Filtration (again sorry)

[Willyleigh]

I have a rena xp3 on my tank 300 liters (84. gal) with 2 oscars and a jack dempsey in, on the box the flow rate of 1350liters (356Gal.)per hour seemed enough to filter it four times an hour which is enough.

However doing a bit more reading in the instructions it says that with the hoses and filter media the flow rate is reduced to 700 liters (184 gal) per hour, turning it over twice an hour, this clearly isn't enough for the tank especially when my oscars get bigger as already a lot of rubbish floats in the tank and lingers at feeding time.

My parameters are perfect so biological filtration is fine, do you think that an internal filter like the fluval 4 stuffed with filter fibers would provide enough mechanical filtration to clear the water?

I want an internal as they make more of a current than external so should stop detritus from settling.

At last, my question, would this be enough or should I get another canister filter, my tank gets weekly 30% water changes.

[dev]

I don't know the xp3, but if your bilogical filtration is ok and you are loooking for more circulation and particle filtering, a canister sounds like an expensive route. Most if not all canisters are designed for heavy biological filtration with low throughput.

I use internal filters like Fluval, AquaClear (powerhead with filter attachment) and Juwel Compact for these tasks. The Juwel Compact must be siliconed into your tank, but have the advantage of very good biological and mechanical filtration, and also gives you a place to hide your heater. Also very flexible in the selection of filtermedia and powerheads (400 - 1500 liters/hour)

[Drumachine09]

Id say get an AC 70, or an AC 110 (best choice).

That should be sufficent.

[Willyleigh]

I don't know the xp3, but if your bilogical filtration is ok and you are loooking for more circulation and particle filtering, a canister sounds like an expensive route. Most if not all canisters are designed for heavy biological filtration with low throughput.

I use internal filters like Fluval, AquaClear (powerhead with filter attachment) and Juwel Compact for these tasks. The Juwel Compact must be siliconed into your tank, but have the advantage of very good biological and mechanical filtration, and also gives you a place to hide your heater. Also very flexible in the selection of filtermedia and powerheads (400 - 1500 liters/hour)

Thanks Dev, thats what I thought, canister filters don't need as much flow as internal filters as they have a greater volume for the filter media, this is good but its not good as there now isnt a big enough current running through the tank to keep it clean.

I will try it with a large internal to get a bit of movement into the tank and let you know how I get on.

[dev]

Id say get an AC 70, or an AC 110 (best choice).

That should be sufficent.

I believe those are hard to find in the UK, and they have different names (AC 70 would probably be AC PF 300). Hangon filters are not very popular in Europe, probably because they don't fit our popular tanks very well. (I've only seen one AC 300 at an LFS in this area, and I've been seeing the same single unit for several years now). The AC powerheads should however be easy to find, and with the seperate filter attachment they do make a very good alternative to Fluval internal filters. Eheim Aquaball is also great, though a bit expensive compared to the others.

Willyleigh: Looking forward to your update :)