filtration in Apisto tank

[Ron]

Glad to find a forum that deals specifically with my favorite fish..

I'm setting up a 75gal. apisto tank and I would like to use a canister filter for filtration. The Fluval 304 is rated for tanks up to 70 gal. but in an apisto tank, would that be adequate, or should I get the 404 model instead?
..or for $20.00 more, get an Eheim Ecco 2235.
decisions, decisions....

 

[Eva32181]

How heavily planted is your tank going to be? If you plan on using lots of healthy green plants, go with the filter rated for 70 gallons. Plants act as natural filters, and tend to absorb fish wastes to a point. Some folks who work with heavily planted tanks use no filtration at all - but they also stock very, very lightly. My 55 has just one Aquaclear 200 and lots of plants, and is doing fine.

If you aren't going to do plants, or if you want to stock discus or tons of other fish, shell out the cash for the more powerful filter.

Just my humble opinion, YMMV and all that.

 

[Neil]

Ron,

WELCOME TO THE FORUM

I agree with Eva32181. Additionally, I have found that heavy water flow is less desirable for apistos. I would go with the 304.

 

[Ron]

Thanks all,
Yes, it will eventually be well planted. Your opinions mean a lot, and thanks for the welcome.

 

[farm41]

I have a magnum 350 on a 60g apisto tank. I made a spraybar full length and put it on the bottom back wall with the flow going straight up. With this setup the water flow is hardly noticeable and still has a high turnover rate. I like to use more filter that I need and distribute the flow across the entire tank. The tank is heavily planted and the water is crystal clear.


JMHO
YMMV
HTH

 

[Graham]

I usually use a sponge setup run by a powerhead on dwarf tanks. Especially with plants and CO2, I like to minimize surface agitation. Also, I usually allow the parents to spawn in the display tank and the "souped-up" sponge filters won't eat babies. If you can still find them, Tetra made a nice model that fits to most powerheads and consists of two sponges. With a 200+ gallon/hour powerhead, I think you could safely filter up to a 75 gallon using this method. I have only used it on tanks up to 40 gallons. Also, the sponges seem to attract microscopic life that newborn apistos like to eat - they always spend the first few days picking at the sponges once they're on the move.

 

[jowens]

Using a modified spraybar, I'm able to use an Eheim 2026 (rated up 92 gallons) on a 46 gallon display tank without creating excessive turbulence for either my fish or plants. I did this by altering the factory spraybar with a drill. The factory spraybar only has about six holes. If you use only this, the water is expelled with considerable velocity - causing problems with feeding and generally making life harder on your plants and fish. What I did was drastically increase the number holes in the spraybar - while increasing the size of holes themselves by 3-4x. Also, instead of aiming all the spraybar holes out at a 90 degree angle, I also drilled some new ones aiming directly down. As a result, water is expelled both outwards and downwards into the water column.

It's worked very well. I now have a tremendous amount of filtration with a humungous biological filter, but I have no problems with excessive surface disturbance (which the plants wouldn't like) or strong currents in the bottom of the tank (which the fish wouldn't like). The fish can swim directly into the outflowing water with ease. It provides a small current, but even discus are not "blown back" by the outflow. It's more like a gentle push.

I would recommend this approach to anyone. While it's true that a healthy, growing planted tank will provide a lot of "filtration" on its own, sometimes it takes some work to get to that point. Having the extra filtration can give you a lot of peace of mind in the beginning stages of a tank, when algae is a problem and you're adding new fish and plants all the time.