Hello again! I'm just looking for some opinions on my filtration setup and also if any one has had experience with Aqua One products? Are they cheap and nasty?
So any way i have a 150g (565litre) tank running an Aqua One 1100 canister, 290g (1100litres) p/hour and two internal 132g (500litre) p/hour power filters.

Is this sufficient filtration for 5 silver dollars, 2 oscars and 2 blue acaras? and some bottom feeders i havent decided on yet?

I was told you want around 3 times the tank volume per hour, so i calculate this as being a total of 554gallons per hour (2100 litres) so this should be sufficient? Or am i not taking something into account, as the canister is the heart of biological filtration, and the power filters supplying added mechanical filtration. Will the bio load be too much for the canister to handle? And should i hold off and invest in another maybe slightly smaller canister? Of better quality to assist the existing cheapy?

Thanks again!!

I have never used the filters you have but looking at the flow rates it all looks good to me. you will get a little less flow once the filter is full of media also once it starts to build up bacteria you will loose a little more. The main reason you need good filters are Oscars make a lot of mess if you have small filters you need to clean it wkly. you really wouldn't want to strip down your filter that often and the amount of wast to be broken down needs a fair amount of media to hold the right amount of bacteria.make sure you learn how to maintain them.

i havent used any aqua one filters but i have learned from experience that you get what you pay for when it comes to filters. i would suggest that you get the best filter you can afford that is rated for a tank with twice the volume that you are using. if your oscars are small it will handle the load easily then when the fish reach around 8 inches in lengh add a second canister with the same rating. this will ensure you have plenty of filtration even when the fish reach their maximum size.

some of the better filters are eheim fluval and rena. i would aim for any one of these brands that meet your tank requirements

hi guys just want to tag on this one,

in terms of filtration for oscars, how much filtration is needed?

is it 4 times the amount of litres? so..

50 literes.. = 200 litre / per hour?

100 litres = 400 l/p/h

300 litres = 1200 l/p/h ....?

Is there a formula or anything?

the amount of flow you want from your filters depends on how efficient your filter is. for example if you use the least efficient filters(hang on back filters) you should look for about 10 times your total tank size per hour.(50 gallon tank = 500 gallons per hour). if you use canister filters since they are more efficient than hobs you should aim for about 5 times per hour.(50 gallon tank = 250 gallons per hour). if you should choose to go with a sump setup your aim should be about 4 times your tank volume(50 gallon tank = 200 gallons per hour).

hope this helps

yup thats very helpful thank you!

hello etwee! long time no hear from you!
the guys had you cover for the standard
filtration concept. i just want to add,
over filtration will not harm your system
so you can go higher. but if you employ an
open type overhead filtering box, you can
survived with a X5 rating. i had applied and
proven this ratios.

hiya mate, yeh it has been a long time!

ever since my poor guy died i havent had much to do with oscars, other than waiting for the time to get more!!

iv been experimenting with guppies and that kinda deal lately, all preparing my set up for my oscars. im gonna breed live fish, worms, and shrimp for my oscars in the future. also i have a new 80 gallon tank, and a 4ft long peice of drift wood. any tips of how to treat it?

at the moment, ill have 2 300/l/p/h over the top, and i reckon ill buy a 600 canister or so.

i am not sure about the weather in your place right now
but in my place, we just hang the driftwood under the sun
and let it dry for so long. then just put them inside the
tank...thats it. the only problem is the buoyancy force that
keep it afloat. some people put concrete at the portion where
it will touch the bottom to keep it submerge.

ahh yeh, its quite dried out, however it does have some soft rotted bits which im trying to get rid of.

if that is your concern, then i suggest you put
it in an open flame, blow torch or stove. this
will remove the soft inner bark and at the same
time, lessen the toxic and imbedded wood borer.