Need help with 29g filters

[BillyVille]

I know Ive asked before but I really need help deciding on Filter or filters for my 29 gallon. I wanted a fluval 305 with a inline heater, but im low on cash so now im thinking two HOB with some sort of heater???

[travie]

A single Aquaclear 70, should work. I have an AC70 on my 29g. It works just fine.

[Adrian]

I got an AC 70 on my 37 gallon tank, it is really quiet, as soon as I took the top cover off of it. Otherwise it rattled like crazy. I have both good points and bad points with Aqua-Clear filters.

1.) AC filters force water thru the filter media, and recycle water thats already in the filter when it is "turned down."

2.) Many choices of filter media that can go into these things. Huge plus.

Bad things.

1.) Changing or rinsing the media in the filter, requires you to remove everything inside of it to clean the very bottom one. Major drawback.

2.) You can not control the water flow coming out of the filter to well. Even in the lowest setting, the water flow is pretty high.

3.) Should the filter media become clogged, you could wind up with a mess on the floor, as it will pour out of the back. No fail safes.

I would say it's all a matter of preference, however, the whisper 40, or 60 are really good filters, that are very easy to maintain. Some will disagree with me, but I am just offering my suggestions.

As for a heater, since you can not put an "inline" heater on an HOB, I would suggest a 100 watt submersiable heater.

[Nautilus29]

For heater it depends on how much your water fluctuates. I keep my house cold in the winter around 60 and 65 so I have to have more heater watts per gallon on my tanks then the typical person. If your house doesnt fluctuate as much as mine then you wont need as much watts but the rule of thumb is around 4 to 5.

[BillyVille]

well im wanting two HOB, one for each side. But I want one that wont overflow out the back when something goes wrong (glad you told me that outlander) I just dont know who makes the best one?

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Have you considered one of the lower powered Rena XP canister filters? They do have a fairly good reputation. The XP1 would be a good filter for that tank and they are much cheaper than the Fluvals.

[BillyVille]

Have you considered one of the lower powered Rena XP canister filters? They do have a fairly good reputation. The XP1 would be a good filter for that tank and they are much cheaper than the Fluvals.


Ive never heard of them. Everyone always told me to go with fluvals?? I will look them up. Thanks.

[Adrian]

Have you considered one of the lower powered Rena XP canister filters? They do have a fairly good reputation. The XP1 would be a good filter for that tank and they are much cheaper than the Fluvals.


Actually the rena XP2 would be better, as it would filter out more than the xp1. Since canister filters only filter out half of what they say on the box due to filter media being placed in them.

Meaning, they rate it without anything in them, so you need go a little bigger. But yes, the rena xp's are great canister filters, if you can afford them.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

You can get them through Petsmart. If you find one on Petsmart.com, print out the page with the price and take that page into your local Petsmart and they have to Pricematch the online price.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Actually the rena XP2 would be better, as it would filter out more than the xp1. Since canister filters only filter out half of what they say on the box due to filter media being placed in them.

Meaning, they rate it without anything in them, so you need go a little bigger. But yes, the rena xp's are great canister filters, if you can afford them.

They give the flowrate empty, but not the tank rating. The tank size rating for the Rena filters on the box is off on the larger ones, but the XP2 would be more than needed for a 29g. Filtration ability is not all about higher flow. Higher flow doesn't necessarily mean more filtration. Since the main purpose of the filter is actually the biofiltration the lower flow can be just as effective. There are 2 schools of thought on the flow issue, on this side of the Atlantic people seem to be obesessed with high flow recommending a minimum of 10x turnover per hour. However in Europe they have been using lower flow rates on canisters for a while. Take the Eheims for example; the flowrates given for those on the site and on the box is for when they are full of media. That flowrate is what many would consider low but with that lower flow rate it keeps the water in contact with the bacteria longer and thus more ammonia and nitrite is removed with each pass.

[BillyVille]

What if I used the Rena XP1 and the HOB that came with my factory 29 gallon setup.

[Adrian]

I happen to agree. Water that is in more contact with the filter media tends to filter out more than just water flowing thru at a high rate of speed. That is the biggest reason that I like the Whisper power filters better than most, as I can adjust how fast the flow is.

On the AC, it just flows, and when turned to half flow, it is still moving pretty fast. I have to actually lift up on the uptake tube to slow the flow down, and I feel as though I am not getting adequete filtration then. <shrugs> I guess it is all a matter of opinion.

Some filters are indeed better than others. All have good points, and bad. Choosing a filter should be done on parts availability, cost of repairs, how well it performs, and what you actually want it to do.

[A340]

If you're looking for HOBs on your 29g, I would recommend the AquaClears. They are affordable, well built, quiet, readily available and offer the most customizing ability of any HOB. I have an AC110 on my 29g and it works like a charm. I would recommend you get at least the AC70 for a 29g and if you want two (one in each corner) I'd go for two AC50s.

Rena also has a fairly new HOB on the market called the SmartFilter ...

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

... one of the options is to replace the intake tube with the SmartHeater which is an intake tube and heater built into one. They are a bit more pricey and may be difficult in finding replacement media. But it's something to look into.

Also, remember, with HOBs, you'll want to make sure that your chosen filter is rated for at least twice your actual tank size. So, for a 29g tank, you'll need a filter rated for a 60g tank or 2 x 30g rated filters.