Rena smart filter 55

[octoxpuss]

Looking to buy an aquarium filter. Do you believe that this filter is worth the 55 bucks it is labeled as. I would be buying from petsmart so it may be a little less because i believe they are having a sale. Please respond ASAP [Only Registered Users Can See Links.] but bigger it has 3 comps. Anyway, along with this i have never seen media filter pads like this "cubes" How would i go about doing an instant cycle on these? I have other already seeded material so how do i go about doing this?

[Northernguy]

How big is the tank the filter is for?
The 20 is probably great for a ten and the 55 is probably best on 29gal.

[octoxpuss]

a 55 gallon

[Northernguy]

I would get an xp 2 or 2 of the 55's.Just one would hardly be enough filtration.

[octoxpuss]

I read that it circulates 180 gph. That is 3 times in an hour almost 4 that is not a good circulation. I am gettinga canister filter for christmas. Ha. Just asking.

[SpyderSpy6]

The circulation rates on the box are done without any media inside the filter. My rule of thumb is to always double up on the recommended gallons. So if you have a 55 gallon tank I would buy a filter that is rated for a 110 gallon tank at a minimum. Otherwise you will have a bio overload on your hands in no time. If you are constantly doing water changes you could get away with it, but I wouldn't recommend it.

I met a guy that told me he would build his own filters, which you could try doing. What he did was bought a submersible pump, a rectangle shaped tuberware and basically connected them together so that the pump pushed the water through the tuberware where all the sponges and media were housed. He claimed that it worked beautifully and that it was easy to exchange the media since it was basically topless. Might give it a thought if you are trying to cut down on costs.

With your size tank I would get a canister filter though.