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Recommendations for external filter in 125L

justjason88

justjason88

Member
Joined
4 Dec 2011
Messages
108
Location
South London
Hi all

This question has probably been asked tonnes of times, had a quick scan through the recent topics but couldn't find anything substantive so i'm sorry for boring you all!

I have a Juwel Rio 125, stocking at the moment is 6x Zebra danios, 6x Harlequins, 3x Golden Honey Gouramis, 3x Asian Rummynoses and looking to get 4x Corys in next few months and push the zebras and harlequins up to 10. On Aqadvisor.com with the above stock i'm just below the stock for the filter.

As i understand external filters outweigh internal by a lot and from what i can see EHEIM and JBL are the leaders (i think).

Will my standard rio 125 filter system be ok with this stock, baring in mind the tank is planted?
Would it be more beneficial to get an external filter, if so, what type and size should i be looking for?

Thanks a lot :)

Jason
 
Hi, I would buy the biggest external filter that you can afford. The bigger the filter is, it becomes less necessary to add powerheads to add more flow. It also depends on the plant mass, more plant mass requires much more flow. If you feel a massive filter is too powerful the you can adjust the flow rate to suit, as most filters have adjustable flow rates.
 
justjason88 said:
As i understand external filters outweigh internal by a lot and from what i can see EHEIM and JBL are the leaders (i think).

Will my standard rio 125 filter system be ok with this stock, baring in mind the tank is planted? Would it be more beneficial to get an external filter, if so, what type and size should i be looking for?
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As alluded to by Matty and Stu, you should try to adhere to the 10X rule, which means that a CO2 injected 125L tank should ideally have 1250LPH of rated flow. Since ther are stocking issues, this is best achieved by having a filter with that rating. Any filter rated at this amount will do. This purpose has nothing to do with brand names as any filter with any pump having this rating will serve this purpose. The market leadership of the stated brands have to do with other features not associated with filter throughput, so a Tetratec 1200 will do just as good a job as A JBL or Eheim in this sense.

If you're priorities are in other areas such as electronic control, low noise, construction quality and so forth then, yes, you'd have to look at these brands first, but flow is flow, and within a given market segment, Eheim are actually lower in flow than some lesser known brands.
However, throughput and filter capacity should be a priority in your case, so it would be better to look at:
1. What is the flow rating of the filter, i;.e. how strong is the pump.
2. How large is the bucket that holds the media, i.e. what is the filtration capacity.

Cheers,
 
George Farmer said:
Ease of maintenance is also a consideration.
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As is reliability and likelyhood that the stated flow rate will remain close when full of media. The three brands that CEG referred to... JBL, Tetratec and Eheim will most likely do that. Whereas the cheaper makes are less likely to (and have been found not to by members on here and elsewhere.

In order I would rate the above three;

Eheim...... pricey but considered the best by many.
JBL..... good value, and still german quality.
Tetratec.....not a bad filter either.

I think the JBL presents the best balance between price and quality. (Having said that I just got an Eheim Pro3 600, but ONLY because I have a very friendly LFS supplier who cut me the deal of the century)
 
I have a fluval fx5 on my 125l tank and at first I thought it would be overkill. I thought if its too much I can adjust it. But it was the best filter I ever bought. The flow is just right and all of the plants are swaying nicely. It also gets the co2 and ferts to areas which they weren't getting before. Plants grew much quicker and water is crystal clear.
 
Matty1983 said:
I have a fluval fx5 on my 125l tank and at first I thought it would be overkill. I thought if its too much I can adjust it. But it was the best filter I ever bought. The flow is just right and all of the plants are swaying nicely. It also gets the co2 and ferts to areas which they weren't getting before. Plants grew much quicker and water is crystal clear.
Click to expand...

Matty can you put up a pic of how you have your outflow/inlet/spraybar set up ? Im intrigued that a filter with that kind of flow is not blasting everything to oblivion. I have the Cristalprofi e1500 on my tank at the moment with the spraybar at the back facing forward and its giving amazing flow bit the blyxa looks like its about to blow away, LOL. I even have the outflow turned down slightly.
 
I have a video in the planted tank gallery. I don't use a spray bar I use the standard outlet. It softens the flow a lot. Plus I have high Plant mass which absorbs a lot of the flow.
 
stuworrall said:
I ran my rio quite well on an tetratec ex1200. Not sure on the rio internal as I took mine out but I think londondragon ran his for a while alongside a powerhead.
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My mate is running the Ex1200 in his rio 125 with no issues on flow or cleanliness of tank. I run an Eheim 2078 in my 125 litre roma 125.
 
Westyggx said:
stuworrall said:
I ran my rio quite well on an tetratec ex1200. Not sure on the rio internal as I took mine out but I think londondragon ran his for a while alongside a powerhead.
Click to expand...

My mate is running the Ex1200 in his rio 125 with no issues on flow or cleanliness of tank. I run an Eheim 2078 in my 125 litre roma 125.
Click to expand...

Thats a beast !
 
Matty1983 said:
What happened to the fx5 westy?
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Sold it mate, was a bit too noisy for my bedroom so bought Alistair's 2078 plus reactor, i can turn the flow right down over night which is great as its silent as a mouse!
 
Westyggx said:
Matty1983 said:
What happened to the fx5 westy?
Click to expand...

Sold it mate, was a bit too noisy for my bedroom so bought Alistair's 2078 plus reactor, i can turn the flow right down over night which is great as its silent as a mouse!
Click to expand...

Can I turn the flow down on a 2075 ? Is it controlled by the on/off lever on top ?
 
Westyggx said:
No idea mate sorry, mine has an electronic control options + and -
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OOH Posh ! lol. Damn it, you have the filter I couldn't afford :twisted: Im sure mine will do nicely, and I hope its quiet enough anyway.
 
Matty1983 said:
My dream filter would be a fluval g6. I just wish they would do a more powerful model!
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Thats exactly why I didnt get one. 750lph !!! Its pants. The filter itself is awesome though, and I guess you could make up the flow with a Koralia pump but I prefer to keep as much out of the tank as possible. I could have got a G6 for £150. Nearly bought it just to sell on actually.
 
i have the JBL e700 and that all running on my 125ltr

heres a vid with it running, packed with media...(obviously whilst doing a water change)



 
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