Hi All,

I think I'm close to getting a tank that is 210-300 gallons. Convinced the hubby to crack open the savings. It will be for 5 baby tiger oscars and possibly a pleco that I have. Depending on what size I get I may let one oscar go if needed.

I need help on deciding what kind of filtration and turnover rate I should get. Overflow set-up or closed loop? Drilled or non-drilled? What would be the ideal turnover rate? 10x or more? If you can please give me details on the reasons behind your preferences that would be great.

My experience is with a max of 55 gallons so I really need advice from experienced oscar owners who have large tanks.

Thanks in advance for all of your help!

depending on what type of filtration you use will determine the proper turnover rate you will be looking for. if you use canisters or sump filtration you should look at a rate somewhere between 5-6 times your tank volume.

personally in your situation i beleive you should look at a sump for your bio filtration and use a canister for the mechanical. you should be able to use a 75 gallon sump that will provide more than enough bio filtration for your expected stock list.

just my 2 cents........

It depends on exactly how much work you want to put into setting this up. You could go down the road of installing a sump filter, alternatively you could install a couple of large canister filters. A couple of FX5's would be great, even better, two Eheim professional 3 canister filters, they are absolutely fantastic by all accounts, definitely the dogs bollocks when it comes to filtration.

You certainly wouldn't have a problem with turnover rate, Eheim manufacture some really powerful pumps that would run your sump filter, a couple of the large canister filters would also give you plenty of filtration. The biggest pain in the ass is heating the damn thing.