NatureFine , how do you plan on stocking your 125g?
Heavily stocked
African cichlids? Some large South American's like
Oscars?
I think a lot of the negative reviews on SunSun products comes down to user error, though I am sure there are occasions (like all brands) where the product physically breaks.
Applying a food-grade
silicone lube (not vaseline) to all the seals, o-rings and gaskets will go a long way for the prevention of leaks.
If you want to go the route with
HOB filters, look into getting a pair of
Tidal 110's from Kensfish.com. He has them for $62 each, which is the cheapest price I have seen.
Another HOB filter option is a trio of Penguin 350's which usually are $26-$30 each if you look around online.
Those loaded with blocks of sponge foam (in lieu of the cartridges) and a bit of
Polyfil works well for the price, and they move a lot of water.
While on the Ken's website, check out the ATI Hydro Sponge IV and V
sponge filters.
A pair of those tucked into the corners will really boost filtration. The normal Hydro Sponges use a fine foam (around 40ppI pores-per-inch) and the "Pro" versions use a coarse foam sponge material (around 15-20ppi). The "Pro" version has a higher flow rate over their finer standard foam sponge.
You mentioned an option with 3 large sponge filters and a Penguin 350.
Also, try a Google search of both "Jehmco" Those places (+ Ken's Fish site) have the best prices and carry the full line of sponge filters , pre-filters and parts for the ATI brand.
Jehmco also have pics of "stacked" sponge filters. ATI's are modular by design, and you can stack their fine foam sponge filter on top of their "Pro" coarse filter.
That gives you the higher flow rate through the coarser "Pro" sponge on the bottom to draw in muck and the finer top sponge for increased bio-filtration.
Running a
power head on top of the sponge filter bumps up the flow rate.
Finnaly, check out swisstropicals.com and their Poret brand of foam sponge products imported from Germany.
They use the "Jetlifter" air lift method which is a very efficient design.
For every 1 liter per hour of air delivered, you get 3-4lph of water flow through the lifter tube.
That is a lot more lift, versus the traditional
airstone-in-a-tube method.
Most breeders and keepers of fishroom primarily rely on sponge filtration, with HOB's and/or powerheads to supplement water movement.
Let us know what you decide and how you set your tank up.
