Filtration for a 90 gallon.

We just bought an aquaClear 110(500) for our 90 gallon and we are looking to put sometihng else on like a canister filter. Do you think that a fluval 304 would work with the AC110.

 

With the HOB (Hang on the back) type of filter you want 10x the filtration so a 90gal you want to move 900gals per hour. a Aguaclear 500 moves 500 gal per hour so alone it is not enough.

A canister filter with the Aquaclear would be great, i use a Magnum 350 canister with 2 aquaclear 500's on my 130gal.

the only con ive had with the Magnum 350 is that it is a bugger to prime.
The fluvals are self priming.

I would recommend the Fluval 404 with the Aquaclear 500, im my opinion that would be enough filtration.

If there is 200 replies to this post im sure there will be 200 diff opinions about what filter you should use, im sure they will all be good.

 

Well I have a question. What will your 90 gallon be stocked with?

 

Thats a good question.
We arnt 100% sure yet but we are going to have either an African Malawi Cichlids Tank, or Two JD's and some dither fish.

 

Well, with the JD's I'd use two ac 500's and a good canister. JD's can be very messy and from my experience with them, they need a lot of filtering.

 

I'd use a AquaClear 110 and a canister filter thats rated for the tank size and that would be adequate filtration for your tank.

 

would an aqua clear 110, an aqua clear 70, and a fluval 403 be enough filtration.

 

I think the AC 100 and Fluval 304 should be just fine for either of those stocking options.

FWIW, when I'm figuring filtration using a combination of HOB and canister, I double the gph of the canister, add it to the gph of the HOB and aim for 10x. My reasoning is, with canisters you want 3x - 5x. By doubling the gph, you are essentially counting it as 5x which is on the high end of the recomendation. I hope that makes sense, anyway.

So the Fluval would be 260 gph, doubled would be 520. Plus the 500 gph from the AC would be 1020gph = 11.3x turnover = plenty for a 90.

I suppose another way of looking at it is, the AC100 is enough to cover 50 gallons of the tank (500 gph is 10x tunover for 50 gallons). That leaves 40 gallons to be filtered by the canister (since it's a 90 gallon tank). The Fluval does 260 gph and if you aim for 5x turnover (on the high end) then the Fluval is enough to cover 52 gallons. Add the 2 together and you have enough to filter 102 gallons (moderately stocked), which means you have plenty for a 90 gallon.

-Chelle

 

would two AC 110's be enough.
There are two Holes cut in the lid for filters (one on each side) so i would like to use two HOB's.

 

Yup, 2 AC 110's should be just fine.

-Chelle