Filter Upgrade For 60l

Hello, I am looking in to upgrading my filter for my 60l. I am looking at trying to get clearer water as at the moment I have a lot of small floating particles which do not get picked up by my filter.

the filters I am looking at are fluval u2(400LPH)/u3(600LPH)/u4(1000LPH). at the moment I am swaying towards the u3 as I am worried that the u4 would throw my guppies around the tank. some input on these filter would be much appreciated concerning flow rates whit in smaller tanks.

if any one has any suggestion for other internal filters where I can pick and choose my own media would all so be helpful.

ideally id like to have fluval c3/c4 hang on back but due to the depth of the tank I'm not sure it would be that good. also in the UK these filter are quite pricey to get your hands on due to shipping cost and would also mean making a lid as mine is currently glass. did think about canister filters as well but again I would need to make a need lid.

can we work in litres? =) UK gallon is larger then US saves me getting confused, he he.

many thanks =)

tank size- 38cm x 38cm x 43cm
stocking- 2 platys, 5-7 male guppies (all have not fully grown) MTS snails, garden snails. (waiting for fry to grow out in another tank)
filter- 200 LPH (sponge/bio)

Readings on tank, apart from nitrate (tap water sucks) never exceed .25 ppm even then having more
guppies

 

Typically you want a filter that runs 8 to 10 times the size of the tank. The U3 would work, but the tank is overstocked.

 

15 US (13UK) gallons to 9 fish, which are not fully grown is not what id call overstocked.
thank you for the response tho.

 

15 US (13UK) gallons to 9 fish, which are not fully grown is not what id call overstocked.
thank you for the response tho.

Depends on what the fish are, not how many you have. I have 9 blackskirts but if I put them in a 15 gallon it would be overstocked. They are in a 30 gallon which is perfectly fine for them..

 

Depends on what the fish are, not how many you have. I have 9 blackskirts but if I put them in a 15 gallon it would be overstocked. They are in a 30 gallon which is perfectly fine for them..

7 guppies and 2 platys, the larger out of the platys is not even an inch yet...
some in put into the filters would be handy.

 

In my 30 gallon I have a Seachem Tidal 110. Excellent filter. I had the 55 on there first but it wasn't enough gph, so I upgraded. The 55 is 250 gph (950lph) So it is a little more than you need, but you can never have too much filtration. You will need 600 lph minimum for your filtration.

Platys need a tank that is 60x30x30cm to be comfortable. Guppies need a tank that is 45x30x30cm. So the foot print of the tank needs to be addressed, not necessarily the gallons or liters.

 

do you think having the u4 would be a bit to much for my tank?

do like a good hang on back but wouldn't be able to run one whit out making a lid from acrylic. do have a fluval c2 on my other tank which works lovely.

the platys I am growing out for my mum before returning them to her tank. tbh I haven't came across that about guppies I will have too look in to it and see what I can do.

 

do you think having the u4 would be a bit to much for my tank?

do like a good hang on back but wouldn't be able to run one whit out making a lid from acrylic. do have a fluval c2 on my other tank which works lovely.

the platys I am growing out for my mum before returning them to her tank. tbh I haven't came across that about guppies I will have too look in to it and see what I can do.

You can never have to much filtration. It is the flow you have to worry about. The guppies alone in the end should be perfectly fine. Platys were my main concern. The Fluval C3 should work great.

 

Yeah, kind of what I was concerned about whit the U series filters. makes me wonder if I was to use a U4 weather I'd just be making a whirlpool as my tank is square.

Overall do you think a hang on back would be better then an internal? Would save on room in the tank to but I really can't run this tank open top due to the way I have my air stone set up. Would need to make a lid :z

Give it a month or two and they should be good to move. They are very cute then they are small

Also thank you both for getting back to me, find most people just post and run.

 

I love my HOBs. I can't say I'm a big fan of internals. I don't have an issue with the Fluval or Aqueon internal filters though. I would say your best bet would be the Fluval U3, Fluval C3, or Aqueon Quiet Flow Internal E AT30 or AT40.

 

can be quite a bit harder to find hobs in the uk which is a pain, I do prefer them tho.

Thank you for the extra suggestions, going to have to have a looks see in the morning tho.

 

Alright. So I have the fluval u3. I also have a 60L tank but a normal one, not a tall.

Now for my thoughts on the u3:

The u3 is a good filter, I like it a lot but there was way too much flow for my liking so I pointed the top filter output to the wall of my tank which worked like a charm. One thing I don't really like is that the filter only really picks up debris from the top half of the tank. Another thing to take note of is that the middle cartridge, the one with the bio media, isn't enough for the cartridge. It only comes with enough for half of it. Other than those, I like the filter, pretty much no noise and really easy to maintain. It isn't that bad of a filter.

U4 would have too much flow for your tank imo, and there's no way to slow down the flow so go with the u3. if you want to get a u series filer

 

Amazon sells an extension tube for the Fluval C3 - you can get the intake all the way to the bottom on all but very deep tanks.

 

I love my HOBs. I can't say I'm a big fan of internals. I don't have an issue with the Fluval or Aqueon internal filters though. I would say your best bet would be the Fluval U3, Fluval C3, or Aqueon Quiet Flow Internal E AT30 or AT40.

had a look at the aqueon, seem pretty good but would have the same problem as finding fluval C in the uk. thank you for the suggestions tho.

Amazon sells an extension tube for the Fluval C3 - you can get the intake all the way to the bottom on all but very deep tanks.

definitely some thing to consider if I did get one of these but cost of import will really add up along whit creating a new lid.

kind of am swaying towards the U3 as of the moment going to have another look around see if I can't find any more internals with same sort of spec and ease of use.

@barandemir09 thanks for the information.

 

Had a fault whit the U4 could I not just put extension tubes (home made spray bars I guess) on to the out flow to defuse the water flow? any one think this would work?

 

I mean you could try... will you be upgrading that tank? Are there any plans? If so then maybe go with the u4 just my opinion. But you could be creating a whirlpool in there...

 

I mean you could try... will you be upgrading that tank? Are there any plans? If so then maybe go with the u4 just my opinion. But you could be creating a whirlpool in there...

Wouldn't go as far as to say plans for upgrading this tank, the tank is in my bedroom limited to space in their May change fish around not to sure at the mo. Would like a much bigger tank but limited to space.

Think what I'm going to do for the time being is buy the u3 see how that goes then go from their. Got to be better on mechanical filtering then what I have at the mo and I can all ways run my current one along side it if I feel I'm not 100% happy whit it.

 

Wait actually before you buy the u3, go and look up sunsun canister filters... I think the HW302 would be perfect for you... now I have had experience with a sunsun before and they are reeeeaaaallllyyyyy quiet. One thing is that they do have a little low quality for parts but them being only aus$70 they are really good (from what I have heard). Now I don't know which model I have but it has a UV bulb in there and the filter has been running for almost 3 years now with no problem, and for $70 I think it really could be worth it. Just search it up and take a look at some of the reveiws. But be careful of where you buy it from, if you do, check with the supplier if it comes with media because most just send 3 foam pads for each layer.

 

Oh and just to let you know, the uv stops working in about a year. Personally, I didn't buy a replacement for it, since I don't really need it, but it did its job with an algae bloom once.

 

would be handy having a uv steriliser tbh because my tap water does kind of suck. have all ready ordered a u3 tho, awaks he he. still going to have a look at it tho as was looking at another brand of canister whit them in.

thank you for extra suggestion, going to see how the U3 goes then see from their.

 

Ok well have some fun with your new filter

 

He he it came this morning, have it running at the mo but going to have a play around whit positioning tomorrow then doing my W/C.

Need to work out where it is going. It's kind of bigger then I was expecting he he.

 

He he it came this morning, have it running at the mo but going to have a play around whit positioning tomorrow then doing my W/C.

Need to work out where it is going. It's kind of bigger then I was expecting he he.

Yeah it's big, hardly fit in my 15 gallon... but I moved the substrate and got it in there and now it's all g. I hope all goes well with that filter

 

How's the filter?

 

It's doing a very good job, waters a lot cleaner and my guppies don't mind the flow at all really. definitely doing the job ever got my self a u2 for another tank for a bit more water flow. Major gripe tho is the size of them.