• Hello guest! Are you an Apistogramma enthusiast? If so we invite you to join our community and see what it has to offer. Our site is specifically designed for you and it's a great place for Apisto enthusiasts to meet online. Once you join you'll be able to post messages, upload pictures of your fish and tanks and have a great time with other Apisto enthusiasts. Sign up today!

Best filter for 55 gallon?

pistolpete

New Member
Messages
4
I'm planning on breaking down my 29 gallon tall and setting a blackwater 55 gallon, I'd like to use my new-ish Fluval C3 HOB filter but I'm not sure if thats too too much flow. It seems a lot of people use canister filters but I'm not trying to make too big of an investment and I feel like that would make a stronger current? Any suggestions? I also can set up sponge filters but none of the biotope aquariums I've looked at seem like they use sponges.
 

dw1305

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
2,755
Location
Wiltshire UK
Hi all,
I'm planning on breaking down my 29 gallon tall and setting a blackwater 55 gallon, I'd like to use my new-ish Fluval C3 HOB filter but I'm not sure if thats too too much flow. It seems a lot of people use canister filters but I'm not trying to make too big of an investment and I feel like that would make a stronger current? Any suggestions? I also can set up sponge filters but none of the biotope aquariums I've looked at seem like they use sponges.
I would think the majority of long term Apistogramma keepers use some type of sponge filter. I know <"Mike Wise does">, and you couldn't have a much better recommendation than that.

I'm a fan of the Hamburg Matten Filter (particularly the Eck (corner) filters (below)), and if I had a fish house I would definitely go for the air pump, jet lifter and <"Poret HMF combination">.

Hamburger_Mattenfilterbau_6.jpg


Current is fine, even if you have loads of flow you don't have to have a whirl-pool effect. You can use plants and branches etc to deflect the flow and create calm areas. This is the flow in a tank where <"Copella arnoldi and Apistogramma agassizii">, both spawned successfully.

Copella_arnoldi_male_crop_zpsabbdc351.jpg


I'm not familiar with the Fluval HOB filter, but I bought an <"Eheim Liberty filter"> that came with lots of foam inserts etc. and I just took them out, 1/2 filled the body with glass rings and put a sponge on the intake.

cheers Darrel
 

Mike Wise

Moderator
Staff member
5 Year Member
Messages
11,202
Location
Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
I'm changing most of my tanks to matten-type filters. Mine all have air driven lift tubes. They seem to be as efficient as sponge filters and are less obtrusive. I find air driven lift systems more energy efficient if running multiple tanks on a single large air pump. I don't know if the same is true for a single large tank.
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
17,916
Messages
116,204
Members
13,028
Latest member
JaconieMalonie

Latest profile posts

Josh wrote on anewbie's profile.
Testing
EDO
Longtime fish enthusiast for over 70years......keen on Apistos now. How do I post videos?
Looking for some help with fighting electric blue rams :(
Partial updated Peruvian list have more than this. Please PM FOR ANY QUESTIONS so hard to post with all the ads poping up every 2 seconds….
Top