Looking for some expert (or good novice advice) on what filter set-up would be best for my application. About to set-up a 90 gal tall (36l x 18w x 32d) aquarium for my Lake Malawi Chiclids (Rusty, Kenji, Msobo, Mbuna, Venustus) (splitting up the herd from my 38 gal). I have a lot of experience with larger bio filter set-ups for my 2000 gal Tilapia pond (built my own bio filter using large pool sand filter filled w/ bio media) and have a Marineland 280 bio wheel on my 38 gal bow front. Looking at Eheim 2217, Fluval 405, or even a Fluval fx5 (think it my be too large for 90 gal tank). Leaning toward the Eheim but also might add a bio wheel discharge? The guy I am buying the tank from has a Marineland 400 bio wheel set-up but it makes a crap load of noise & really does not work with this tank well (water splashes on the center glass brace at the top of the tank). Input on experience with these filters, efficiency, ease of use & least trouble with leaks/pump failure. Thanks!!
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Thanks for the input Supadave. That's the way I was leaning with the fx5- 2000g Outdoor Pond w/ WC Texas Cichlids
- 90g high & 42g corner bow-front Lake Malawi
- 45g high grow-out tank
- 10 & 20g grow-out tanks, Lake Malawi fry & BN Plecos
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Out of that list you posted for your 90 gallon, FX5 is DEFINATELY the best choice.380G For Sale $3000 Acrylic tank & stand
300G Petrochromis Trewavasae and Tropheus mpimbwe Red Cheek & Duboisi
180G For Sale $1,100 Oceanic Cherry with Stand, T5HO Lights, (2) Eheim 2262
150G Tropheus Annectens Kekese & Ikola
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Thanks guys. The FX5 it is then....I cant wait to get this baby set-up. I brought home a bunch of holy limestone rock from my trip to Wimberley this weekend (my parents land has a bunch of this stuff laying around) I pick-up the tank sometime this week. Now I just have to scape this thing out. I have plenty of long driftwood to choose from (picked-up @ Canyon Lake last year when it was 20 feet low) to go along with the rock.......now I just have to figure out what I am going to use as a substrate.....maybe some black gravel & those black river stones?- 2000g Outdoor Pond w/ WC Texas Cichlids
- 90g high & 42g corner bow-front Lake Malawi
- 45g high grow-out tank
- 10 & 20g grow-out tanks, Lake Malawi fry & BN Plecos
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I'd recommend using pool filter sand as a substrate . . . it will provide a cleaner look IMOScarecrow : I haven't got a brain... only straw.
Dorothy : How can you talk if you haven't got a brain?
Scarecrow: I don't know... But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking... don't they?
Dorothy: Yes, I guess you're right.
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+1 on the FX5. +1 pool filter sand.
I would recommend leaving the drift wood out of the scape on this tank. Mainly because it will release tannins into the water that will lower your ph. These tannins can also slightly tint the water. Also there is no wood in typical Mbuna habitat.120g - Tropheus Moorii Kambwimba
180g - Petrochromis Macrognathus Dine/Tropheus Moorii Namansi I
"Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has not heart; and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains"....Winston Churchill
"We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence upon those who would do us harm"....Winston Churchill
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Thanks for the input guys. I got the fx5 today.....Holy Crap! That thing is like a shop vac!! Definitely looks like it will do the trick! I am going to try it out with Ultra Bio Media & carbon pellets in bags to see how she works. I use this stuff in my tilapia pond in a 19" sand filter (bio media in place of sand) & it has performed very well, always clear water.
The only thing is that Hagen warns against using any media small enough to get to the impeller (you have to bag all carbon, bio, ammo media which I would have done anyway) but from what I have read on other sites, any sand getting in there could damage the impeller causing premature failure of the pump since it is located at the bottom of the case & sand could collect there. Thinking of 1/4" gravel but still undecided on color (white, black or a mix of both)- 2000g Outdoor Pond w/ WC Texas Cichlids
- 90g high & 42g corner bow-front Lake Malawi
- 45g high grow-out tank
- 10 & 20g grow-out tanks, Lake Malawi fry & BN Plecos
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Got everything hooked up last night, scaped the tank & got the fx5 loaded up with media & its is doing a bang-up job. Really quiet operation after the start-up. It did scare the dog when it stopped after 2 minutes to clear the excess air out of the system . Thanks for the input guys. I'll post a photo soon.- 2000g Outdoor Pond w/ WC Texas Cichlids
- 90g high & 42g corner bow-front Lake Malawi
- 45g high grow-out tank
- 10 & 20g grow-out tanks, Lake Malawi fry & BN Plecos
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- 2000g Outdoor Pond w/ WC Texas Cichlids
- 90g high & 42g corner bow-front Lake Malawi
- 45g high grow-out tank
- 10 & 20g grow-out tanks, Lake Malawi fry & BN Plecos
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Thanks Supadave!!
I posted another photo that I took tonight on a different thread. This tank always had potential but where it was at before, was just not appreciated. It was in a guest bathroom in a high rise apartment?! Now I just need to p/u a heater & I think I am going to rig-up a drain/fill line to the outside, it will be too easy not to do it. Fish will go in this weekend, I know they will like the extra fin room!!- 2000g Outdoor Pond w/ WC Texas Cichlids
- 90g high & 42g corner bow-front Lake Malawi
- 45g high grow-out tank
- 10 & 20g grow-out tanks, Lake Malawi fry & BN Plecos
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Here's the Craigslist add that I found it on. You can see how bad the stand looked & all the drift wood that was in the tank, even hanging from the top. The canopy was trashed immediately.
- 2000g Outdoor Pond w/ WC Texas Cichlids
- 90g high & 42g corner bow-front Lake Malawi
- 45g high grow-out tank
- 10 & 20g grow-out tanks, Lake Malawi fry & BN Plecos
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