# 2 Magnum 330's for 125 Oscar Tank



## WaWaZat (Dec 27, 2007)

I'm setting up a 125 gal Oscar, and other big fish, tank. I have 2 old Magnum 330's that I got with a used tank a while ago. Are these sufficient for keeping an O tank this size squeaky clean? I'll have to replace the hoses for these filters & check 'em out to make certain everything else is there and all is working properly but other than that, the advantage is that I won't have to spend more $$. Also, any advice on the best way to run these, placement in the tank, etc, is appreciated... this will be my 1st tank in 25 years and by far the largest.

Oh and, I also have an under-gravel system for the 125 but I didn't figure it a good idea to use, especially with the Os.


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## Cognition (Oct 14, 2009)

Someone will probably tell you that you need more then 2 330's. I've never used the magnum 330s, but a freind of mine has an oscar in a 55g with the small emperor(280 or something) and his tank is filthy, but he isn't obsessed like us


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## WaWaZat (Dec 27, 2007)

Cognition said:


> Someone will probably tell you that you need more then 2 330's


Yep, this is what I'm hoping to find out.

Does anyone have any specs on the 330? I can't seem to find them even on the internet. Does the 330 mean 330 gph?? If so, 2 should be good for a 125 w/Oscars???

I also understand that I may be able to set 1 up as a standard filter then another as a diatomic for finer cleaning???

I'm really hoping to get the low-down on what's the best, most economical way to keep an Oscar tank this size heathy, low-maintenance & squeaky clean. My past experience has only been with much smaller tanks & over-the-side filters. I also slacked on the maintenance with those so I'm hoping to make this larger tank easier.


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## zoyvig (Oct 27, 2006)

save your money!

goto www.aqadvisor.com  and crunch the numbers.

fill one with a biomedia (I use Seachem Matrix) and the other one with cheap 
polyfil.

you can always add HOB later if needed


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## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

yes they are 330 gph
and the bonus with these filters is that they use micron filters, so they will keep a tank pretty clean, i would use powerheads to push water and debris towards the intakes though


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## WaWaZat (Dec 27, 2007)

Wow Zoyvig, that's a great link! It doesn't give an option for Magnum 330s so I used 350s (40 more gph??) with my desired stock list. It shows me at only 47% filter capacity using 2, suggesting 2 65% water changes/wk!! That is certainly not low maintenance! When I knock down the stock list to what I consider bare minimum, it still has me at only 59% filtration & 2 47% water changes/wk.

Jacob, would you elaborate, or point me to where I can get more info, on incorporating powerheads? Are we talking powerheads that might come with a large undergravel filter system? If so, I believe I have 4 of these. I would however like to keep the in-tank hardware to a minimum, completely hiding whatever I must use to keep the aesthetic pleasing.


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## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

yeah those powerheads would work, basically what i do is just place powerheads at each end pushing water toward the middle, a few right about the bottom would work to keep stuff fromm settling on the bottom, i place mine behind rocks and one has a sponge filter attached to it


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## LSBoost (Jan 21, 2010)

zoyvig said:


> save your money!
> 
> goto www.aqadvisor.com  and crunch the numbers.
> 
> ...


That's a pretty neat site but I wouldn't use it.

According to that site, I can stock 2 oscar and 2 tinfoil fish in a 60 x 18 x 20 (100 gallons sale rating tank, but only 93 actual gallons) with one fluval 403 canister filter (this is my setup except I have 1 less oscar and 1 more HOB filter) and that's only 89% stocking level. Therefore, the site recommend that I should change 30% of the water a week.

For your info tinfoil barb are 14 inches fish.

According to the oscar article on this forum written by Brett, "Under healthy circumstances, an Oscar will easily grow above 12", with 14-15" being very common for healthy adults. Very large specimens have been known to grow to 18".

If you have the money I would recommend getting at lease a filter (or 2) that have double the filtration power rating for your tank's (gallon) size.

Those filters look like their rating is for 100g tanks (just a guess from the big size), you have 2 so that's 200g. Good enough for now I guess. Once your oscar grow up and you feel like you need more filtering? Just get more filtering.


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## WaWaZat (Dec 27, 2007)

LSBoost said:


> Those filters look like their rating is for 100g tanks (just a guess from the big size), you have 2 so that's 200g. Good enough for now I guess. Once your oscar grow up and you feel like you need more filtering? Just get more filtering.


What kind of filtering might I consider adding to the 2 Magnums in the future?

What is HOB??


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## LSBoost (Jan 21, 2010)

Hob are hang on the back of the aquarium filters. In my opinion, they're not as good as the canister because I have to replace more filter pads. They're great for moving water on the top of the aquarium (more oxygen) but they are also more noisy.

Any type of filtering will work in addition to those. (HOB/Canister, etc...)


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## WaWaZat (Dec 27, 2007)

Oh yeah I agree... I'd like to stay away from a HOB filter. Not only did they contribute to my procrastination for up keeping my smaller tanks in the past, but this 125 is an acrylic with a permanently affixed top-side. The cut-outs along the back are narrow. I'd also like to keep things looking clean.

So what is my best option for additional filtering? Another/better canister??


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## LSBoost (Jan 21, 2010)

Yes, just add on more canister if you need more filtering or build yourself a sump filter.

Something like this might work----->http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=167955

I'm pretty sure there are similar design out there but they all work similarly.


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## yhbae (Jan 2, 2004)

LSBoost said:


> That's a pretty neat site but I wouldn't use it.
> 
> According to that site, I can stock 2 oscar and 2 tinfoil fish in a 60 x 18 x 20 (100 gallons sale rating tank, but only 93 actual gallons) with one fluval 403 canister filter (this is my setup except I have 1 less oscar and 1 more HOB filter) and that's only 89% stocking level. Therefore, the site recommend that I should change 30% of the water a week.
> 
> ...


Currently I have Oscar marked as a 12 inch fish and Tinfoil as also 12 incher. I do believe Oscar's bioload is pretty accurate since it went through several refinements with various owners and even on a site that specializes in Oscar agreed to it. As for Tinfoil, I am looking at the bioload and you are right, it might be a bit too low.

So in your opinion, what should be the stocking level for your example? Are we talking significantly above 100%? Keep in mind that even though your tank is "only"93g", it is not a very tall tank which favors amount you can stock for a given tank size. A tank with similar footprint but with taller dimension won't be able to handle more fishes.

Let me know of your thoughts - it will be helpful.


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## WaWaZat (Dec 27, 2007)

LSBoost said:


> Yes, just add on more canister if you need more filtering or build yourself a sump filter.
> 
> Something like this might work----->http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=167955
> 
> I'm pretty sure there are similar design out there but they all work similarly.


So are sump systems inherently better filtering systems than canisters or do they serve some specific purpose?



> Yes, just add on more canister if you need more filtering or build yourself a sump filter.


This may come off like a stupid question, but once you have a tank going & fully stocked, how does one know if they have enough or not enough filtering? What specifics dictate this? I've read about people over filtering and I've read things like no amount of filtering will compensate for an over stocked tank and also that filtering does not eliminate the need to do water changes. So just how does one know if he has enough or not enough filtering??


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## LSBoost (Jan 21, 2010)

Sump system work similar to a canister filter. The thing about a sump filter is that it can be much bigger for a good price. The bigger the filter the more bio media you can put into it. A sump can also add more oxygen to your tank be cause it's like a separate tank on itself. So, you do the rest of the math.

Go here for more about sump filter ----> http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/plumbing_faq.php

The main thing that article is that a 50 gallon tank with a 50 gallon sump has the same amount of water as a 100g tank. You can put more fish in with the additional water volume. You can choose to go with the skimmer design or with the other design at my previous post.

How do you know if you don't have enough filtering? Shut off your filters, leave it for a while (similar to a power outage) get a water test kit and everything will be on the roof. So when you can't get those things to stay in the safe area then that's when you need filtering. The main ones are ammonia and nitrate. You will need a water change to get rid of nitrate. So, yes you will need a water change no matter how much filtration you have. That's why I added the plant pot to my 55gallon tank filtering system. (To help put all the nitrate to good use, plant food?) I wish I could find a place to do that for my new tank.


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## LSBoost (Jan 21, 2010)

yhbae said:


> LSBoost said:
> 
> 
> > That's a pretty neat site but I wouldn't use it.
> ...


2 oscar and 2 tinfoils will work but that means more work on your part too. More water change, more filtration but I'm sure it's it will be chaos if the 2 big oscar chase each other around the tank and the tinfoil join in trying to dodge them. So yes there is enough oxygen for them but Oscar and tinfoil are pretty big. (I'm thinking about the future when they get to full size) You probably can't have anything except for the fish inside a setup like that.


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## yhbae (Jan 2, 2004)

LSBoost said:


> yhbae said:
> 
> 
> > LSBoost said:
> ...


Ok so your concern is more from the view of aggression and space. AqAdvisor also looks at the compatibility from this perspective as well, although it is still experimental. It also reports another % number. In some cases, your bioload will be ok but your space won't. Sounds like in this case, this might be the bottleneck.

Regardless, I'll increase the bioload of tinfoil a bit since I do believe it was set too low.


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## WaWaZat (Dec 27, 2007)

Ok, so I've done a lot of reading & investing on sump filtering over the last several days. Boy, this seems like the way to go in most cases but I'm not sure it's the right choice for me right now. 2 deal breakers might be;
1) Noise... this tank is in my living room where I also house my home theater system.
2) Even the smallest possibility of flooding... for the same reason as above plus the damage it would cause to the stuff just below the tank in the basement. I travel a lot so the thought of coming home to such a disaster is not pleasant.

So with a 125 (72" x 18" x 19.5" - 110 actual gallons) overstocked with Oscars & other large fish (starting 'em all small) beginning with 1 Magnum 330 loaded up w/polyfill & the other w/biomedia, what else can I consider to keep this tank filtered as best as possible as the fish grow?

First, before moving on to other solutions that cost time & $$; I do have an under gravel system w/4 powerheads that will fit this tank that I just didn't figure on using. Am I overlooking a good solution here or will an UGF not be worth potential hassles I have a feeling there'll be for this situation?


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## LSBoost (Jan 21, 2010)

Under gravel filter isn't good for messy fish because it will trap a lot of stuff under there. So, you will have to vaccum the substrate more often then needed. (But then that's just my opinion). I'm switching out my gravel for sand because gravel is too hard to keep clean with an oscar. I'm in the process of switching so I have nothing in the tank right now (no gravel) and its super easy to clean. Everything just flow to a pile and you just suck it out.

A good design sump won't flood your house or be noisy but since you got that stuck in your mind then I guess the next best thing are large canister filter. (Better brand = more quiet, however most of the cheaper ones aren't bad at all comparing to HOB filters)


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## WaWaZat (Dec 27, 2007)

LSBoost said:


> A good design sump won't flood your house or be noisy but since you got that stuck in your mind then I guess the next best thing are large canister filter. (Better brand = more quiet, however most of the cheaper ones aren't bad at all comparing to HOB filters)


I don't necessarily have that stuck in my mind. It's just a scary thought for the uninitiated. I suppose for now I could get by with my 2 canisters & always add a bigger canister or build a sump later. I just want to make sure that what I need to do now, before the tank is set up & still empty, gets done. I don't want to have to pull gravel out later or completely tear the tank apart to have it drilled or something.

What about an UGJ system like this?; http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ug_jets_scoops.php Do these really eliminate the need for vacuuming?! Can I use it with sand? Is it a prob with Oscars??


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## LSBoost (Jan 21, 2010)

That system work great with sump and yes it work with sand if you read the article.

You don't need to drill your tank for a sump if you read the sump link I gave you earlier.

"eliminate"? no... You're going to have to vacuum once in a while, once every 2 weeks?

Since your tank isn't up and running I'll be more worry about cycling it.


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