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October 29th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| 20 Gallon Filter Recommendation
Can anyone recommend a good filter for a 20 gallon fish tank. I currently have an Aqueon power filter 20 but I do not like the fact that you have to throw away the filter cartridge when it needs replacing. I do not think bacteria is accumulating well. I also put a bio bag in there too but the ammonia in the tank just gets worse. | 
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October 29th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Instead of buying new filter cartridges you can make your own filter floss or buy a sponge media It's less expensive and you don't have to worry about your cycle crashing. Make sure you rinse them with your tap water though!
Last edited by eiginh; October 29th, 2009 at 11:58 AM.
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October 29th, 2009
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| | Fish Addict
| An AC50 will do the job wonderfully, and there are no cartridges to buy and throw out. | |
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October 29th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Jaysee  An AC50 will do the job wonderfully, and there are no cartridges to buy and throw out. | Would a 50 be too big? What about the aquaclear 30. Reason I ask is because I don't want a powerful stream coming back into the tank. | |
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October 29th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| I like Whisper filters (I'm becoming a fan of the internal filters.) I don't put the carbon in the bags (you can put some extra filter floss in there, if you want), and I don't throw them away until they're falling apart. | |
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October 29th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| All of my dad's tanks have aquaclear filters so by his suggestion I was able to get one of his sponges and cut it in half and stick it in the filter. Does this look like it will help out? | |
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October 29th, 2009
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| | Fish Addict
| Quote:
Originally Posted by DRock914 Would a 50 be too big? What about the aquaclear 30. Reason I ask is because I don't want a powerful stream coming back into the tank. | A 50 is perfect IMO and is what I use on my 20s. 200 GPH will turn the water over 10x an hour, which is great filtration and what I hope to achieve from my HOBs. ACs have adjustable flow rates, so you can turn it down. On one of my 29 gallon tanks, I have 2 AC50 - one on full blast and one on half. This way, I get the benefit of all that extra media without overpowering the fish in the tank with current. | |
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October 29th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Yep that's what I also did with my dad's ac70 and put the extra sponge in my penguin 150. | |
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October 29th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Jaysee A 50 is perfect IMO and is what I use on my 20s. 200 gph will turn the water over 10x an hour, which is great filtration and what I hope to achieve from my HOBs. ACs have adjustable flow rates, so you can turn it down. On one of my 29 gallon tanks, I have 2 AC50 - one on full blast and one on half. This way, I get the benefit of all that extra media without overpowering the fish in the tank with current. | You are right with the AC50 for a 20 gallon. I looked on thatfishplace and they are saying that the AC50 is the old AC200 which is what we have on our 20 gallon community tank. I wonder why AC changed their filter specs for higher tanks. | |
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October 29th, 2009
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| | Fish Addict
| Quote:
Originally Posted by DRock914 All of my dad's tanks have aquaclear filters so by his suggestion I was able to get one of his sponges and cut it in half and stick it in the filter. Does this look like it will help out? | You haven't taken down whatever it is in that pic that says yankees yet?  | |
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October 29th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Jaysee You haven't taken down whatever it is in that pic that says yankees yet? | Don't start talking bad about the Yankees to me. We got this game tonight. | |
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October 29th, 2009
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| | Fish Addict
| Quote:
Originally Posted by DRock914 Don't start talking bad about the Yankees to me. We got this game tonight. | I am a little worried, only because the yanks broke their world series scoreless streak. | |
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October 29th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Jaysee I am a little worried, only because the yanks broke their world series scoreless streak. | What do you mean? | |
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October 29th, 2009
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| | Fish Addict
| Quote:
Originally Posted by DRock914 What do you mean? | I heard a commentator say last night that they hadn't scored a run in like their last 16 innings of world series play. | |
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October 29th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Oh that could be but because of great infielding by Philly haha the Yankees have never been shut out in game 1 out of the 40 game 1's they have been in. | |
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October 29th, 2009
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| | Fish Addict
| I know! They were soooooo close. | |
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October 29th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| You could get away with an AC30, but the AC50 will have more turnover. In any case, the AC filters are easy to make your own filter media in. I have both a 30 and a 50 on my 38g.
You can also adjust their flow. If your water level is high, they give a slight flow of current in the tank, but not like a torrential waterfall or anything. | |
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