The Puffer Forum

Hi I am a new board member.I am getting a 29 gallon tank for 2 f8s and would like to know how large of a filter do you need?
thanks

I would recommend a rena xp1 canister filter. Water capacity: 45 gallons and flow rate: 250 gallons an hour.

I prefer the HOB Aquaclear 110.

I use aquaclear for my gold fish tank, also exellent filter. Just keep in mind to over filter your water in whatever you choose. Do your research on the different options, look up you tube videos of them in action and choose what appeals to you

HOB filters are easy to clean, to remove detritus. I use canisters as a secondary filter, for larger tanks.

I wouldnt say my canister is any bit hard to clean, just time consuming. I hate the waterfall noise of HOB's or that constant trickle sound, my canister is dead silent and the ability to have the inlet and outlet on opposite ends is a + too. im sure adding an HOB has its ++ too but I cant go back to that .

I'm a diehard canister lover too. The noise from HOBs makes me insane. When I had an F8 in a 29 gallon, I had a Rena XP2 on it and thought it was perfect. The Rena canisters give you really good bang for the buck, in terms of GPH turnover in relation to cost.

If you aim for 10x turnover on the filter for your F8 tank or thereabouts, you should be all set. Puffers are extremely messy fish, and excellent filtration is a must.

Welcome to TPF!

I love that sound!

I find the sound of my harley in a tunnel far more soothing than the trickle

Can't argue with that! No really... as long as my tanks are all topped off, there is no sound I can tell. At least nothing above the sound of the de-humidifiers in the rooms.

Pufferpunk wrote:I love that sound!

I hate that sound. My tanks MUST stay topped off at ALL times, or I go insane. My fish tank are in my bedroom, so they can make it difficult to sleep. I also always seem to get sand stuck in my filter, so they're now ruined and make a grinding sound. It's absolutely terrible when you sleep with nothing on in your room; all you hear is the stupid grinding of the filter.

I recently entered the world of canister filters, I don't plan on going back to HOB for any tanks again. Idk why but all the pros and cons of the canisters seem to beat HOB filters for me now. Both work fine; canisters are generally more efficient, whilst HOB are usually lower maintenance/user friendly.
I use a fluval (model 305) canister filter, and besides some minor/temporary issues I've had, it's been great. It's secondhand, but still runs silent and efficiently. I too am one of the people who hate the noise of HOB filters.

Nuclear_Glitter wrote:I hate that sound. My tanks MUST stay topped off at ALL times, or I go insane. My fish tank are in my bedroom, so they can make it difficult to sleep. I also always seem to get sand stuck in my filter, so they're now ruined and make a grinding sound. It's absolutely terrible when you sleep with nothing on in your room; all you hear is the stupid grinding of the filter.

OMG I have had the same problems! It never bothered me until I put my 20 gallon in my bedroom next to the bed. Biggest mistake ever.

A decent eheim cannister is the only thing I would recommend. Well worth the money. I am a snob tho lol

OK, I will be the odd-ball. I never single-filter any tank 10 gallons and above. I always multi-filter, frequently with more than one type/format of filter. The only format I do not use is the HOB. That exclision is because in my old age I have become neurotic about noise and also spend a good bit of time fine-tuning current in my tanks. HOBs are prone to noise and difficult to fine-tune for current.

I also always over-filter.

Have you guessed yet that I am a bit compulsive?