HI! I'm new to puffer fish. already have a 90 gallon going with swordtails and corys and otos and sae. got a 10 gallon with couple coolies. got a 5 gallon with frogs and snails. couple 2 gallons with bettas in it.
now I'm looking into puffer fish. I've got a 10 gallon and a 45 gallon.
i want a red eye puffer for the 10 gallon and figure 8 in my 45 gallon.
it will be species only tanks.
question is...what filters? hang on? canister? and how strong should they be? I've read somewhere that the filter should filter double the amount of the tank.
anyone point me to some other sites with this info just so that i don't keep asking questions.
new to puffer fish.
-
RTR
- Mentor
- Posts: 6155
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 4:39 pm
- Gender: Male
- Location (country): East Coast, USA
What format (HOB, canister, etc.) filter is largely personal choice. Familiarity with the upkeep is important - you are more willing and therefore likely to do the familiar routine chores than to keep up with what to you is an unfamiliar technique. If you have a preferred fiter type now, a size of the format suited to you new setups is likely to be the best choice.
That said, filters have different levels of efficiency. HOBs are quite effective but not highly efficient - they compensate for this with a large turnover rate (the number of times per hour the total tank volume in theory passes through the unit). Canisters on the other hand tend to be much more efficient filters, so can be rated for the same size tank with with a much lower turnover rate. So absolute tirnover rate does compare across different filter formats. In any case, you want to pick a filter ideally with the tank rating having your tank size in the lower to middle of its range tops. In other words, if the maker suggests one model for tanks 30-50 gallons, and a different model for tanks 40-60 gallons, for a 45 I would pick the larger unit as having more elbow room- excess capacity. You then have a bit wider margin of safety.
Puffers are extremely messy fish, and their body mass is quite large for their size/length. I don't know if you have kept Oscars, but you can think of puffers as being a bit akin to varying sizes of Oscars - high mass, high bioload, messy fish. Also like Oscars, they are high personality and totally charming fish.
There is a Library here, you can click on it (under the header photo at the top of the page) and read some of the best info on the web here. If you have further questions, don't hesitate to ask - that is why we are all here.
That said, filters have different levels of efficiency. HOBs are quite effective but not highly efficient - they compensate for this with a large turnover rate (the number of times per hour the total tank volume in theory passes through the unit). Canisters on the other hand tend to be much more efficient filters, so can be rated for the same size tank with with a much lower turnover rate. So absolute tirnover rate does compare across different filter formats. In any case, you want to pick a filter ideally with the tank rating having your tank size in the lower to middle of its range tops. In other words, if the maker suggests one model for tanks 30-50 gallons, and a different model for tanks 40-60 gallons, for a 45 I would pick the larger unit as having more elbow room- excess capacity. You then have a bit wider margin of safety.
Puffers are extremely messy fish, and their body mass is quite large for their size/length. I don't know if you have kept Oscars, but you can think of puffers as being a bit akin to varying sizes of Oscars - high mass, high bioload, messy fish. Also like Oscars, they are high personality and totally charming fish.
There is a Library here, you can click on it (under the header photo at the top of the page) and read some of the best info on the web here. If you have further questions, don't hesitate to ask - that is why we are all here.
Where's the fish? - Neptune