----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2001 11:12
PM
Subject: NFC: Re: Getting there
Hi Nickel and welcome aboard.
There are merits to both kinds of
filters. Consider carefully the natural environment of the fishes you
plan to keep when making your decision.
Power filters tend to have very high flow
rates, and not much surface area for filtration. They are great for
smaller tanks (55 gallons and under) especially for recreating an
environment with a lot of flow.
Cannister filters have a lot of surface area
for biological and mechanical filtration, but usually fairly low flow rates
(I stress the word "usually", as there are exceptions).
If I were keeping fishes from a fast flowing
stream, I'd lean towards power filters. The maintenance schedule will
have to be a little more rigorous but the tank will be more natural with the
faster moving water.
If I were keeping pond fish I'd lean more
towards a cannister filter which will maintain a calm clear
aquarium.
The aquaclear 300 has a great benefit in that
the filter media has much greater surface area than the pads used by most
power filters. On the downside, the maintenance is messier. Also
sometimes the filter media is hard to find. I'm using Whisper 5 and
Whisper 4 power filters everywhere, mostly because of the easy maintenance
and readily available media.
Eheim makes some nice cannister filters but it
has been years since I've used one. Fluval is another manufacturer in
this area that is worth looking into. Maintenance used to be a real
mess with cannisters but the newer designs I've seen are really nice.
Make sure to get shutoff valves for your intake and return lines. The
newer Eheim's store their media in a nice easily removable basket that you
can carry to the laundry basin and hose down.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2001
9:55 PM
Subject: NFC: Getting there
I guess it was about a year ago when I found the NFC site, while I
was searching the net for something on native fish, thinking I would like
to some day soon set up an aquarium. I have'nt yet become a member because
I figured I'd wait until I at least had a tank, well as of Christmas, I
now have a 38 gal tank with hood and stand.
Everyone on the list has
been very helpful with my many questions and I now have my choices down to
two,for which type of filters I will use. If I go with a power filter I'll
buy the Aqua Clear 300, but I am starting to lean towards a canister
filter and my choice there would be the Eheim Plus 2213.
So it looks
like I'm getting there and soon to be a member of the NFC. A "rookie fish
head" in the making. Just thought this would be a little change from all
the " poitical stuff
"
nickel