Upgrading 2213?

[Qwedfg]

I have just started a 60p sized tank and have a question about filtration. It's been about 5 or 6 years since I had a planted tank and had a 2213 filter left over from a 45 cm tank I had. I've been using this with an inline heater and co2 art inline diffusor and the flow seems ok but from reading on the forums it seems most people use far larger filters on their 60p. On the green aqua youtube page it seems they often run a Oase 600 (!) on their 60p tanks...I'm not even sure I could fit that in my stand!

I haven't seen any issues with the flow as of yet but the tank is still new and the plants are not grown. Would it be worth upgrading the filter to a 2215 or would the difference in flow not be significant enough to justify the cost? Since I have lily pipes, an inline heater and diffuser in 13 mm already I would prefer to stay with that line size. I was also thinking it may be easier and cheaper to just add an eheim 350 skimmer for some additional flow.

Most of my previous fish keeping was with marine reef tanks so there is a bit of a learning curve trying to figure out how this planted tank game works. My previous forays into freshwater were not very successful due to lack of time to maintain it with life and a reef tank but now this is my only tank after taking an extended break from keeping an aquarium so I'm trying to get things right this time! I appreciate all the help.

 

[erwin123]

In UKAPS we learn that the important part of the canister filter is actually the pump. The rest of it is not important. Bigger canisters are better not because you can stuff them with more media (which is unnecessary beyond a certain amount), but because the pump is more powerful.

In which case, the simplest upgrade for a 60p is not to buy a new canister filter but to spend $5 for a usb pump that you can hide at the back of the tank at substrate level. This should add the extra flow that you need. (if it doesn't, there are always even bigger pumps available...). A eheim 350 is also ok, but a substrate level pump is even better, and I found having to remove dead leaves from the 350 every few weeks a bit annoying... of course nothing preventing you from adding both a 350 and a usb pump at the back of the tank....

 

[sparkyweasel]

having to remove dead leaves from the 350 every few weeks a bit annoying.

And a lot of people have to remove dead fish and shrimps from their E350 too.
Most recent post on that;
Skimmer
And some info on how to modify it;
Mods

 

[Qwedfg]

I ended up buying an eheim 350 surface skimmer. I’ve been getting bad surface film and added a bunch of stems so I thought the extra flow would be helpful. My buddy has a 3d printer so I had him make a fish/shrimp guard hopefully it works out.

 

[Qwedfg]

Just got the eheim 350 skimmer in and am wondering if this is too much flow for a 60p? Everything is waving around even on the lowest setting.

 

[Qwedfg]

After looking around at some videos it seems like many people with stems have a fairly high flow that gets mellowed out as stem plants begin to grow in. Now I'm wondering if it would be better to just run a bigger filter. I was watching tropic tanks videos and he runs an eheim pro 4 600 which has 1250 lph flow compared to my 2213 which runs 440 lph. I really don't want to change my lily pipe, inline heater or co2 diffuser out for larger ones though ... I was thinking of getting an Eheim Classic 600 since the output is the same 13 mm as the 2213 and I could just reduce the input to 13 mm.

I am sorry for the double post but I couldn't figure out how to edit my previous one...

 

[Garuf]

The largest turnover 13mm tubed filter I can find is the jbl902. I’d probably buy that.