New to External Filters HELP!!

[Kik]

Hi all, sorry I haven't posted in a while.

I have never had an experience with external filters before now and would be grateful for any advice please.

Two days ago our Juwel Rio 400 tank decided to burst flooding the entire room! Amazingly we have managed to save all of our 100+ community fish. They are now all in temporary homes and seem to be happy.

Yesterday I went to Maiden Head Aquatics and seen a 5 foot oak tank which I hopefully will be getting. It was there they opened our eyes to the world of external filters. They recommended the Aquamanta EFX400 model which seemed superb. However on returning home and researching online I have got lost in looking at them. People seem to have different opinions on which size I will need for the 400litre tank. Some people stating they use up to 2400LPH models

Any advice will be appreciated!!
Thanks in advance
King regards
Kik

[funkman262]

I always hear people saying to get double the recommended size, in other words if your tank is 400L then get a filter rated for at least 800L. All it's going to do is get the ammonia to the bacteria quicker. As long as you don't do anything crazy like dump in an entire bottle of food that would cause a large ammonia spike, you should be fine with the Aquamanta EFX400. If you have the spare cash then it shouldn't hurt getting the larger filter (assuming the higher flow-rate doesn't stress out the fish).

After typing all that, I just did the quick calculations and saw that with the EFX400 you'd be getting around 3.5x turnover rate per hour (1400LPH in 400L tank), and my filter does about 5.5x (1900LPH in 340L tank) not including a powerhead I use inside the tank and the community fish I have enjoy swimming into the flow. Honestly, I would suggest getting the larger filter just to be safe.

[Honey Badger 1]

After typing all that, I just did the quick calculations and saw that with the EFX400 you'd be getting around 3.5x turnover rate per hour (1400LPH in 400L tank), and my filter does about 5.5x (1900LPH in 340L tank) not including a powerhead I use inside the tank and the community fish I have enjoy swimming into the flow. Honestly, I would suggest getting the larger filter just to be safe.

And this is why most of us will recommend filtration for twice the size of your tank. Ideally you want to be sure whatever filter or filters you choose are capable of filtering all the water in your tank and not leave dead spots. I use two filters on all of my tanks, one on each end. This way there are no dead spots and all the water is easily circulated through the filters and I can alternate cleaning the filters so I don't have to worry about cleaning out too much beneficial bacteria.

[imma24]

+1 with the above - you don't want to be cheap about filtration for a tank - the better you filter, the more stable your water parameters will stay because you're providing more than adequate space for biological bacteria to grow and sufficient mechanical filtration to keep your water clear.

[Kik]

Thanks for your advice guys, I am now keen to buy a filter which is capable of maintaining a higher volume of water than our tank is.

Can anyone suggest any models of external filters which they use and have been good?

Thanks on advance

[Honey Badger 1]

I've had good results from a Rena XP3 and an Aquaclear 110 on my 120 gallon which is only a tiny bit bigger than your Juwel 400, but others may come along with better suggestions.

[Kik]

Hi all, Sorry to be a pain, I'm just really struggling to get to grips with the flow rate in regards to what rate is need for the size tank. The tank I'm looking at will be 400 litres... So would the Aquamanta EFX600 which has a max flow rate of 2200LPH be sufficient? I'm hearing a lot of guys running that size in a lot smaller tanks? Thanks a lot for your help people, I just want to ensure my tank has sufficient filtration for happy fish!! King regards