will do well. Also, Penn Plax's canister filters are run under the label "Cascade" Whether you can find a replacement part or not, I dunno.
 
#11 ·
We purchased the Eheim and I absolutely love it! It was been running for a week now and my water is crystal clear and you can't even hear the filter running! I took a sample of the water when we bought the filter and the only thing that tested high was the nitrate so we bought some solution to get it down. I am going to have the water tested again today.

As far as my fish... I did research and found that as long as you keep Tiger Barbs in groups of around 7 they will not bother the other fish. They seem to be doing fine with the Mollies. I also read that the Ghost Knife will fit just fine in a 75 gal as long as he's the only big fine in there. Thanks for your input tho.
 
#12 ·
I have a group of 7 green tiger barbs in my community tank and they don't bother my other peaceful fish. They just play with and chase each other.

The best solution for high nitrates is water changes. Chemicals really aren't necessary and may actual cause more harm than good over time.
 
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