My 6x2x2 Filteration

[D6C1]

Ok here goes. With this setup and many experimentation, I have acheived crystal clear/clean/breeding fish water

Two canisters. 1500lph pro aqua and eheim pro II 2028

Two internal power filters. 3800lph and the other is 1000lph. Both with bubbles blowing through the output through that air tube.

I got fed up with the flimsy taps on the pro aqua. So now its structured like this (Each line is a tray. Bottom last, ie the bio balls, and the top is the glass balls etc. There is no wool in there):

EHEIM GLASS BALLS (Ehfisubstrat Pro)

EHEIM GLASS BALLS (Ehfisubstrat Pro)

CERAMIC NOODLES

BIO BALLS

The Ehfisubstrat Pro cost me approx $50 a kilo last year. Not cheap, but not a regretful purchase.

That canister I have not touched since i set it up like that. This was back four months ago.

The eheim pro II is set up like this:

More Finer wool

Finer wool

Thick wool

Bio Balls

This filter I have not touched for approx four months too.

Both still have a very good water output. So I hightly doubt I will be opening them up any time soon.

The 3800lph internal power filter has got a wrapping of thick wool, and Ehfisubstrat Pro and then right at the top close to the impeller, I got fine wool, and topped off with cermanic noodles to stop the wool getting caught in the impeller.

The 1000lph filter has got thick wool in it, and a small layer of Ehfisubstrat Pro and a few ceramic noodles.

Both internal filters are very dirty and turn the water that I clean them in black. Every month they get a clean.

I feed my fish only as much as then can eat, and I dont feed them any excess. I use floating pellets, frozen blood worms and sometimes flake. If I feed flake, I feed slowly so they dont go in the filters. Same with the frozen blood worms.

The fish poo gets sucked up in the filters. I dont have fish poo on my crushed marble. If do you lift up a cave, you will find some poo there, because off course that doesnt get shifted and stays there.

When I do a water change, I mix the crushed marble around a bit to stir it up and flip it upside down. This goes with the water being taken out, and also sucked in the filters.

I have rocks and plastic plants around.

What else have I missed?

1 300W jager heater.

Some information on the Ehfisubstrat pro:

"The decisive advantage of the new biological EHEIM filter substrate is the pore system of the adhesive surface which is perfectly adapted to the size of bacteria to guarantee fast and intensive development of the cultures. Thanks to its enormous colonisation area of approx. 450 m2 per litre, SUBSTRATpro provides the perfect basis for the efficient biological breakdown of harmful substances with an above average service life. The highly effective filter medium consists of sintered glass. Spherically shaped to create a current-like flow, it ensures optimum water flow and thus maximum utilisation of the filter volume. Advantages of the new SUBSTRATpro:- even filter material structure- steadier water flow- improved utilisation of the filter bed- surface perfectly adapted to colonisation with nitrosobacteria and Nitro-bacteria- reduced nitrite load peaks during break down, better than in conventional filter media."

:-)

Anyone else want to share their non-sump filteration setups?

[wui39]

Good setup you got going.

On my 4ft I use a 2217 with the normal bio material and a 2028 with the normal bio material. Does a good job for me and I'll be using the same setup when I upgrade my tank.

[BaZ]

Anyone else want to share their non-sump filteration setups?

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I've never tried to filter a tank that big without a sump. You've proven that it is possible

However, I think a sump setup would have been a lot cheaper both initially and also when considering the long term running cost of all those filters and an air pump. My filters get cleaned once every 6-12 mths, and the media was extremely cheap

One downside of a sump is the noise factor. Have you set yours up without a sump to avoid this?

[D6C1]

Pretty much yes. Its in the living room behind the couch, so I wanted it to be quiet. And I have a stand not a cabinet.

Also to clean it, I can just carry the canister to the bathtub and there is no need to wet the floor.

I didnt want to fiddle with sumps and water levels dropping due to evaporation etc. etc..

I initally started off with the two canisters and 1 internal filter, and shifted media around depending on the water quality. The current setup is proving to be the best :D Very easy to clean. One is biological and one is mechanical and the internals provide extra water polishing and water circulation, and the extra air bubbles.

Its a large volume of water. If you were to add the total volume of water turn over, its 1500+3800+1050+1000 = 7350. And then you got to take in consideration the actual water turn over. But I can comfortably say I am turning over more than 7 or 8 times the water volume. (There is also rockwork in the tank).

Currently very happy with the setup and filteration and clarity.

A sump may have been cheaper yes, but there are cons to that. And pros. Well to both :-)

[BaZ]

A sump may have been cheaper yes, but there are cons to that. And pros. Well to both :-)

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Exactly. It's good to see someone doing what suits them, not just following the pack because they dont know any better

As for evaporation, I have never lost enough between water changes to make any noticeable difference. Maybe your house is hotter than mine though.

[steve24cro]

i dont agree that a sump is always better in a large tank, i have a mate who has a 8ft x 30 x 30 filters it off 2 canisters and 1 internal filter, seems to be plenty, always has crystal clear water and he has alot of big fish in that tank. HE has never had a problem, i think water evaporation with the sump would be the biggest issue, now in summer water evaporates pretty damm fast, but i guess its not that big of a issue...

[Eddie Salita]

I have a similar setup on my 6x2x2. Two lengths of 200mm pvc 600mm long hooked up in series. First one is mechanical with progressive grades of media, second all biological. The second one gets cleaned twice a year, and it still never has any gunk in it. Taps are set up so I can unhook the first one, clean it, and put it back in line without switching anything off. It just gets bypassed for the time its unhooked. I ususally drain it before moving it so it is nice and light to carry. A single 3900 lph pump inside the biological tube delivers the water back to the tank. A short hose with a tap in the top of the biological one is used for priming if necessary. Water quality is excellent, and maintenace is easy as pie. Media volume is more than enough.

Got the pvc from work, so the costs were the screw caps, the pump, the plumbing and the media.

Cheers,

Jason

[Richard]

On my previous 6b2b2 i had a Eheim 2217 running on the whole thing for a bout 6months until my tank got heavily stocked. I then threw in two Ac500s and an internal pump running at 1200lph. Did the job, water was crystal clear.

cheers; Richard

[Tiger]

I,m filtering a 8x2x2 and a 6x2.5x2.5 with only dropside corner filters (airdriven)

No problem atall .

I,ve just setup a 6x2x18 in the loungeroom with a 3x18x18 sump.... for some Tropheus.. i,ll see how they compare !

[MoliroMan]

In my 5 foot Aquaone tank i use the following non-sump filtration (bear in mind i keep tropheus and am crazy!!! ):

3 Eheim Prof II 2028 - 3150 lph

1 Eheim 2217 - 1000 lph

Overhead trickle filter - 1600 lph

Otto internal filter - 2000 lph

UV sterilise 16 watts

Purigen.

Aqua Medic Sulfur-Hydrocarbon Nitrate filter - not yet in operation.

Even though i have all this filtration i still do 75% weekly water changes and cycle my canister cleaning every 3 months.

Water is crystal clear and nitrates 0 ppm.

In my 4 foot tank with sump - still use 2 Eheim Prof II 2028!

[wui39]

Wow, thats some serious money for one tank. Did you get the Eheim at wholesale prices?

[MoliroMan]

Unfortunately they were not at wholesale prices but quite competitive prices at Auburn and Trans! Also i accumulated these filters over a period of time so it wasn't an one off purchase.

[parrdog]

Yes, you are one crazy so and so .

Seeya,

Jamie.

[parrdog]

I have a 5 foot long, 20 inch wide and 24 inch high tank. I run 3 canisters (2 Eheim 2217s and 1 Via Aqua 750), 1 uv steraliser and a 2000l/h power head for water movement. I also like overkill, I'm just not quite at Dave's level, hang on, after another look at his list, I'm nowhere near it .

Jamie.

[MoliroMan]

Come on Jamie, u are not very far behind me. Just need another canister and a nitrate filter!!!!

[mark_1]

im running a aquaone cf1000, 2x otto 800s on my 4x18x18 cichlid tank and the water still has a yellow tinge and it smells slightly but everything else if fine there is a fair bit of wood in it aswell

[huzzy]

water still has a yellow tinge and it smells slightly but everything else if fine there is a fair bit of wood in it aswell

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Thats Tanin leaking from the wood. Use some Carbon in one of your filters, it will remove the yellow and the smell.

[leungie]

LOL

I am running a aquaclear 500 on my 4x2x2, and I used to have 20 odd americans in there~

I better go get me a new eheim filter~ hehe

[CThompson]

Evaporation issues with sump filters are easily solved with a lid on the sump.

You are making a poor choice in biological media when you put bio balls in an enclosed space. You will get more surface area for colonisation with clean filter wool.

Bio ball are designed with the intention to have water flow trickling through them and not to have them submerged. They don't have as massive a surface area as other bio medias such as Matrix or Efisubstat, but come into their own and are the best biological media when water is trickling through them due to their ability of increasing the tanks surface area (by the added benefit of increased oxygen access), and for their abilities at keeping the bacteria alive (provided they stay damp) when there is a blackout (due to their still having access to oxygen).

Craig

[Trojan]

Eheim Pro III 2080 on a 4x2x2 with Americans and water is fine.

I do 50% water change and pre-filter clean every 2 weeks (these are messy Americans).

[spedwards]

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but i'm a little concerned my filter plans are under capacity for the tank I'm planning...

Plans are for something between 120 - 180cm (4' - 6') long, by 45cm (18") deep by 75cm (2 1/2') high, capacity will range from 430 to 630 litres without subtrate, rocks etc.

I *was* planning on using one Eheim 2217 (already owned) and then adding another into the mix - size dependant on the tank decided on. Basically 2217 + 2213 for 120cm (430L), 2217 + 2215 for 150cm (530L) or 2217 + 2217 for 180cm (630L). Each of these options gives me about 3 times water turn over per hour.

Am I planning on too little filtration for a malawi display tank???

[D6C1]

Digging an old thread is good. It means that all relevant discussions/posts are kept to the same thread.

How big and how many are you planning on keeping?

Believe it or not, I have around 40 - 50 adult/sub adult fish in my 6x2x2. The biggest one is around 30cms long!

[spedwards]

Digging up an old account too, as you can see by my "Joined" date. It has been a while...

Haven't drilled down on what fish yet. I've always previously been an American man and don't really know all that's out there for me. Also haven't had time to sit down with the boss and choose which fish I can have that will suit the decor.

I'm not thinking anything too huge, things like E. Yellows etc.. I would guess that nothing would exceed 15 - 20cm, maybe an Eyebiter if I can convince that they are a good looking fish.

[GTR73]

Since we've revived this thread, for what's it's worth my 4' x 18" x 18" I have a 1400L/hr internal with two attachments using fine wool, and a Jebo 900L/hr external canister with noodles at bottom, then course sponge next tray, green scourer type mat next, wool last.

Fish are happy and maintains biological no probs, but mechanical for this set up is lacking with a load of approx 55" of fish. So I get sick of cleaning the internal every 3 weeks and the external every two months.

I'll soon have a new external canister - Sacem Marathon 2000 (1850L/hr), for my birthday (thanks to my wife ), but still in it's box till my birthday later this month (thanks to the wife ). It's got a 10ltr barrell capacity so hopefully prove more than adequate for mechanical and certainly biological on a 4ft tank.

[spedwards]

Since we've revived this thread, for what's it's worth my 4' x 18" x 18" I have a 1400L/hr internal with two attachments using fine wool, and a Jebo 900L/hr external canister with noodles at bottom, then course sponge next tray, green scourer type mat next, wool last.

So it looks like I might have to go bigger then my original plans.

We've decided on the 5' x 18" x 2.5' which is around the 500L+ mark. I think i'll try two Eheim 2217 units and see how I go from there.

The boss is worried about the look of having filter plumbing running all over the place, has anyone got good ideas on how to keep them out of site without losing effective water circulation?