Filter Question

[JamieNSC]

I have a 29g tank that I will be stocking over the next couple of months. I am on a budget so I bought an aquarium kit that included a filter, light, etc. I have heard that filters in kits are not always what they should be. How do I know if the filter is doing the job that it should?

[Adrian]

Most aquariums kits have individual boxes with the items that come with it. On your filter box, look for the (GPH) Gallons per Hour. Since you have a 29 gallon tank, it needs to filter at least 3 times what your tank is. For example on a 29 gallon you should have a filter that filters out at least 87 gallons an hour.

[cocoa_pleco]

just tell us the filter and we can tell you.

if the filter says rated for tanks 15g-30g, it really means it can handle a overstocked 15g, but a very lightly stocked 30g, so the filters no good. if it says for tanks 29g-55g its a good filter

[smcurry83]

It all depends on the filter. The filter that came with my tank is a good one. I bought a second one just so I can be over-filtered and create more flow in the tank...

What brand/model is your filter? That information will help people tell you if it's good or not.

[D.C._United_Caps_Fan]

It all depends on the filter. The filter that came with my tank is a good one. I bought a second one just so I can be over-filtered and create more flow in the tank...

What brand/model is your filter? That information will help people tell you if it's good or not.


I was just about to ask this same thing! LOL! Ive only bought a kit once, and it came w/ a filter. The filter is a "topfin", and its good for a 10G tank. I most likely will be replacing it w/ some kind of wet/dry filter, or just a good old fasioned aquaclear w/ sponge media.

I used one sponge, and one bio wheel on my 29G when I had it, and that combo seemed to work great for me.

[shockshockshad]

Your tank is approximately 30 gallons. Multiply that by 2 and you get 60. Make sure the filter is rated for a 55+ gallon tank.

[jbeining75]

Jamie,

Grab an AC70. They are only around 39.99 or so. They will be 5 times better than the one you probably received with the package. If you did the walmart 29 gallon package you got a filter barely big enough to run 15 gallons with it. Run the ac70 and the aquatech filter both on the tank if you did do the walmart package deal....

[JamieNSC]

It did come in the kit from Wal-Mart. It is a Aqua Tech 20-40 filter. I couldn't find anything that told how many GPH it filtered. Does anyone know?

[Nick89]

aquatech isnt the greatest, but perhaps you could get a penguin 350? they're 26 bucks online at petsmart.com i believe, and theyre good for 75g, lightly stocked that is, with 350gph. But usually you divide what the filter is rated for (except canisters, as i dont follow that divide in half rule as they have stages of filtering) but the penguin 350 would be good on a 29. I have 2 on my 55g.

[JamieNSC]

I have Whisper 40-60. Would it be better to use on the 29g? I wasn't sure if a filter could be too big.

[JamieNSC]

Actually I made an error. It is a Whisper 40. It does 210 gph.

[MandyL]

From what I can find online, your Aqua-Tech filter would actually be rated for 20-40 gallons. So for a lightly stocked tank, it could work, but it is not enough for a moderately to heavy stocked tank. The same goes for the Whisper filter which is rated max for a 40gallon. You could try them both together, but I'm guessing the water flow would be pretty substantial.

[shockshockshad]

Get an aquaclear 70. That should work. Or get a 50 and run it with the whisper. Just make sure there is no carbon in it.

[smcurry83]

You can't be over-filtered. Like I said, I have two whisper 60's on a 46g tank. They're rated at 330 gph each, so together it's 660 gph. I like it a lot. Plus the fish like the extra flow...