I'll be setting up a 55 gallon tank later this summer. It will be so positioned that a cannister filter would be at best impractical. It will also be right next to my TV, so waterfall and bubble driven filters are out of the question.
What I need is one (or two) good internal power filters, preferably with outlets that can be directed toward the surface to provide agitation without noisy splashing.
A simple sponge filter driven by a power head. Very quiet and very effective source of biological filtration. A friend of mine ran a 220 aquarium using 2 of these filters. I have personally used sponge filters on dozens of aquariums. I think you will find this is exactly what you are asking for. And you can easily hide them with rocks and plants.
That's a great idea. I'll have to see what sort of prices I can get on larger powerheads than the ones I have and compare to other options folks come up with.
These little guys sure are interesting. 160GPH is not bad at all. You may give them a try, with a little custom media (i.e. scrap the whole carbon idea) they may work out really well, and they're cheap!
Fluval plus series. Probably a pair of Fluval 3+'s. Set them up in the back corners, supplement filtration with an Emperor 400 with a pair of powered sponge filters like the Marineland 660r's.
Planting with Vals, which really grow best for me in sand. UGF and RUGF are not feasible.
A pair of Fluval 3+ is probably where I am going with this. Maybe with a power sponge or two, but, thinking about the aquascape, that probably won't fit nicely. (This will be in my living room, so it has to look good. Black Mollies and Ghost Shrimp. Vals and Sags.)
This tank is doing double duty as display and live food for the bichirs and bushfish and butterflies on the other side of the TV. No way could I justify using cherry shrimp.
They may be more expensive to begin with, but IMHO they are ridiculously easy to breed, much easier than Ghost shrimp. Plus, you can usually pick them up pretty inexpensively on aquabid or by trading with someone on this forum.
They may be more expensive to begin with, but IMHO they are ridiculously easy to breed, much easier than Ghost shrimp. Plus, you can usually pick them up pretty inexpensively on aquabid or by trading with someone on this forum.
I have them. I haven't found them to be that easy to breed. Yet. I also don't think I could feed them to my bichir.
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