# Filter for 29 Gallon tank?



## mx22 (Jul 13, 2009)

Hello,

I'm in a process of setting up my first cichlid tank. After reading the cookie cutter section, I've settled on the following set up:

Julidochromis regani - 1 pair 
Neolamprologus leleupi - 1 pair 
'Lamprologus' occelatus - 1 trio

I have Tetra Whisper 30 power filter - this is an older model without the bio-wheel (old design, at least it looks way different from current EX30, which may or may not have bio-wheel). Would this be sufficient for the above 7 fish or should I get something else?

And while still on questions. Would I need to buy an airstone(s)? What other equipment would be recommended (besides obvious heater and thermometer obvisouly)?

Thank You!


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

My first suggestion when reviewing filters is to completely ignore the â€œUp To XX Gallon Tankâ€


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

PS - If you consider upgrading the filter I would recommend looking at the Aqua Clear 70 or 110. The last time I personally ran a 29 gallon I used an AC 110 and it worked very well and the current was not a burden to the fish in any way.


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## mx22 (Jul 13, 2009)

Toby,

Thanks a lot for your suggestion. Any advice on any other gadgets I should purchase?

Thank You!


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

75 ~ 100 W heater... I use Visi Therm Stealth heaters...

Either upgrade the filter or add a powerhead... I like the Aqua Clear power filters and the Hydor Koralia powerheads...

lighting is not a critical point unless you have live plants... Fish are not picky about what kind of decor they have as long as they have decor to hide in... I like sand over gravel but either works as long as you keep it clean (I use Pool Filter Sand)...

I don't know much at all about African Cichlids... but your suggest stocklist sounds like a lot for a 29 gallon tank... So I would get some experienced opinions on that stocklist before purchasing fish...

One other point... be sure to cycle the tank...

"Cycling" a tank means to establish the necessary bacteria to help convert the fish waste from very toxic ammonia to less toxic nitrate... simply running the tank for a few days does nothing for this process (despite what your local fish store person may say).

For a good review on cycling a tank, click on "library" which is near the top left corner of this screen right above where it says "Welcome mx22", then scroll down to chemistry and read about the nitrogen cycle 

For further information use the search feature near the top right corner of this screen to find other threads concerning cycling... then feel free to ask additional questions in the forum. :thumb:


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## mx22 (Jul 13, 2009)

back to the top...

Bought Penguin 350B yesterday and returned it back to the store just a bit earlier - that thing makes just too much noise. I'm thinking of a canister filter from Eheim. Any suggestions which I should take? I'm thinking of either Classic 2115 or 2117 or Ecco 2236 (though it is a tad pricy for my liking, has less gph then Classic, but costs more - what is the difference betweeb them?)

Maybe some other filter to consider?

Thanks!


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

Not to get off-topic, but you may want to reconsider that particular cookie cutter. If you remove the leleupi then that would be a very lovely tank, but I suspect you will find that in the long run it will not work out with the leleupi in there along with both Julies and occies. Very few "experts" will recommend more than 2 species in a 30 gallon tank (not counting a bristlenose pleco for cleanup). You might be able to put some sort of dither in there instead of the leleupi, but if it were my tank i'd stick with occies and julies.

On the filter front I've used an AC300 on 29 gallon tanks in the past (I believe the AC300 has been reclassified as the AC70) and it was sufficient.

Many cichlidophiles tend to overfilter their tanks. The overstocked mbuna tank requires more filtration than a typical tropical community tank stocked mainly with tetras, but it also requires more filtration than a tanganyikan tank, for instance, since tang tanks tend to be more lightly stocked, as crowding to reduce aggression works much better with mbuna than with tangs.

There's nothing wrong with overfiltering, mind you, but in a lightly stocked tang community it isn't necesarily required.

-Rick (the armchair aquarist, who shouldn't talk bad about overkill, since he's planning to build a 10-gallon sump with a wet/dry for his 29 gallon shellie/julie tank *halo*)


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

Oh, and you don't need airstones unless you're keeping a backup sponge filter, or if you just like bubbles.

-Rick (the armchair aquarist, who notes that if you ditch the leleupi then your tetra 30 filter would probably work just fine, but a little paranoia seldom hurts when it comes to fishkeeping  )


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## mncherie1 (Mar 27, 2009)

give the aquaclears a shot. mine are very quiet and not expensive


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## cichlids4me (Jul 22, 2009)

well i use a cascade 300 and a aqua tech 30 60 on y 30 convict breeding pair tank and its crystal clear and good readings


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## fishEH (Sep 15, 2008)

I have two 29 gal tanks set up. One houses 10 P. Saulosi and the other is home to 6 "misc. cichlids" that I got from the LFS for $.75 a piece. Anyways, each tank is filtered with a Rena XP3. I have a Hydor in line heater on each as well. I have an airstone in each near the surface of the tank to aide in oxygen exchange. The stones probably aren't needed but oh well.

I really like the canisters and I have mine packed with biomedia and a couple sponge pads for mech. filtration.


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## mx22 (Jul 13, 2009)

The Penguin beast kind of scared me away from HOB. Plus there is whole other problem with HOBs - I only have 3 inches between back of the tank and the wall. Penguin was an extremely tight fit and I think I saw comprasion somewhere online where Aquaclear 50/70 HOBs required more clearance in the back then Penguin.

Any suggestions on Eheim canisters?

Richard - yep, I already brought that question up in the Tang section. Tank will be housing 3x occelatus and 2x calvus. I do understand that most likely Whisper will do enough job, but I'd rather overkill with filtration...

Alexei


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## cichlids4me (Jul 22, 2009)

cascade canister filters do the job and are afordable :fish:


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## Bweb (Mar 31, 2009)

I have a 29gal tang set up with 9 multies and six small Julli. transcriptus waiting for a pair to form my filtration is Aquaclear 70 and Fluval 205 plus a small power head with prefilter on it I like to have two filters on my tanks in case one craps out or if I need to set up a tank fast I always have an extra cycled filter ready to go I also agree with Rick Lindsey skip the leleupi If you want more fish in your tank get Multies you can have a small colony of them plus the don't eat their fry the Occe's will so I've been told


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## Shaina (Jul 21, 2009)

I have two 29g tanks.

The planted tank is filtered by an Eheim 2213, which I absolutely love.

The non planted tank is filtered by a Aquaclear 50 and an Aquaclear 20 (so I can "borrow" the 20 briefly for a quarantine tank and have a pre-cycled filter, then sanitize it and put it back on the 29g after). I wouldn't run it with just the 50 for extended periods of time, though, as that tank is fairly heavily stocked.

Either way works well. With both filters I removed the carbon...in the Eheim I replaced it with an extra mechanical filter pad; in the ACs I subbed in extra bio filtration. Just personal preference.


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