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ok so im am looking around to find a 6foot tank and was tossing up between the two any body have any suggestions or product reviews? also is a canister the easiest way to filter a 6 foot tank, there wont be many fish in it prolly only just gt pair and pleco maybe?

cheers willy

Hi Willy,

A canister is definitely the way to go with a 6 foot tank. Most HOBs and internal filters just don't have the same water flow or media capcity.

As far as eheim vs fluval I think its more personal preference than anything. There seems to be a lot of dedicated fans of each brand who will tell you that their preferred brand is better for XYZ reason. I'm currently using a much cheaper brand canister on my 6 ft tank and have had absolutely no problems with it. I guess what I'm saying is don't restrict yourself to just the 2 big names... look wider and read all the reviews you can before making your choice.

G_T



Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

thanks for the help, the one thing i seem to notice about all the post iv read on here and some other places are the fluval seems to leek? are there any cheaper canister filters that have enough flow rate the ones iv found are only for about 300 liters, if i was to buy an eheim it would cost almost as much as the tank at $550, tanks is round the $680 mark?

I use a ehiem 2217 this one is rated for a 90gal I use it in a 55 ,,,4 foot tank it was 80 bucks ,,I've never had a problem with it ,,just a thought how about 2 smaller canisters ,,one on each end ,,you'd get more coverage and you'd have one running if the other broke down ,,http://www.aquaristic.net/shop.php/lang/1/cl/details/anid/061013
Reduced from 120,00 €
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I would go for two Eheims of the same rating they are very reliable and quiet running BUT being quality filters they are not cheap. Remember you get what you pay for.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info
Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

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I run AquaOnes (300 and 650 Pro models) and have no problems there (the seals go occasionally and they can be annoying to prime, but they are gutsy little filters), but given the choice of Fluval or Ehiem, I'd choose Ehiem based solely on the extra media room. Comparably priced Fluvals seem quite limited when it comes to space and I really like having more space in case I want to add extra media at some point.

Is it a standard 6' tank or a 6x2x2?

I'd consider two big AquaClears for ease of cleaning too. A standard 6' is quite long and it can be hard to avoid dead spots, but two HOBs would mean both ends are taken care of and all you have to do is turn one off and clean the media on alternate weeks. Price and convenience might make that option worth considering.



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donovan and callatya, i was wondering whether one canister would leave dead spots, that is a very good idea running two smaller ones at each end.. would two aquaclear 110 be sufficient on a six foot tank though? it will most likly a 6x2x2, i thought that was a standard 6 foot tank? i like the idea of two smaller canister filters one at each end keithgh, any recommendations on models?

Hi,
Dead spots in any size aquarium are usually more the
fault of poor planning in landscaping and gardening than
the result of filtration.

In larger aquariums the filters of choice are the canister
or sump type filters. While there are some canisters that
have been "shrunk" to attract folks with smaller tanks,
they were designed primarily for folks with LARGE tanks.
Large tanks generally hold a larger quantity of fish or
just plain large fish. These tanks, as a rule have a
larger than normal bio-load because of the larger than
normal quantity of fish, or the messy eating habits of
larger fish or the larger quantity of their waste
products, both solid and liquid.

Canister filters, because of their physical size, house
more media which gives a larger surface area for
bacterial colonies to perform the chemical filtration.
They also house larger quantities of media designed
for solid waste collection. They perform their filter
fuctions with a much larger pump and higher turnover
values than other types of filters.

They generally come with two types of returns, either a
single hose or a spray bar. The aiming of the return
water, combined with the hard scape (rocks & ornaments)
and plants is primarily what causes dead spots in the tank.
You could have two canisters, with returns at each end
and still wind up with dead spots. Simply choose a filter
or filters that will handle the proposed bio-load of the
completed tank (fully stocked & planted) and then place
your returns strategically.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

frank..

well to start with thanks for the reply, i dont know much about sump filters so il stick with the canister filter, as for the bio-load there will probably only be a gt pair and maybe some bottom feeders and maybe some dither fish if i find some that i like and will last with the GT's..

as for plants i dont want too much plants in there otherwise i will need to start co2? or fertilizers, i will proly just keep to a large anubus center piece with some drift wood, or a few smaller pieces of drift wood with anubus on?

thanks willy

Hi,
It sounds like a good plan. If you have enough fish
and they provide enough waste products, you should have
enough fertilizer, naturally, so that you won't have to
add any. Should you decide to use a product such as
Flourish liquid. You should not need anything other than
the basic Flourish. The plants you mention get their
nutrients through the roots which anchor the plant to the
driftwood or rocks, and not in the gravel itself. So as
the nutrients come floating by across the exposed roots
the plant takes them in.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

well you learn something new each day.. i already have a small anubus in my 29 gallon that is attached to drift wood so il be putting that in there when i get the tank..
ok hopefully i wont need to use that stuff and the plants will grow fine with out it, thanks for the help