# Aquanano 60 - 100l Filtration



## James Bamford (8 Mar 2018)

Hi Guys,

I'm in the process of turning my aquanano 60 into my first high tech tank with pressurised CO2, a kessil A160we Tuna Sun, ADA Amazonia and fertiliser dosing. At present I have ditched the integrated filter of the aquanano and and am currently running an eheim Ecco pro 300 which I think is rated at 750lph. I am obviously looking to upgrade my canister filter and I have my eye on the JBL CristalProfi e1501/e1502 rated at ~1400lph so I can achieve a minimum of 10x turnover. What do you guys think to this? Is this overkill or could this be an ideal flow in this tank bearing in mind I could use the spray bar if necessary to prevent too much direct turbulence. The tank dimensions are 60w x 40d x 47h. I think the actual depth is probably around 30d due to the back section having the divider from the integrated filter. Any input/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. 

James


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## Tim Harrison (8 Mar 2018)

I've run a 90l high-energy tank with the Ecco Pro 300, without any problems.
The 10x rule is a good guide, but I guess it's how you use available flow and how you design your scape to take flow in to account that also determines which filter you choose.
You could always give the Ecco Pro a go, and if it doesn't quite work out buy the JBL later.
With a planted tank you don't need very much in the way of media. I use just enough to cover the bottom of each container, this means that the filter's output won't be restricted too much.


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## James Bamford (8 Mar 2018)

Thanks Tim, that's a good starting point. I can possibly start by decreasing the filter media in each tray then. I do understand that the flow is more important than the actual biological media present, providing all my plants are performing at the best they can. My scape will consist of redmoor and possibly some seiryu so I won't be going too overboard on bulky hardscape. I currently just run the standard media within the Ecco pro. Could I stick with that in all the trays and just decrease the amount or ditch it completely in maybe 2 of the trays and fill with sponge instead?


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## Tim Harrison (8 Mar 2018)

I use the media that came with the filter, one of each type in each container. I've done away with the floss type stuff. It actually didn't make any difference to the clarity of the water and restricted flow quite considerably; I should imagine that sponge will do the same, so I wouldn't use it.


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## James Bamford (8 Mar 2018)

Yes, my flow has dropped substantially since initial setup which is understandable to a degree however, I would feel a bit more confident if the flow was at its optimum. I'll have a mess with it and see how it goes. Thanks Tim.


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## miah431 (8 Mar 2018)

How much media do you have in each section? I have the exact same tank but with quite a lot of media in the middle partitions. Is this bad?

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## James Bamford (8 Mar 2018)

I do not have any media whatsoever in the actual aquanano built-in filter if that's what you mean. I removed it all and now just have my eheim canister filter pipes in the back sections along with my heater and eheim surface skimmer


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## kadoxu (8 Mar 2018)

James Bamford said:


> Hi Guys,
> 
> I'm in the process of turning my aquanano 60 into my first high tech tank with pressurised CO2, a kessil A160we Tuna Sun, ADA Amazonia and fertiliser dosing. At present I have ditched the integrated filter of the aquanano and and am currently running an eheim Ecco pro 300 which I think is rated at 750lph. I am obviously looking to upgrade my canister filter and I have my eye on the JBL CristalProfi e1501/e1502 rated at ~1400lph so I can achieve a minimum of 10x turnover. What do you guys think to this? Is this overkill or could this be an ideal flow in this tank bearing in mind I could use the spray bar if necessary to prevent too much direct turbulence. The tank dimensions are 60w x 40d x 47h. I think the actual depth is probably around 30d due to the back section having the divider from the integrated filter. Any input/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
> 
> James


I run a EHEIM Classic 250 (rated for 440lph) in a 20L tank and haven't had any issues with it. It's kinda easy to deal with too much flow if you use a spray bar.



miah431 said:


> How much media do you have in each section? I have the exact same tank but with quite a lot of media in the middle partitions. Is this bad?
> 
> Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk


If it gets too compact, it may restrict flow and won't do it's job properly.


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## James Bamford (8 Mar 2018)

kadoxu said:


> I run a EHEIM Classic 250 (rated for 440lph) in a 20L tank and haven't had any issues with it. It's kinda easy to deal with too much flow if you use a spray bar.


Thank you. I think I'll leave my options open then and see how I get on. I'll try my eheim once it's fully cleaned out and stripped of some media and if I feel it isn't sufficient then I will upgrade. Does anybody have any suggestions of a good canister filter that would suit my tank?


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## Millns84 (8 Mar 2018)

JBL e1501 is an excellent filter, I'm running one on my 240 litre. Very easy to maintain, silent, well made etc.

Not sure if you'd be interested but there's a seller on ebay currently selling Marina CF80's for £49.00 (just ordered one myself) with a flow rate of over 1300lph.


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## James Bamford (8 Mar 2018)

Millns84 said:


> JBL e1501 is an excellent filter, I'm running one on my 240 litre. Very easy to maintain, silent, well made etc.


That's good to hear. Based on your experience with it would you recommend it for my tank at just under half the size of yours considering the flow etc.? I don't want my planted tank turning into a reef tank that's all ha...

Is the flow rate easy enough to adjust/reduce if I require it?


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## miah431 (8 Mar 2018)

What are you going to do with the sump? Are you planning to place the filter in there?

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## ian_m (8 Mar 2018)

Why aren't you sticking with the Aquanano 60 internal filter ? At 750l/hr it is way man enough for the job. Just need to modify a spray bar to fit the pump outlet (maybe power head as well). Also the external you quote is good enough as well.

I think a JBLe1501 will be a bit of overkill and having 16/22mm pipes and 22mm spray bar will be difficult to hide discretely, as well as possibly being too big for a tank this size.


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## James Bamford (8 Mar 2018)

The tank has been running for almost 2 years on a low tech setup with my current canister filter. The back section of the aquarium which is seperated from the main bit by the black panel and which normally houses the filter media is completely empty. I literally just use this section to place all my equipment out of sight. I have my inlet hose to my canister filter in one chamber and my outlet hose in the right hand side chamber which allows me to feed the outlet pipe through the pre drilled hole in the black panel into the actual tank like it would be if I'd have chosen just just use the normal powerhead which comes with the tank if that makes sense. In short, I swapped the original built in filter for a canister to run the setup I have now and now I'm looking for advice on at upgrading current canister to give me better flow.


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## Millns84 (8 Mar 2018)

James Bamford said:


> That's good to hear. Based on your experience with it would you recommend it for my tank at just under half the size of yours considering the flow etc.? I don't want my planted tank turning into a reef tank that's all ha...
> 
> Is the flow rate easy enough to adjust/reduce if I require it?



I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it at all. I think they're a hugely underrated brand, probably due to being eclipsed by Eheim.

The flow is very easy to adjust, there's a lever that sits between the inlet and outlet, but you could also diffuse the flow by using the spray bar supplied so you wouldn't have to reduce the turnover.

Might be worth mentioning that there's currently an e1501 for sale in the for sale section.


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## Edvet (8 Mar 2018)

I don't know how big the space in tha back section is, but i have used Eheim classic canister filters completely submerged (as in underwater in the tank), you have the optimal pumpvolume this way. So if you can fit one in there and use the hole to get to a spraybar, that might work.


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## James Bamford (8 Mar 2018)

ian_m said:


> Why aren't you sticking with the Aquanano 60 internal filter ? At 750l/hr it is way man enough for the job. Just need to modify a spray bar to fit the pump outlet (maybe power head as well). Also the external you quote is good enough as well.
> 
> I think a JBLe1501 will be a bit of overkill and having 16/22mm pipes and 22mm spray bar will be difficult to hide discretely, as well as possibly being too big for a tank this size.


As this is my first high energy setup I wanted to do everything as best as I could to give me the best chance of succeeding given I've not got the experience in this area. I've done endless amounts of research over the past few months and I keep seeing the 10x flow rule popping up everywhere so as mine was rated at 750 lph I was just unsure if it would be sufficient at only 7.5x turnover.


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## ian_m (8 Mar 2018)

James Bamford said:


> 750 lph I was just unsure if it would be sufficient at only 7.5x turnover.


True. You could use the 750l/hr and a power head.

What you are you going to use the filter chamber for if you have an external ?

I still use the Juwel 600l/hr internal filter (as well as JBLe1501) on my tank, as it is easy to whip out the filter wool and sponges for a quick rinse each week at water change. I clean the JBL coarse sponge every couple of weeks.


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## James Bamford (8 Mar 2018)

ian_m said:


> What you are you going to use the filter chamber for if you have an external ?


I'm not using it for anything. Purely just a free space to which I hide my pipes and equipment in at the minute. I only have one slot to put my outlet through from my canister or else I may have considered rigging both up together. A bit of diy would be needed for this as I have a glass cover on my tank, it isn't open top.

I have seen another recent journal of the identical tank where it looks like he is just using the original filter alone. I'm waiting a response off him and if so I might even consider just using that along with the original pump supplied as the flow was a lot higher due to it coming straight from the pump and not being forced through a media in a sealed canister like now if that makes sense.


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## ian_m (8 Mar 2018)

This is on of my favourite journals using a Aquanano40. Ended up a right old shrimpasm. Lots of pics missing, unfortunately that were hosted on a ImageShack who discontinued their free hosting, but still are plenty present.
https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/aquanano40-crshrimp-tank-journal-closed.21455/

I think he built a DIY spray bar on the pump outlet.


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## Edvet (8 Mar 2018)

ian_m said:


> ImageShack


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## James Bamford (9 Mar 2018)

ian_m said:


> This is on of my favourite journals using a Aquanano40. Ended up a right old shrimpasm. Lots of pics missing, unfortunately that were hosted on a ImageShack who discontinued their free hosting, but still are plenty present.
> https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/aquanano40-crshrimp-tank-journal-closed.21455/


Cheers Ian I'll have a read through it


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