55G Filtration Options/Upgrades?

As several of you may know, I'm putting together a 55G tank, and am getting all my components together beforehand so that I have everything ready once its time to put it together. The tank I'm buying is an all-in-one style tank. It includes a heater, LED hood, and 2x Whisper 10-30I Internal power filters. Specs are as follows.

Dimensions- 48" Long X 13" Wide X 20" High (standard 55 gallon dimensions I believe)

Substrate- Floramax will be in both back corners, and continue to the back middle area, as well as rounded and tapered down to the front corners. The back middle will have a gap between the 2 areas of floramax where there will be sand, that tapers progressively wider to the front of the tank.

Plants- I will definitely have a bunch of water sprite, as I absolutely love it, and it provides some good natural ammonia absorption. There will also be some Java moss in small patches, probably 2-3 Marimo Moss balls, and then posibbly some dwarf hair grass in small patches, and longer hairgrass for around the driftwood.

Decor- right side of the tank will have a sort of mountain of dragon stone, where the water sprite will be planted around, to have a sort of high altitude asian mountain look. The opposite end will house a very nice piece of MopanI Driftwood that is stump shaped, with another small piece attached to make "the roots". The longer hair grass will probably be planted on the sides and back of this, and might put some java moss on the top for a treetop effect.

Fish- My stocking will be something like 8-12 small Tetras, 6-8 Cory Cats, 8-10 Harlequin Rasboras, and some Red Cherry Shrimp.

All that being said, I read that these 2 supplied 10-30I filters are rated for "10 to 30" Gallons. While I believe with my current stocking plan that these filters could get the job done, I question whether or not they would be ideal. I also don't like the fact that there is almost no customization to these filters as far as adding bio type media, and no ability to put filtration in a desired order. Would I be better to keep one filter as a spare and order something else a bit more powerful, and run one of the 10-30 as a supplement? Or am I better off just getting something completely different alltogether? I like the idea of having a backup filter in case one fails. Ive read some really good things about Sun Sun Cannisters, and I like how customizable they are. I also wouldnt mind freeing up the extra space in the tank with 1 less internal filter as theyre kinda bulky. I know the intakes would both be positioned near the back 2 corners so that they are as far away from the sand as possible.

What are your thoughts fellow Fishlorians? Insights, suggestions, reccomendations all welcome and greatly appreciated as always. As a sidenote, a coworker of mine wants to get into fishkeeping, so one of the spare 10-30s could be seeded eventually in my 55 once its fully cycled and setup, and given to her to help jumpstart her cycle when the time comes for her to start setting hers up.

Edit: Here is the link to the tank setup I bought, still New in Box, I work at a pawn shop and got it for $85

 

I got that exact kit a while back.

The filters are extremely quiet and move quite a bit of water. But they don't have a lot of space inside and are not really customizable. They use one bag type filter element and one sponge-like thing as a bio-filter.

In my case, I set the tank up with an undergravel filter, so I have enormous bio filtration from that, and these two power filters add to the tank circulation and mechanical filtration as well as whatever they can do as biofilters, as well.

I would recommend keeping and using them both, but adding an additional, more customizable filter along with them. One of the Sun Suns or the like would probably be a good choice.

I like some aspects of the LED hoods, too, but they don't really give anywhere near enough light for plants.

I will post a link to my thread about how I set the tank up when I get to a real computer.

I actually like these kits as a good starting point. But as with anything, you always find things you end up wanting to modify, customize, and replace as time goes by.

Sounds like a good start!

 

Yeah I currently have a whisper 2-10I in my 10 gallon, it works, and will be fine for that tank but I'm not too fond of its layout. Do you think I could get away with a larger Sun Sun and the one 10-30i? I'm trying to get as much space in the tank as I can. I can hide one internal with plants and the driftwood, but 2 might be tricky.

 

Jsigmo I ended up ordering a Sunsun HW505A 4 Stage, rated at 265gph, and for up to a 100 gallon tank. It also has a total of 4 trays for media, I'm gonna be spoiled now, but not as spoiled as the fish will be. Really looking forward to this tank.

 

Sorry I didn't reply for a while. I've been very busy and purposely stayed off of here while I was getting some things done.

I hope the new setup is going well!

 

No worries, I know youve got a lot going on. I literally have everything for the tank, just need to finish building the stand then I can start my build thread and get everything going. Hope lifes treating you well!