# 75 gallon setup and filtration questions - please help



## Lovincichlids (Oct 15, 2008)

Hi! I currently have a 29 gallon tank and have housed blood parrots. I currently have 2 BP's and a pleco in it. (I just lost my 4 yr old jellybean a couple days ago and the tank just isn't the same.) Anyway, I have upgraded to a 75 gallon and have a ton of questions about filtration for anyone willing to help.

The aquarium store recommends a fluval 405 or the emporer 400. After reading the reviews on both, I have come to see that a few people have had their entire tank contents spill onto thier floor with accidents from the fluval. 75 gallons of water on the floor is not my idea of a good time... I don't even want to think about it with laminate flooring. So, that is not even an option. The emporer has very good reviews (except it's noisy, I suppose - can't be noiser than my racket of a aquaclear filter right now though).

So... my major question is: What filter should I use? I would like to use 2 or one that is very large but I just don't know what to go with. What do you use on your large aquariums?

Any filtration systems (canisters) where I don't have to worry about 75 gallons worth of water on my floor or any filtration systems that hang on the back that aren't overly noisy???

To be honest, I am leaning towards the emporer type filters because the thought of water everywhere is enough to turn me off from a canister filter. The reviews for the Marineland Multistage canister filter seemed great... but again... a canister filter scares me.

Your thoughts and help would be very much appreciated. I am so frustrated about what to go with!!!! I have been researching filtration system after filtration system and they are just blurring together at this point.

Please help and shed some light on the subject. Thanks in advance


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## leopio (Nov 18, 2007)

i also have a 75 gal. and a 45 gal. and couldn't be happier using aquaclear 110 mines aren't noisy. on the 45 i have 2 AC 110 and on the 75 i have 2 AC 110 and a Rena XP3 maintenance is easy with the AC that's why i love them. they also pump more water out (gph) for the price.


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## Timkat4867 (Jan 11, 2008)

Your concerns are valid.

However there are pros and cons with anything you buy.

My opinion is go with a canister filter, rena xp3 is a good filter. It is easy to maintain, easy to clean, and does the job.

If hooked up right, chances are you wont have problems


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## MidNightCowBoy (May 7, 2007)

No reason to be afraid of canister filters, they are the bomb. I have a rena xp3 and an xp2 on my 75 gallon tank. Good thing about canisters is they don't require as much maintenance and they hold a lot more media than any hob ever could. Also if you don't have a HOB hanging off the back of your tank you can place the tank closer to the wall.


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## addicted2cichlid (Apr 8, 2008)

my 75 has 2 ac110's stuffed with sponge, and a fluval 305 with every basket filled with bio media.


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## Dasasa (Aug 1, 2008)

I have a 75 with 30 or so cichlids all in the 2 in range.

For filtration I use a XP3 and an AC110.
the XP is strictly for bio filtration and the AC110 is hard to beat for Mechanical, It moves alot of water


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## RyanR (Apr 29, 2008)

You'll get lots of opinions here.

On our 75g, we have an Emperor 400 and a Magnum 350 Pro canister. One return from the Magnum has an 18w TurboTwist UV sterilizer. I'm very happy with this setup. Relatively cheap to get online via Foster and Smith.

-Ryan


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## lotsofish (Feb 28, 2008)

If I was starting a 75, I would get the Emperor 400 and one of the Foster and Smith brand filters with built-in surface skimmer. 
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3579+3608+16729&pcatid=16729

I've been using Emperor's for over 3 years now without problems. I haven't used the Foster and Smith brand but I like the idea of a surface skimmer.


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## cichlids _killer (Apr 13, 2008)

my 75 G ...fluval 405 ,wet-dry ( return pump 750gph) 2 sponge filter , does the job right.


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## BurgerKing (Jul 1, 2008)

I have a 75g with an eheim 2217, nothing but good new about this thing!! The way the lid of the cannister fastens to the cannister itself is brilliant, a great seal with latches to make sure its nice and tight.

I dont use any of the larger HOBs but with the little ones i have im not impressed, noisy and poor GPH.


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## leopio (Nov 18, 2007)

xp3 and two ac110 do the job on my 75gal


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## lexi73 (May 2, 2008)

I've got a 75 and I'm running a Eheim 2271 classic and a cheap HOT filter to house carbon only. keeps my water super clean and there is plenty of flow.


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## ajanin (Jul 24, 2008)

using a fluval 404 ,eheim 2217 and a homemade wet/dry. i had a leak with the 404 but fixed it by cleaning up the oring sealing surface. put the filter in a 5 gallon bucket if you're worried about it. you can't beat a cannister or wet/dry for biological filering


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## mithesaint (Oct 31, 2006)

First off, two filters is a great idea. Redundancy is wonderful, and a very safe path to go down.

Every type of filtration has it's advantages and disadvantages. Generally speaking, canister filters provide better filtration than HOB, but are also much more expensive. They're a little more difficult to set up and maintain, but also need less frequent maint. They do carry the possibility of leaking all over the floor, but so do HOB. Anyone ever had an AC casing crack and leak a little? Canisters are simply more likely to leak, but in all reality, it doesn't happen that often. If it did, no one would use them :thumb:

At this point, in your shoes, I'd start with two Emp 400's or AC 110s. They'll provide adequate filtration and a pretty decent price. Then, down the road, when your fish are bigger, and you need more filtration, you can add a canister and switch an Emp to another tank, or use it to start a new tank.

If you want a canister, the most commonly used canisters on that size tank are Filstar XP3's and Ehein 2217's.

That help?


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## alicem (Jul 26, 2007)

*edit*
 
Never mind, I'll start a new post with a question...
thanks,
Alicem


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