# 75g - AC110 enough



## geekEE (May 1, 2010)

I am on the verge of purchasing a 75 gallon tank in which I will house mbuna. As far as filtration goes I was wondering if an Aquaclear 110 would be sufficient for my setup. I would go the route of a canister filter but I don't have much money as I am a college student. The aquaclear 110 is rated at 500gph which would cycle my tank aproximately 6.6 times per hour. Is this enough? Thank you all for your time and help. :fish:


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## cichlidfeesh (Apr 6, 2009)

I would advise a canister filter or another AC110 for the other side of your tank.


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## Heyguy74 (Aug 11, 2005)

The 500 GPH is only without any media in it actually has a lower flow rate with the media in it. I would go with a second filter. Your stocking will also help determine if you need another filter. I would just to be safe.


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## Rhinox (Sep 10, 2009)

It will definately be "enough" - I define enough as providing water movement for oxygenation, and holding sufficient volume to grow a bacteria colony capable of converting all the ammonia the tank produces into nitrate. It will be more than enough to keep your tank habitable.

Where it may fall short is collecting up all the solid waste in your tank and suspended in the water column. But that is an aesthetics problem really - even if the filter picks up the solid waste, its still "in the system" just as much as if it were sitting on the substrate, until you physically remove it.

That being said, I would not consider it enough filtration for me. I'd rather my waste make it into the filters rather than sitting on the substrate. I'd probably use 2 AQ110's on a 75 (I'm using 2 AQ110's on my 55 right now). Another option you might consider is 2 AQ70's. Big al's online was selling them for $20 each a while back (search for "power filter 70"), so for $40 you get 600GPH rate flow split 300GPH between 2 filters you can spread out across the tank rather than $50+ for 500GPH rated flow from a single AQ110. Heck, get 3 of them for 900gph rated flow for $60, which is about what you'd pay to get a single AQ110 shipped to your door. (I think they're small enough to fit 3 on the back of a 4' tank with center brace - 2 on one side, 1 on the other).

EDIT: Also could mention, a single AQ110 and a well placed powerhead might do a good enough job at getting waste into the filter. I might consider this if I already had the 1 AQ110 and was looking to spend as little as possible. If you're buying from scratch, 2 or 3 AQ70's at the $20 price would still be the better value.


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## geekEE (May 1, 2010)

Thanks for the tip. I just checked big Al's and they are all out of stock at the moment. Hopefully they will get more soon. :thumb:


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## smitty (May 7, 2004)

Great choice with the AC110. If you can get a second AC110 that would be even better. If you can not you will just need to rinse the spone out more often. Since you do have limited funds the AC110 is the best filter since you do not have to buy replacement cartridges and the sponge will last a couple of years just rinsing.


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## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

i have one ac110 on my 55 along with an emperor 280, and i don't feel like it's enough


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## geekEE (May 1, 2010)

I will probably get a HOB filter and then down the road include a canister filter as well.


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## Dj823cichild (Mar 30, 2009)

I have 2 AC 110's on my 60 gallon tank and my water is always crystal clear :thumb:


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## geekEE (May 1, 2010)

I have come across some more money for filtration purposes and have decided to up the budget to 200 dollars. I know its not that high but it is certainly better than my previous 100 dollaar budget. Can you guys give me some options of what canister or hob filters I should be looking at within my budget? Thanks all. :fish:


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## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

i just posted a thread about my ac110 and emperor 280 set-up on the 55

i felt like these two were not enough, but after cleaning my ac110 yesterday and seeing how much junk it sucks up, it's pretty obvious that 2 of them would do a great job together, and should be one of your options


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## phorty (Oct 30, 2009)

Rhinox said:


> Another option you might consider is 2 AQ70's. Big al's online was selling them for $20 each a while back (search for "power filter 70")


When were they $20? That's very cheap for that filter!!


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## rarefaction (Aug 6, 2009)

geekEE said:


> I have come across some more money for filtration purposes and have decided to up the budget to 200 dollars. I know its not that high but it is certainly better than my previous 100 dollaar budget. Can you guys give me some options of what canister or hob filters I should be looking at within my budget? Thanks all. :fish:


With $200 I would buy 1 Eheim 2215 and 1 AC70 (go AC110 if you can)


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## geekEE (May 1, 2010)

Because of space constraints I have decided to go with a 55 gallon tank. i plan to overstock it a bit so I will still be getting two aquaclear 110s for my filtration.


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## Rhinox (Sep 10, 2009)

phorty said:


> Rhinox said:
> 
> 
> > Another option you might consider is 2 AQ70's. Big al's online was selling them for $20 each a while back (search for "power filter 70")
> ...


http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp19169/si4408841/cl0/powerfilter70

still out of stock, not sure if it was a 1 time deal or just waiting for more stock.


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## phorty (Oct 30, 2009)

Rhinox said:


> phorty said:
> 
> 
> > Rhinox said:
> ...


Hmmm, is that different than this one?
http://www.bigalsonline.com/StoreCatalo ... 12&offset=


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## JCsicklidnewbie (Mar 8, 2010)

All, I would like to inject here. I have a 75gl with seven fish and for about two months I ran one AC 110 on it with a power head and I didn't have any problems with water clarity and more importantly NH3. However I most recently bought another AC110 just bc I wanted a second filter to make maintenance easy. However it was drama after drama because I bought an AC 50 and then an AC 70 before I bought the AC110. The smaller filters will not fit on a 75gl without heavy fabrication..I even cut pieces off of the 70 and it didn't fit so if you're going to buy an AC it has to be a 110. If you have a high number of fish then you need to two filters to ensure you have water movement to support oxygen getting to your bacteria.


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## rarefaction (Aug 6, 2009)

Come to think of it, my AC70 won't fit over the rim of my 75! (no brace - OLD tank). It fits my 55g just fine, but I wouldn't use just one AC70 for that either. It needs just a little help from my Aqueon 20 (I like the wet/dry grid in those)


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## geekEE (May 1, 2010)

I went with a 55 because of space constraints. So the 2 AC110s that I have fit just fine. Thanks for the help.


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## BillD (May 17, 2005)

An AC 110 should be more than adequate for a 75 unless it is ridiculously over stocked. You can add a second foam insert and increase its bio capacity by a third. Even with lots of filtration, if a tank is overstocked you still have to do the water changes to lower nitrates. Keep the solids out of the filter, by regular cleaning (easy to do on an AC) and you have lots of capacity. You have to keep in mind that every solid surface in the tank becomes part of the biofilter, not just the filter.


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## Dj823cichild (Mar 30, 2009)

AC 110 FTW! :dancing:


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