Filtration,how much?

[Kobus]

Hi,
I am relatively new to the tropical hobby. I do have, what I think are a reasonable setup running for about 6 months now. It is a 100 liter tank with a under gravel filter and a 700l/h internal filter. There are 12 guppys, 1 pleco, 2 dwarf gouramis and 6 zebra danios curently occupying the tank. they do look happy from my side of the glass, I do a 20% water change every weekend and also vacuum the substrate while water changing. I have only lost one guppy and one zebra danio during this period.

The reason I actualy writing this is in the hope to learn a bit more than I already know. I resently obtained a 250 liter tank. I fited it with a under gravel filter with two 500l/h power heads, a dolphin C500 cannister filter and I got a Atman 883 internal filter from a freind no more interested in small tanks. I hope there is someone that can give me some info on the Atman filter, all I know is that it does 1500l/h.

Do you submerge the filter totaly?
Will the filtration on this setup be enough?
What kind of fish can I go for in this tank setup?

Please, I want to do the right thing from the start. Any advice will be apreciated!

[thysie]

welkom to the forum

[Kobus]

Thanks thysie, looking forward to hear from you again.

[Singularity]

I would go with a canister or sump for any tank bigger than 100L. Under gravel filters do work but they have become obsolete with new inovations and a better understanding of what is required to run a tropical tank succesfully.

[Kobus]

thanks for youre reply, will the dolphin c500 and atman 883 internal filter be enough?

[Singularity]

look for a canister that does 1000Lph - 1500lph

[Marco]

Hi kobus, what fish do you plan to keep in there? I'm asking, and maybe others will have a different opinion, but with all that 'power' there will be a great deal of 'circulation' (current) in the tank. Not all fish appreciate that

[Zoom]

Hi and welcome...

Could you post pictures of everything you have so we can make a more educated answer with regards of what you should use. Also include the specs on each filter. I would agree with singularity to dump the undergravel filter in that big tank. As you read more on the forum you will see that many people actually don't believe they are as effective as they are believed to be... although some members are using them extremely successfully.. with some minor adjustements.

[larch]

Hi,
I am relatively new to the tropical hobby. I do have, what I think are a reasonable setup running for about 6 months now. It is a 100 liter tank with a under gravel filter and a 700l/h internal filter. There are 12 guppys, 1 pleco, 2 dwarf gouramis and 6 zebra danios curently occupying the tank. they do look happy from my side of the glass, I do a 20% water change every weekend and also vacuum the substrate while water changing. I have only lost one guppy and one zebra danio during this period.

The reason I actualy writing this is in the hope to learn a bit more than I already know. I resently obtained a 250 liter tank. I fited it with a under gravel filter with two 500l/h power heads, a dolphin C500 cannister filter and I got a Atman 883 internal filter from a freind no more interested in small tanks. I hope there is someone that can give me some info on the Atman filter, all I know is that it does 1500l/h.

Do you submerge the filter totaly?
Will the filtration on this setup be enough?
What kind of fish can I go for in this tank setup?

Please, I want to do the right thing from the start. Any advice will be apreciated!

The C500 canister filter does about 500L/hr while the Atman 883 does 1500 liters/hr so if you combine the two it should be fine I see the Atman also has loads of space for mechanical and biological filtration but it wont work so nice when the bio load increases. Space might be an issue with the Atman though it looks pretty massive and will take up some space in the tank since it is a internal filter.


http://i.ebayimg.com/11/!BwQ1qP!BGk~$(KGrHqEOKiUEwO!3cv6)BMIK-m,p8!~~_35.JPG

[PeterWest]

Also, that Atman, although it looks to be a good filter, with my experience I founf it to be a pathetic filter doing a poor job of cleaning the tank. Since then I upgraded to a Dolphin C-1300 canister filter.

Regards
Peter

[Kobus]

Now that is one question I strugle to answer, I am strugling on what species to put in this tank. It runs for over a month now and even the kids are geting frustrated as to when are the fish coming! I thought of puting in oscars but after a lot of reading on the internet I desided my tank is to small. Any suggestions for this setup?

[Marco]

its your tank . . . So it is a subjective thing. In a tank that size though, I'd go for lots of plants and wood, cave formations etc with a light substrate. Then I'd pop in 5 or 6 nice Angels, some Dwarf Cichlids and a lot of Cardinals.

[Kobus]

I will try and put some pictures of this tank on tomorow, maybe then we can get a clearer picture of what type of fish to put in?

[Laure]

Go here
http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/community.html
You can read up on many different species, see their temperature requirements, etc. It allows you to create a "virtual" tank and then you add species you like and it will advise you if they are compatible or not.

I would suggest that as a beginner you create a typical "community" tank with lots of different types of fish, just to see what you like and what works for you.

If it was my tank, I would create a nice planted setup with a large school of one type of fish, like tetras or rosy barbs, and then a few larger fish like a pair of angels.

[Kobus]

i am trying to upload photos, but i think some where i am doing it wrong any one that can help me?

[Singularity]

register on www.photobucket.com (http://www.photobucket.com) choose the images you want to upload, let it upload, save the names of the files etc, and copy paste the IMG code that you will find in a pop up menu when you hover your mouse pointer over an image.

[Kobus]

http://http://i792.photobucket.com/albums/yy204/kobus2/my%20tanks/IMG_3177.jpgMy first tank(100L)