My tank is 55 gallons, I currently have a penguin 350, so the emperor 400 isn't that much of an upgrade, but at that price I figured why not? Was this a worthwhile purchase? Or should I wait until I find a good deal on a canister filter? Then again, 55 gallons isn't that big - maybe I don't need to worry about an upgrade at all. I should also mention - the filter cartridges are half price as well. The rite size "c" and "e". Any advice?
2007-10-22 03:09:56 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Fish
P.S. I have about a dozen Lake Malawi Cichlids and a couple of Bristle Nose Pleco's in the tank.
2007-10-22 03:54:55 · update #1
Emperor 400 are far more better than the penguins. Depend on what type of fish you have in the tank to answer whether a canister is better. Canister filters work great when you have large fish, it keeps up with the waste. I've always ran emperors on my tanks and it did well with 4 6inch parrot fish and 8 inch oscar, so i'm gonna say you've made a good choice!
2007-10-22 03:41:00 · answer #1 · answered by yodabehr 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Emperor 400 is a considerable up-grade from the 350,and if you can still find the parts there are/were refillable cartridges that will save quite a bit of money over the pre-charged kind.
The problem with canister filters is that they are messy and difficult to maintain,requiring that they be completely shut-down to change filter elements,and the restart process is not all that easy. I use a couple of canisters on my larger tanks(100 & 200 gallons),but I use a sponge pre-filter and almost never open the canister,they serve only as biological containers,with the sponge providing the mechanical filtration. I also run large Aqua-clear filters for chemical and mechanical filtration. This provides a little redundancy in case of a "crash" of one or the other.
The only way to provide top quality water conditions is through frequent small water changes,because a filter does'nt actually remove anything from the water,it only concentrates the "stuff" so it's easier to remove. Think of it this way,all the waste and left-over food in your household goes into a plastic box that sits in a corner of the single room that everyone lives in,the only time it leaves your environment is when someone empties it. How often would you like to have your box emptied? Would lots of extra food be a good thing?
I'd go with the easier of the two filters to maintain,human nature being what it is,the Emporer will probably get more frequent attention.
Good luck,and enjoy your fish.
2007-10-22 10:39:22 · answer #2 · answered by PeeTee 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Larger tanks like that, I recommend running 2 filters on anyway. I'd say it depends what kind of fish you have in there. If they're messier fish, I'd go with the canister filter. My larger tanks I run a canister filter and the large Penguin models(can't think of which it is 350 maybe?). But I have larger cichlids in my larger tanks. If you don't have large messy fish, I'd buy the Emperor to run along with the Penguin. If you do have messy fish, I'd hold out for a canister filter. And, a bag of that white filter floss is a lot cheaper then filter pads/cartridges and works in all filters.
2007-10-22 10:46:14 · answer #3 · answered by tikitiki 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Plecos & Cichlids do not need extensive filtering - they could live in muddy water...
But if you are looking for sound advice and other equipment I would say to check out www.bigalsonline.com
2007-10-22 11:41:54 · answer #4 · answered by orangecat 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Leave them both running for a while, you cannot over filter and a bio-wheel is a great filter.
2007-10-22 11:33:00 · answer #5 · answered by Sunday P 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋