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  1. #1
    Just an Egg
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    new castle n.s.w.
    Posts
    78

    what is the best filter for a discus tank

    hi
    I am thinking of doing up my 6ft as a discus tank
    I have my 4 discus a pair of blue rams and 20 Cardinal Tetra
    in a 4x18x20 right now but would like to go bigger so I can put more in there
    I have 2x6x18x20 tanks
    1 has a sump that will do 3500L a hr
    and the other has eheim 2217 and a 2228 running it
    what tank would be best for them
    both tanks are the same size
    I like to have 6-8 discus and the other fish in them not looking to breed them
    thanks for the help
    yanke
    Last edited by yanke; Wed Jan 21, 2015 at 04:44 AM.

  2. #2
    Wrigglers
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Melbourne
    Posts
    224
    I use canisters and overhead trickle filters (like your sump). I find the canisters give better water quality. The other consideration is that two filters are safer in the event than one has a problem.

  3. #3
    I have a 4x18x20, tried it with 1 x 2217 and it struggled, I now have 2 x 2217 and crystal clear water.

  4. #4
    Just an Egg
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    new castle n.s.w.
    Posts
    78
    well I have 1 2217 running my 4x18x20 and it is doing a good job
    the water is away clean
    I think I go with the 2 filters for the discus tank
    and leave the one with the sump to my African Cichlids

  5. #5
    Yeh I'm running 2 eheim 2217's in my 5x2x2

    Matt, why do you use a trickle filter at the top and what is it exactly?

  6. #6
    Just an Egg
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    ferntreegully
    Posts
    45
    Don't know why anyone bothers with canisters these days. They are a pain to clean, get clogged and result in water spills. I run a bog standard trickle filter with bio balls.

  7. #7
    Moderator
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Penrith NSW
    Posts
    5,873
    either will work, I like sumps just because they give me somewhere to put all the stuff I don't want to see in a tank (heaters etc) the one you have sounds perfect.

    if going a sump I cant strongly recommend moving bed filters like K1 enough they make the sump near maintenance free (just change the floss when it gets dirty).
    6x18x20 is a big tank, you'd need 3x2017's (or similar sized) as a minimum or 2 massive 2080's

  8. #8
    Just an Egg
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    new castle n.s.w.
    Posts
    78
    well I am running a 2217 and a 2228 on my 6x18x20
    with over 75 African Cichlids in it and it is clean as
    but I do
    do 60%-75% water changes a week on it
    and the fish are all breeding size also

  9. #9
    Moderator
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Penrith NSW
    Posts
    5,873
    Quote Originally Posted by yanke View Post
    well I am running a 2217 and a 2228 on my 6x18x20
    with over 75 African Cichlids in it and it is clean as
    but I do
    do 60%-75% water changes a week on it
    and the fish are all breeding size also

    Great to hear, discus love the water changes! Keep that up and you wont have a single problem.

    Please don't forget that the real world flow of a 2217 or 2028 is ~600-625 L/H @ 70cm head height, given the volume of your tank is 400L and you'd want 3x turn over an hour (1200L/h) the 2 filters you have is the absolute minimum you want to keep everyone happy (assuming your filters are directly below your tank).

    if in doubt check your chemistry, keep NH3/NH4 =0, NO2=0, NO3 <50 and everything is fine! given your water changes this shouldn't be an issue you could get away with sponge filters!

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by angel101 View Post
    Don't know why anyone bothers with canisters these days. They are a pain to clean, get clogged and result in water spills.
    That's not my experience, they're easy to clean when you use media bags, sure the hoses need a clean occasionally and keep them in a plastic tray to catch any spills.

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