# What type of filter are you using in your 29 gallon or smaller tanks?



## DigityDog70 (Jan 20, 2017)

I'm curious to know what people are using in smaller tanks that are *29 Gal. or less* for filtration? 

Sponge
Combination of filters? if so, which combination?
HOB 
Hamburg Mattenfilter
Small Canister
Sump
Refugium - some people use them in different configurations and for "several small tanks"
Aquaponic
Other - if so, what?


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## herns (May 6, 2008)

DigityDog70 said:


> I'm curious to know what people are using in smaller tanks that are *29 Gal. or less* for filtration?
> 
> Sponge
> Combination of filters? if so, which combination?
> ...


I have 4 - 20 gallons with Eheim 2232 filters. 2- 5 gallons with Aquaclear HOB filters.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Those little Azoo hob filters and sponge filters for 3 gallon tanks. Anything larger gets an Eheim. Eheim classic 2213(250) on my 20 long and 29.


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## Oughtsix (Apr 8, 2011)

I run a small 7g wet/dry (trickle) sump on my 35g hex tank. After I switched to a sump I can't stomach all the labor involved with the other filter types.

$200 Eheim + Fluval 404 + Rena + Penguin Emperor + a couple others sitting on the shelf. I might give away some of them but the Eheim was to expensive not to keep "just in case".


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## psalm18.2 (Oct 16, 2010)

My 5.2g has a air pump driven 3 stage filter. The 2.6g is a Fluval with built in filter. I had a 1.5g with a HOB filter driven by an air pump. All are planted.


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## Brackon (Nov 30, 2017)

29 Gallon has an Aqueon QuietFlow 30 and a SunSun HW-603B that feeds into my breeder HOB and then there is a 500 GPH circulation pump too so lots of filtering and flow as I have 3 plecos and lots of tetras

In my 5.5 I have just a tiny sponge with a petco air pump running it till I can get something else as I want 2 azoo mignon 60s so theres lots of flow. I like flow its just something I have done since having African cichlids.


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## theatermusic87 (Jun 22, 2014)

25g has a hmf filter with an aquaponics/riparium over the top of the tank

3 and 5 gallons have planted hob filters


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## FishFan13 (Jan 15, 2015)

I have eheim 2213 on my 5.5 gallon. I just point the spray bar at the back glass. I have a long fin betta and long as the spray bar is pointed at the back, there is not to much flow for him.


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## ILikeRice (Jul 9, 2017)

Ive used a HOB Fluval C2 and the filtration is good but flow is minimal. Would actually recommend this HOB if you are going this route. Its a little loud, but after applying Vaseline to the spindle its really really quiet.

Recently upgraded to a 2213 and the flow is perfect for a planted 20L. Motor does hum like a solenoid though. No control valve. PS: Flow may be a little too strong for inhabitants :]
Overall, am pleased with this filter and would purchase again.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

Sunsun 302 on a 20 long. Lots of weeds in the way to keep the flow down, so I added a cheapy powerhead to bump it a bit more.


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## PlantsForHire (Sep 28, 2017)

It's overkill for sure in my tank, but I have seachem tidal 110. Mainly got it because of its media capacity, and you can really dial down the flow. Quiet and self priming.


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## Boostr (Dec 8, 2016)

My 2 10 gallon tanks have HOBs, one with an Aqueon Quiet Flow 20, and one with an Aqua Clear 20. My 20 Long has a Fluval 206 canister filter.


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## GraphicGr8s (Apr 4, 2011)

Most of my tanks have either sponge filters or Lee's corner filters. The cheap economy ones.

Those that need a bit more circulation I run Whisper HOBs.


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## DigityDog70 (Jan 20, 2017)

Thanks all, very helpful. My tank is a 20high, and all is well except my C3 is providing too much downward flow and it tends to clobber my stem plants forcing them downward, so I was curious to see how people were filtering their smaller tanks and the flows. This is great and enough to paint some more color into the picture here, so I can figure out how to keep my water polished without clobbering my tall stem plants. My C3 is customized and does an amazing job otherwise, I prefer the design over the AqualClears, even though they both use the same motors with the exception of the 110 model and the designs are very similar, the C2,3,4 has changed my tune over the AqualClears. Also, occasionally the AqualClears develop this issue where a clog develops on the intake between the intake chamber to the 2nd reservoir chamber and they actually start overflowing at the top and fill up with water, a lovely site when you come home from work after three days and find a small flood. I might use a little black cube filter, stuff it in the back on each side and perhaps use a small 80gph tank for mid-level current? Current is so beneficial in my experience especially with my effort to control algae and I might even richochet the flow pump off a panel? The flow should be adequate enough to keep the plants stronger, algae off the leaves and sides panels and I may end up trying this. HOB’s are so efficient when you can control the flow, but the c2 and C3 only throttle efficiently for so long and then particles (blood worm remnants) cake up enough so that you need to clean out the filter and really the last thing I want to do is clean out my friendly local bacteria. Sponge filters like the little cubes with the custom tubes e.g. Swiss Tropicals with the ability to use whichever ppm filter squares you like are my personal favorites. I guess it’s just one of the reasons why I prefer larger setups so that you can avoid all of the gear inside the tank, but I digress as I still like smaller tanks. 


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

You've got it right on the tank sizes. For some things big tanks are better while there are also reasons to like small tanks. I've been a big tank fan for a while as I was raising big fish but now I have converted several of the growout tanks to planted as the growouts are no trouble combining with most any plants. Now that I'm doing more in the small tanks, I'm finding it fun to do them. Very much easier to sort out a problem and change things on the smaller tanks. Much easier to spot that I have a nutrient lacking on some specific type plant when there is only one of that type rather than a dozen and those on one end doing something different than the same plant on the other end. 
Same old thing, we all need to look at what we want and move that way as the mood feels right. There really is little value in trying to do what somebody else likes! One of the reasons that I no longer get involved in clubs and groups is that there are always those who promote the idea of "competition" which totally flies in the face of doing my personal choice.


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## d33pVI (Oct 28, 2015)

I have a corner HMF in my 20 high and absolutely love it. It does eat up some real estate in the tank, but maintenance is minimal and it keeps the heater out of sight.


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## DigityDog70 (Jan 20, 2017)

d33pVI said:


> I have a corner HMF in my 20 high and absolutely love it. It does eat up some real estate in the tank, but maintenance is minimal and it keeps the heater out of sight.




Actually, I really want to try the Swiss Tropicals corner filters, those look like they’d be the ticket? Haven’t’ tried it yet, it’s just a matter of time before I do. If I can figure how to stuff some equipment in the corner and still make it work. For instance, check this out: http://www.swisstropicals.com/filtration-shop/cornerfilter-shop/. Even if this doesn’t work out, it will be worth trying. My next idea after that would be (for small tanks for starters) to take some black polymer or acrylic and my table saw and create a small weir to cover the C2 or C3 in my small tanks and create the more holes with a drill below where the intake pipe is located. 

There is a better way to get filtration with some experimentation and not clobber my steam plants in the back of my small tanks. So far with my current mods, using mostly filter floss, a custom filter pad and stuff my bag of media down below the filter floss has managed to really make my water sparkle. 

With this, and this other light project (don’t want to get off topic) I’m working on, I think I’m going to have a cool tank to share. Clean water, shimmering lights, likely an Apistogramma or a Ram and it will be showtime. Just wish I didn’t have so much work to do. 

Cheers,
DD




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## DigityDog70 (Jan 20, 2017)

Someone just posted a thread on these as well, http://dennerle.com/en/products/nano-aquaristic/filtration/filters/nano-corner-filter 

anyone use one of these ? Looks cool! I’m a not entirely convinced with reviews anymore vs. first hand knowledge as I know that big companies pay people to review products. 


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## DigityDog70 (Jan 20, 2017)

PlantsForHire said:


> It's overkill for sure in my tank, but I have seachem tidal 110. Mainly got it because of its media capacity, and you can really dial down the flow. Quiet and self priming.




These look pretty nifty, I like the return lip for flow back into the tank, but like most HOB’s we have to keep an eye on the evaporation factor. 

Is that really true (I read some reviews on this line of filters) can you truly throttle down the flow up to 80%? Hm... ? If so, these look cool and I noticed they’re keeping the price reasonable and it looks like you can add on a sponge filter extension, which is always helpful. 


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## Bogey (May 7, 2017)

I'm a bit late but I'm running a Eheim 2213 on a 10gallon tank. The spray bar is pointed to the back to limit the flow.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

I like the Swiss tropical idea for cool. Something I played with for a while was a simple grid of light diffuser cut to fit across one corner. Then I tied a piece of various media to the front and simply wedged it into the corner with the bottom pressed down into the sub and the top stuck under the top rim. I had a variety of small pond and fountain pumps to try behind the screen of media with tubing up to near the top and across the tank. It worked as a filter okay and seems to have several good points but I never went much further as I found getting the collected grunge off the media knocked a lot of it loose to float around until it was collected again. I never got around to finding the correct media to collect the trash but not look like it was a trash dump that should be cleaned. Since I was resigned to losing the space, I went with using the cheap Regal brand inside filters from Walmart as they did hide the trash inside instead of leaving it in full view. 
No filter is totally perfect.


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## PlantsForHire (Sep 28, 2017)

DigityDog70 said:


> These look pretty nifty, I like the return lip for flow back into the tank, but like most HOB’s we have to keep an eye on the evaporation factor.
> 
> Is that really true (I read some reviews on this line of filters) can you truly throttle down the flow up to 80%? Hm... ? If so, these look cool and I noticed they’re keeping the price reasonable and it looks like you can add on a sponge filter extension, which is always helpful.
> 
> ...


Yeah, even though the 110 is rated for a tank thats 110 G, you can really dial the flow down. On the lowest setting the flow is very soft. You can fine tune the flow to your liking.


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## goodbytes (Aug 18, 2014)

There are a lot of great options mentioned and I would absolutely love to try out one of those Mattenfilters some day.
I used to run an AC70 on a 20 high because I already had it and wanted more media capacity than the AC30 I also had on hand. I just swapped the AC30 impeller into the AC70 as the motors are all the same, save for the AC110 which is a separate beast. That's one of my favorite aspects of the AC filters is the DIY flow customization available by using different impellers.


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## ILikeRice (Jul 9, 2017)

For the guys with a canister filter...what sponge filter do you use? I have a 2213 with a fluval sponge filter but my shrimps keep getting sucked in at the upper portion of the sponge....


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## MtAnimals (May 17, 2015)

using an AQ70 on a 20h,along with a sponge filter.I could run 2 of those Aq's no problem,but for me,flow is pretty low.

Using a Hydro-Sponge.Originally put in there when I set up the tank,pulled it from another tank so it would be cycled and ready for fish,ended up leaving it there.


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## kaldurak (May 2, 2010)

When I had a sunsun canister filter, I just tied some pantyhose around the intake and then put a sponge over that to keep my shrimp from being sucked in.


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## ILikeRice (Jul 9, 2017)

Ended up using cheese filter tied to the filter and the same sponge filter over. Lost most of my shrimplets, although I've yet to open my canister.


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## kaldurak (May 2, 2010)

ILikeRice said:


> Ended up using cheese filter tied to the filter and the same sponge filter over. Lost most of my shrimplets, although I've yet to open my canister.


Pop that sucker open and take a look. I saved numerous shrimplets in the past with a turkey baster from inside the canister.


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## ILikeRice (Jul 9, 2017)

kaldurak said:


> Pop that sucker open and take a look. I saved numerous shrimplets in the past with a turkey baster from inside the canister.


Thank you for encouraging me to check my filter. We were able to saved about 9-10 shrimplets. Now my canister is filtering air and making loud noises which should subside in a few hours/days hopefully.

I'd like to apologize to the OP for hijacking your thread, but hopefully you were able to select a filter


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