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Cichlid Tank Filtration (1 Viewer)

JayJeep

JayJeep

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Oct 11, 2011
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Location
Farmington, MN
Just wondering what other people that have freshwater tanks use for filtration.

Right now, I have a 55 gallon African Cichlid tank with a Cascade 1200 Canister filter that I bought used. I put ehiem filter media in there but I really don't like cleaning the filter. Everytime I disconnect and connect it I make a watery mess.

Just wondering what other people use and how hard the maintenance is.

-Jason
 
You should be able to disconnect the hoses without making a mess.
This is what I did when I did when I kept freshwater with my fluval 405 filter.
Disconnect hoses
Carry filter from the display to the laundry tub
Go back to the display tank and drain the tank out of 10 gallons of water (25%) put some of the tank water into a bucket.
Open the canister filter and take out the sponge and rinse the sponge in the old tank water.
Return the canister and plug back in, prime the canister filter and start it back up. Fill the tank with freshwater until full.
 
The cascade filter has crappy disconnects, not very secure. I was sliding the canister a little once and the hose popped off.

I should just go buy a better quality canister filter. Any recommendations?
 
I liked the fluval 405 canister filter if you're really looking for a canister.
For HOB filters I would go with 2 Emp 400 filters. They'll go for pretty cheap on minnfish.
Personally I like sponge filters, They're ALOT cheaper than canister filters and work great, all you need is a decent air pump.
 
But this is on a african cichlid where mechanical will be need also. Emperors and sponge filters are so so for mechanically IMHO.
 
They're decent for an average stocked tank IMO, when I do water changes I like to suck up alot of the gunk in the dead spots of the tank if there are any.

With regular tank maintenance the tank should be fine with sponge filters and or emperors IMO
 
I like the fact that you don't have anything on the back of the tank for the canisters. Plus I think the tank is too close to the wall for any HOB filter.

Does anybody here have a sump or wet/dry filter on their freshwater tank? I guess I will be looking for a different cansiter filter because I am not happy with the cascades hose connections.

Thanks for the input.
 
i have a sump on my 75 gal planted freshwater and i actually dont like it. It just collects junk and increases evaporation. I actually took it off line for a while and just ran a canister filter on it.
 
I have 2 200gph marineland bio-wheel pumps on my 29g ranchu tank.

easy cleaning, plenty of flow.
 
I "had" two Emperor 400's hanging on the back of my 75 gal. African Cichlid tank in the day. I took one of the 400's off and put a Rena XP4 in it's place. I had that thing overstocked with 30 or so fish and it was just fine. Granted there was the site of the filters on the back of the tank, but it didn't seem to bother me.
 
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